Dome of Cultural Light

Spotlighting the CultureIntroducing the culture through the story of light. As a respond for educational issue, especially for children, we decided to design a sustainable folly that give an interesting way of telling people about cultural diversity of Special Region of Yogyakarta. It is well known that Yogyakarta is famous of its local cultures, such as batik, folk dance, folk music, etc. But it is a pity that many young people today do not aware of these beautiful cultures.

So that we decided to combine the special daylight of Yogyakarta by analyzing the sunlight angle and the cultural diversity to educate people, not only children but also adults. From the data taken from daylight analysis website, it is known the angle size from the light to the site we chosen. Then we created some voids to insert the light into the building. The sunlight is used especially in morning to evening time, because the site is usually crowded by people on that time. People around the site do many kinds of activity such as working, cycling, driving, walking, etc. After the analysis then we decided to make a folly that provide unique function and attractive façade that can make people take a rest from their busy day by visiting the folly. Not only that, after the visit, people will gain knowledge about the culture around them.

In this folly, we utilize natural sunlight as the storyteller, and culture as the story. This folly was designed as a closed room with some voids that were created with certain calculations of sunlight angle in any different periods of time. By utilizing the coming sunlight that touch the white wall and floor inside the folly, then some magics will appear. The magics are the hidden paintings that can only be seen in different periods of time. Some people who visit the folly in the morning will see different cultural paintings with the people who come in the evening. This kind of cultural introduction was meant to attract people from many kinds of professions and age with its uniqueness and sustainable design.

Sustainable design of this folly is obtained from the use of sustainable material and design, such as organic cotton, bamboo, and concrete. Material used for the interior is organic cotton that is known for its environmentally friendly. The use of this material at the wall and floor with the help of photochromic dye, help people to understand the purpose of the folly when the light hits the surface of the cotton. On the state without UV light, the surface will be clean white, but when the UV start to hit the surface, the colorful hidden paintings will appear. The brighter the light, the darker the color will be. The magical impression is gotten from the use of photochromic dye. Photochromic dye is a coloring substance that can change color when UV light hits its substance. From the use of this material, the visitor will be given a story about culture in different way.

Another environmentally friendly material we used here is bamboo. This material is mainly used for exterior and structural reinforcement, but by using bamboo we can raise its beautiful appearance to attract people. And the last material is concrete. Concrete is used for exterior material with exposed texture. The solid character of this material is perfect to form a dark room, so that we can show perfectly how the daylight work inside the folly.