2024 - SUNDIAL OF PAGODA

The original intention of the project is to use the abandoned chimney of the Beijing second thermal power plant located next to the ancient Tianning Temple Pagoda to realize the interaction between modern industrial civilization and ancient civilization.
At the top of the chimney, a device consisting of multiple concave mirrors reflects natural light at different times of the day onto the 12-storey tower, with the spot gradually getting longer before 12:00 a.m. and shortening after 12:00 p.m. until it disappears.
The project uses idle chimneys to transform the pagoda into a landmark that reminds people of time, and uses the interaction between the ancient pagoda and the chimney to evoke people’s attention to the most primitive time.
According to the position of the shadow of the sun, ”sundial” is a commonly used timing instrument in ancient China to specify the hour or quarter at that time to evoke people’s attention to the most primitive time.
The team uses computer software to simulate changes in the trajectory of the sun over Beijing over the course of a day, and their relationship to ancient pagoda and chimney. We put forward the concept of using the combination of the ancient pagoda and the chimney as a sundial.
A number of mirrors group are installed on the chimney. By identifying the sun height angle and the sun incidence angle, they are continuously rotated up and down and left and right, and each concave mirror is coordinated with each other, so that the sun can be reflected to the corresponding layer of the tower in different time periods. And by controlling the size of the mirrors, the length of the light on the tower can be increasing and decreasing.
The team made solid models of the pagoda, chimney and its surroundings, and conducted experiments in the morning and afternoon. Using a lens placed on the chimney, it is constantly turned to adjust it to the right Angle, which brings natural light to the ancient tower.The feasibility of the conceptual scheme is proved.