Amfractus | HalogenX

albedo blackandwhite climatechange design installation landart Performance

Amfractus by HalogenX

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The intensive design activity carried out in this workshop, led by the Martha Schwartz Partner studio’s architect and design director, dealt with the issues of the effects of climate change. The “Climate Performance” workshop attempts to communicate performative aspects of Climate Change through the impact of time on a public spatial design installation within Milan’s urban context. The workshop is in the tradition of Land Art. Therefore, my team and I faced the ability to use pressing issues of climate change in relation to the urban context, collecting objective data, and transferring them in a subjective experience of installation/spatial design. The connection between artificial and natural, contingent and ephemeral, are some of the principal points I faced in this design project.

In this context, my project team and I have chosen to translate this request by focusing on the Albedo effect present on our planet. The albedo of a surface is the fraction of light or, more generally, of incident solar radiation reflected in all directions. It, therefore, indicates the reflecting power of a surface. The maximum albedo is 1 when all incident light is reflected. The minimum albedo is 0 when no fraction of the light is reflected. In terms of visible light, the first case is a perfectly white object, the other perfectly black item. Intermediate values mean intermediate situations. The greater or lesser reflected incident radiation and the consequent lower or more absorption, respectively, can influence a body’s temperature. Therefore, the Albedo effect is linked to Climate Change.

Because of albedo’s effects, highly developed areas such as urban cities can experience higher average temperatures than surrounding suburban or rural areas, a phenomenon known as the “urban heat island effect.” Therefore we decided to make the problem understood by testing the albedo effect directly on the visitors’ skin.

The Most #Suitable Site

Piazza del Cannone in Milan chosen for the prevalence of nature, less building and big open area

#Weighted Positioning

placed keeping the east-west axis to make the most of the sun potentials

#Sun Relevance

In this specific project, the sun is the protagonist and makes a difference within the installation. The installation’s positioning has been designed to expose the white part to get as little sun as possible and heat up less; vice versa for the black part. The shape of the walls was designed to give a sense of oppression in the entrance, followed by a sense of open-air in the installation center. Even the cast shadows play a fundamental role, keeping the center always well lit to instill positivity.

#Temperature Perception

The perception of heat is opposite between the white part and the black part of the installation. This is due to the composition of the two sections’ walls made with different metals that absorb or reflect different amounts of sunlight. The white zone, which corresponds to the level of Albedo 1, is made of stainless steel panels coated with a special white and glossy paint. The black zone is made with copper panels covered with the matt black paint called Vantablack.

#Experience Inside

When entering the installation and following the possible paths, people will feel the oppression of a black environment and perceive the heat caused by the sunlight’s absorption; on the opposite, to feel the brightness and refreshing atmosphere of the white. Even though today’s cities require more white surfaces, black surfaces are not demons to exorcise: albedo is about the balance of the opposites. For this reason, the central part is sharply divided, so the perception can be obtained at a swift pace by stepping on one side or the other of it.