A team of young architects from TU Delft won second place at the international Velux International Design awards. Anneloes de Koff and Iris van den Brink, both MSc students in the Faculty of Architecture, won the award for their sun shade design ‘The Swipe’.
The theme for the Velux awards was ‘Light of Tomorrow’ and participants were asked to come up with designs that “widen the boundaries of daylight in architecture, including aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and the interaction between buildings and environment.”
The international contest saw participants from countries such as Germany, Spain, Poland and Hungary. Hyunjeong Kim from the Berlin University of the Arts in Germany won the first prize for her project Ferro Fluid Scales. Kim awarded a sum of €6,000 while De Koff and Van Den Brink won €2,500 Euros.
The Swipe is a simple yet efficient design for window shading which gives users complete control over the amount of light filtering in through a patterned shade instead of a completely shuttered window. The Swipe is made in four layers and each layer can be closed individually, creating a different pattern each time. The blinds are in a state of gradual transition and allow users to determine the amount of direct and diffused light. “To increase the interaction with the user the shading can be controlled by a mobile application. You can ‘Swipe’ the shading to a more closed or more open position,” explains Van Den Brink.
Inspired by the current limitation in blind designs, where the shades are either fully open or closed, the duo set out to find more options in between. Another concern was heat. Sun roofs and high windows heat up rooms due to the high exposure to sun – a smart design of sun shades would reduce that effect.
“We decided to make a simple product which can be mass produced cost effectively and used in any house. The shades can even be used as indoor partitions in offices and on any kind of windows. The layers are made of acrylic fibres with polyester thread and PVC coating,” she adds.
De Koff and Van Den Brink, who are also roommates, said they began working on the project as part of the Bucky Lab. “So by the time the competition came around, we had to make a few changes and adjustments but didn’t have to work too many late nights.”
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