Joyous Shades

Joyous Shades is a colorful play space that calls attention to the sun path though the shadows it casts. As the Sun moves across the sky and shines though the openings in the canopy, it will activate different colored panels inserted along the supporting wires.

Joyous Shades is an interactive installation for observing the variations in the sun’s action depending on the time of day and the season of the year. When the sunlight travels through different openings in the canopy and colored panels, they cast a variety of shadows and colors onto the ground that allow children to observe the incidence of the sun on the Earth.

Phenomena

Light Transmission refers to the amount of light that can successfully pass through acrylic or any other materials. Acrylic is highly versatile material that can have various transparency. In this installation, the colored acrylic panels installed are highly translucent.

Precedent

Monumenta 2012 by Daniel Buren

Site Analysis

Joyous Shades is located on the sidewalk at the halfway mark through the Hudson Riverside Park. It is directly facing the river, with a lawn lying right behind it.

Generally, the sun travels up from the East and falls to the West, with its highest point-the noon-slightly tilting to the South. During the installation period, the sun path will shift northward with the sun itself rising higher at noon until the summer solstice, and then slowly reversing back afterward. This phenomenon is caused by the change in relative position between the sun and the earth. The average daylight hours during the installation period would range from 12 hours at the equinoxes to 15 hours at the summer solstice.

Users

The intended users of the installation are children. Joyous Shades will provide a space for children to rest on the chairs, read the books, and play under the shadows.

Experimental Process

When light is transmitted, the pattern of the fabric is casted on the floor. When light passes through different colored cellophane sheets, the different shades of colors are naturally mixed as their shadows are combined.

Plan & Program

Elevations

Details

Materials & Construction

Renderings

Front View

Side View

Top View