This bank building has caused quite a stir in Belgium . . . and around the world for that matter. Though not particularly striking architecture in the traditional sense, it could be ground-breaking in the way in which the structure interacts with those around it.
The Dexia Tower in Brussel, Belgium has 4,200 windows that each have a remote controlled RGB LED bar that basically turns the entire building into a huge glowing chameleon-like Vegas light show.
. . . “Dexia, a bank, opened its Tower, next to the Rogier Metro station at the end of one of the city’s main thoroughfares, last year. Ever since, it has played host to a series of amazing light shows, mostly courtesy of Brussels-based LAb[au] specialists in interactive artworks and audiovisual performances . . . The current show is on the theme of weather.” from Dexia Towers Giant Light show
Weather? Yes, think of the building as a multistory weather station that can be seen from blocks, if not miles, away.
Dexia and LAb[au] are happy to announce : Weather Tower.
For the next two months a new project within the series ‘Who’s Afraid of Red, Green and Blue’, will forecast tomorrow’s weather for Brussels, in collaboration with the the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium.
The project displays tomorrow’s temperature, cloudiness, precipitations, and wind, by using colors and geometrical patterns to visualize these data. from Who’s afraid of Red, Green and Blue - Weather Tower
In a way this structure reminds me of the Washington Monument or the Eiffel Tower and their respective roles within the metropolitan areas in which they were built.
This building may, in time, also act as an urban anchor holding a community together; an historical reference harkening back to a significant time and place; or become a navigational device allowing individuals to locate themselves within the larger cityscape.
All of that remains to be seen, but, even at this early stage, there is evidence that no matter how prominent it becomes in the traditional sense, it has already made its mark in one area.
What is it?
Well . . . this building can talk. Not verbally, like you and I, but by expressing itself through its skin using colorful pulses and patterns that mean something.
Not like a sign exactly, but more like informational art, or rather, architecture. This building is a twenty-first century clock tower, with the ability to communicate much more than the time to the community around it.
Good architecture has long been said to be more than concrete and glass. At times, buildings, and the spaces within and around them, work so well in answering the needs of their users that they seem to be alive. Can this building be called "good architecture?" It's probably much too early to tell. Could this be a very significant development and represent a new direction which may update the definition of good architecture? Maybe.
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