LED's replacing Paint?

LED's could replace paint as the future of color in architecture. This is the Busan cinema center in Busan, South Korea, a new creation by the architects at Vienna based Coop Himmelb(l)au. This building is an architectural feat in more ways than one. The structure includes an impressive 85 meter long cantilevered roof, which is  twice as long as the wing of an Airbus. "Once we [start building] architecture like aircraft wings we will no longer need columns," said Wolf D. Prix, the a co-founder, Design Principal and CEO of  Coop Himmelb(l)au. 

The engineering involved in this kind of build is fascinating, and has even garnered an International Property Award in Leisure Architecture.  We are interested in the  colorful  LED underbelly of the wing. The over head field of color is the architectural focal point of the complex which includes a series of indoor and outdoor spaces focused on the experience of film.   The roof itself becomes a projection screen made up of  transparent glazing and metal  mesh structures to show off color.

At night the LED screen breaks up the solidity of the building and evaporates into a sweep of colorful animations of fluid dynamics. It bucks the trend of colorless glass and steel and, instead of relying on the colorful lights of advertisers, incorporates the visitors experience of color directly into the building. Perhaps the dreaded future of cities packed with colorless metal buildings will be rescued by the increasingly cheap, flexible and dynamic technology which allows for modern applications of color. With such an amazing screen/building now up and running,  lets hope motion graphic and video artists are given the opportunity to create site specific colorful works individual to that screen. 

images © duccio malagamba 

- Emily Eifler, Writer, Colour Studio

- Jill Pilaroscia, Principal, Colour Studio