The taller the skyscraper, the longer the shadow it casts — which
doesn't always bode well for the people and businesses below.
Design firm NBBJ is hoping to change that by constructing an entirely
shadowless skyscraper for London, which is gearing up for the addition
of more than 250 tall buildings to the city's skyline in the near
future.
SEE ALSO: Why our brains love curved buildings
The firm used computer modeling and algorithms to create a pair of buildings that doesn't block out the sun at ground level. One building
looks like a gigantic, curved mirror.
The glass surface of the northernmost building reflects sunlight down
into the shadow cast by the southern building, and the curve of that
glass allows the reflected light to follow the shadow throughout the
day. The tower redirects and diffuses the sunlight, providing more
daylight below.
shadow of the other, there's a 60% reduction in shadows between the two
skyscrapers, according to NBBJ.
NBBJ has previously designed buildings for Amazon, Google, Samsung and Microsoft.
Architects for the no-shadow building have Greenwich, south London in
mind, but the firm says the software could help design similar
skyscrapers in other dense urban areas as well. In order for the design
to work elsewhere, one would just have to change the inputs for when and
where the sun passes overhead at the location.
This article originally published at Discovery News
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