DIA LIGHTS

In May 2013, The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) moved back into their rebuilt headquarters at Raadhuspladsen right next to Tivoli and City Hall in the heart of Copenhagen. The extensive architectural task has been carried out by Transform who has redesigned the physical manifestation of the DI. The new exterior part of the building consists of a great media façade, as a beacon of aesthetics in a sea of visual noise flowing in and around one of the most heavily trafficked intersections in Copenhagen.

A team consisting of Kollision, Martin Professional and Transform worked with DI in designing and developing a language of light in line with the DI brand, exploiting the diagonal nature of the LED-structure on the façade. The different designs have been turned into generic light plugins that fit into Kollision’s player-system. These light plugins can be controlled by the graphical department at DI who can tweak and modify parameters like speed, colors, and direction creating thousands of different expressions - still within the limits of each plugin. All these light designs can be previewed in the 3D player system displaying each of the +80000 LEDs before adding them to the scheduling system. The system holds potentials for adding interactive components, allowing the citizens to interact directly with the façade.

As the media façade is the first of its size and kind in a Danish context, the professional team behind the project has worked on developing a design manual for how the dynamic content of the façade can change during day, night, seasons and special occasions. This design manual and the guidelines have been developed and discussed in collaboration with DI and the Planning Department of the Municipality of Copenhagen. The entire setup and aesthetic guidelines allow the client organization to use the facade as a dynamic interface between the brand, the building, and the urban setting it is situated in.