People working together can achieve more than individuals. Columns of light symbolise this in the interactive light installation ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ that celebrates TU Delft’s 175th anniversary.
Unveiled at dusk in front of the Aula building on January 13, 2017 as part of the university’s Dies Natalis festivities, the four metre high installation covers an 18 metre square on a stepped base of steel grilles. Not an enclosed pavilion in the traditional sense, but a three dimensional experience, the design celebrates the collaborative culture of the university. Its 175 light columns represent each year of the university’s history and show symbolically the effect of combining efforts, with smaller elements coming together to create a greater outcome.
“The columns are arranged in a sunflower motif, a living thing, which refers to the university’s theme for this year, ‘Technology for Life'”, said Carlijn Beerepoot, who has a BSc from the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (BK), and handled public relations on the project.
“Each column can also symbolise a person, an idea or an innovation. They splay out from the centre in curves and, using sensors, light up in colour as you approach to draw you in,” she said.
The installation will remain in front of the Aula building for 175 days. The team wants to apply different light programmes to the 144 LED strips to create more varied luminous effects over this period. They also want to paint the TU Delft flame logo on the side of the columns visible from further away so you can see it as you go by. The project team want visitors to feel that they can contribute, so they encourage everyone to leave their mark by scratching a message on the soft aluminium profiles of the columns. At the end of its life, the installation’s columns and steel grilles will go back to the suppliers for reuse.
D.B.S.G. Stylos, the independent study association of BK, commissioned the project and put out a call for student team members in summer 2016. The seven selected students of the anniversary pavilion project team have worked for 19 weeks and between them divided tasks of process and project management, procurement of materials, architectural design and building engineering. They built the installation largely by themselves and, working to a tight schedule and budget, it has been valuable experience of teamwork on a real project.
“The most difficult challenge was that it was an open assignment so we had to define the project ourselves,” said Beerepoot. “But the most satisfying thing is to see it all come together and standing on campus.”
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