Media facades still have a rather bad reputation among architects. They are considered a non-architectonic intrusion in the architect’s province that seems to proclaim, “We interrupt the cityscape for a short commercial break”. They also use considerable amounts of electricity and their light is criticised for polluting the night sky.

 

GreenPix, the media facade of the 2,200-square-metre Xicui Entertainment Complex is another matter. This artwork adorns an otherwise unimpressive complex close to the Olympic basketball and baseball stadium, but video installations by young artists form most of its output. It is coordinated by a team of several people headed by the curator and producer Luisa Gui. An even more important aspect of this project is its energy supply. The whole facade functions independently of the electricity grid. It is fed by solar cells laminated into the glass.

PHOTO:SIMONE GIOSTRA/ARUP/ROGU

 

Throughout the day, they use batteries to store electricity that powers the 2,292 colour-changing LELED lights at night. These photovoltaic elements are not uniformly distributed over the facade but arranged in an irregular pattern that looks rather like a sky with clouds. The New York architect Simone Giostra, who designed the facade together with engineers from Arup, says, “the media facade is Beijing’s first facility for exhibiting digital media art and also the most radical example of integrating photovoltaics into a building to date”. When he decided to specialise in integrating new media into architecture, the Italian-born architect already had 12 years of experience constructing glass facades as a project architect for the firms of Richard Meier, Steven Holl, Raimund Abraham und Rafael Viñoly. He believes the project symbolises “a commitment to integrating sustainable technology into contemporary Chinese architecture as a response to the aggressive and unregulated economic development often undertaken by industry at the cost of the environment.”

 

To ensure that the media facade, installed about two metres from the building’s actual outer wall, also has structure and depth during daylight hours. Some of the quadratic, point-fastened glass panes are inclined up to 5 degrees from the facade’s surface, giving the initial impression of many slightly opened windows.