Philippe Rahm Case Studies

This precedent study focused on three projects by Philippe Rahm Architects relating to light and temperature. In the Split Time Cafe, yellow and blue define night and day areas within, with furniture encouraging rest and dining in each area. Yellow glass permits light wavelengths which increase melatonin production, simulating an eternal night. The furniture resembles that of a lounge characterized by long beds and short tables. The blue glass envelope blocks the wavelengths permitted by the yellow glass envelope. Blue light blocks the release of melatonin, simulating daytime, with dining tables, encouraging customers to stand up for short stays to the perpetual day, characterized by movement and activity. The neutral zone sits behind a glass facade, letting in natural light as it is, with standard dining chairs and tables. Interior Weather explored energy reduction in terms of temperature and light, later informing other projects. The project is an installation exploring fluctuations in temperature, light intensity, and humidity, informing different programs and activities. The installation has two spaces, one showing measurement of interior conditions, the other an interpretation of that data. Light intensity is used to dictate what users might engage in, using fluctuations in temperature to decide what clothing is appropriate to wear while enforcing activity that might take place using humidity to suggest a space. What resulted was a chamber where various activities are possible and new ones can be created through variation of the 3 factors. Thermal Conductivity focusing on insulation and how walls can contribute to energy reduction. The project classifies activity zones warranting different levels of insulation. The first zone consists of the bathrooms and technical rooms on the outside of the building. These areas are where students and faculty spend the least amount of time permitting the lowest amount of insulation. The second zone consists of hallways, located slightly more inside. People travel through these areas but not enough to warrant an extreme level of insulation, lastly in classrooms where students and teachers spend most of their time has the most insulation. Each project focuses on energy reduction and space making with light and temperature.