Transstudio

PET Wall, Transstudio

Light is essential to the realization of architecture, yet in the process of design and construction it is commonly an afterthought. Not only is the source of light important for the quality of illumination within a space, but also the materials used to capture, filter, and redirect the light. An installation at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning showcases a marriage between light and assemblage art.

The PET Wall is a self-supporting, luminous curtain comprised by repurposed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and integrated light-emitting diode (LED) nets. The lightweight structure makes use of a widely disposed post-consumer product due to its advantageous structural and light-filtering properties. Like head lamp or light fixture lenses, the particular thermoformed geometries of these transparent bottles convey and disperse illumination efficiently while obscuring glare. The result is a thickened surface comprised by modular, tactile light nodes with various possibilities for programmability and interaction.

The PET Wall is designed to expand the potential of second use materials into the building scale. Comprised by thousands of post-consumer PET bottles arrayed in stacked honeycomb modules, as well as integrated LED light nets cycling through gradually undulating sequences of warm and cool white illumination, this new self-supporting “second surface” attempts to inspire a dual reading in which the viewer is simultaneously conscious of the reuse of a commonly disposed product as well as the ephemeral atmosphere it creates when arrayed as a large, expansive light lens.

Credits
Design and installation: Transstudio
Team: Blaine Brownell, Heather Brownell, Chris Drinkwater, Natasha Krol
Location: University of Michigan
Special thanks to: Tracy Artley, Jason Bing, Lori Castle, The High Point School Students, Kevin McKay, Recycle Ann Arbor, Mark Scott, and Steve Sheldon