Three years ago, a creative group based in Japan known as GwaGwa were commissioned by the founders of the Smart Illumination Yokohama artistic event to light up the waterfront of Yokohama. As the second most populated city in Japan, Yokohama’s waterfront is often the stage and highlight for downtown events and a space for beautiful townscaping. Seeking to bring creativity and life to this popular waterfront at night, the Smart Illumination Yokohama group holds an artistic event every year. This event seeks to inspire smaller creative groups such as GwaGwa, to think beyond the use of  illumination for merely street function, and more in the direction of how illumination can also bring forth the creativity of the artists in the area through elaborate light shows. First established after the devastating East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the Smart Illumination Yokohama group also seeks to increase the use of energy efficient technology, as such non-renewable energy sources will becomes more rare in the future.

Understanding the core message and intents of the Smart Illumination Yokohama group and the importance of maintaining the excitement of the Yokohama waterfront, the GwaGwa group simply wanted a design with ‘creativity to make smiles.’ With previous work in outdoor installations, stop motion animation and analog drawing, the GwaGwa group initially began seeking a design that would mix their previous experiences and knowledge together.  As the Yokohama waterfront receives a lot of direct winds, the group decided to begin work towards a lighting system that would capture the ‘colors of the windway.’

To capture the ‘colors of the windway’ a careful analysis on the air circulation pattern along the waterfront had to be conducted first to determine the positioning of the light modules. A ATMEGA328P micro controller, wind power generator, LED with full color and a sensor where all vital components to visualize the paths through Arduino. As the waterfront runs almost 100 meters, 50 sensors were placed according to a grid on site.

Once the air circulation path was analyzed, the positions for where the light modules would be most effective were determined. To incorporate the want of the Yokohama group to use renewable energy, a secondary focus of the project was then to incorporate a source of electricity for the light modules that could be self sustained. To do so a mortar was connected to a gyromill-type windmill construct. The windmill would detect wind and according to the speed of the wind, trigger the lights to begin flashing colors.  During the day, this system would be charged through an internal NIMH battery. A stepper motor was placed in the power generator section which was located on the “outside blade” of each module, while the more delicate sensor was nested in the inner blade.

The system therefore undergoes a series of physical and computational interactions, where the sensor detects winds, the data is stored, through arduino, the case is monitored and determined what step to follow and the corresponding step is then emitted through a beautiful array of light that is responsive with the natural environment.

The ending result of the project was both beautiful and successful. As wind would pass by the light modules, light would flash in five different colors. With stronger and lighter gusts of wind the color and hue of illumination would fade in and out. As a versatile system that could operate under most every weather condition including rain, the design gave life to the waterfront, reminding pedestrians that they are not the only ones moving along the streets. 

Through this project it becomes apparent that technology has the ability to determine and analyze quantitative aspects of our surroundings that we are unable to determine alone. With the use of Arduino in this project, the strong winds become more than what we feel tangibly , but also what we can observe visually. as the lights portray the message of the breezes.

Links to Original Articles

http://www.yokohamajapan.com/upcoming-events/smart-illumination-yokohama-2016/

GwaGwa brightens japanese waterfront with wind-responsive color lights

GwaGwa brightens the Yokohama waterfront with wind-powered lights

Bibliography

“GwaGwa Brightens the Yokohama Waterfront with Wind-Powered Lights.” Atmel | Bits & Pieces, 2 Dec. 2014, atmelcorporation.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/gwagwa-brightens-the-yokohama-waterfront-with-wind-powered-lights/.

“GwaGwa Brightens Japanese Waterfront with Wind-Responsive Color Lights.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 2 Dec. 2014, www.designboom.com/art/gwagwa-colors-of-the-windway-japanese-waterfront-wind-responsive-color-lights-12-02-2014/.