The Solar Wind Pavilion is a design proposal for a special signature gathering place structure for the California State University at Fullerton. The pavilion would be constructed primarily from lightweight, high strength, composite concrete.

The large canopy roof is covered with frosted glass, which is shaded by a series of concentric louvered rings. This shaded roof covers a large floor area that has a series of concentric formed benches built into it. These benches can be pulled up out of the floor in various patterns when needed to accommodate over three hundred people. At the center of the canopy roof is mounted a large cylindrical digital projection display screen. Also mounted under the canopy roof are a series of fogging nozzles that can be used to cool the space. The structure would be used by students and faculty as a gathering place for special events, a place to relax, study, access the Internet, or to meditate.

In addition, the Solar Wind Pavilion is designed to gather and store energy from the local natural environment to be used by the university. A large vertical axis wind turbine is mounted at the top of the one hundred and fifty foot tall structure. When the wind blows, this turbine generates electrical energy that can be used by the campus directly and or stored in batteries, which are built into the base of the pavilion. The random rotation of the turbine can also be used to generate interactive digital images and sounds that can be displayed on the cylindrical projection screen. Additional electrical energy is captured from the sun by four large rings of photovoltaic cells that are mounted to four of the south facing concentric shade louvers. These photovoltaic cells convert sun light into electricity that can also be used directly by the campus, and or stored for later use in the batteries. Some of the electrical energy gathered by the wind turbine and by the photovoltaic cells can also be stored in the form of hydrogen gas. This gas is formed from the wind and sun energy gathered by the structure and from rainwater that is collected from the canopy roof. The hydrogen gas and the rainwater are stored within the base of the pavilion. The hydrogen gas can be used to power many things on the campus including the campus vehicles. The rainwater can also be used by the university for, among other things, watering plants.

Aesthetically, the structure was conceived of as a large umbrella that is symbolically shaped by the rotation of the wind turbine. Conceptually, as the turbine rotates and gathers energy from the wind, this energy is sent down into the surrounding campus landscape in the form of concentric rings of energy. These rings can also be thought of symbolically as a magnet that works in reverse to draw people toward it.

by: Michael Jantzen licence: Copyright tags:architecture solar wind energy concrete

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