A wind lens is a modification made to a wind turbine to make it a more efficient way to capture wind energy. The modification is a ring structure called a “brim” or “wind lens” which surrounds the blades, diverting air away from the exhaust outflow behind the blades. The turbulence created as a result of the new configuration creates a low pressure zone behind the turbine, causing greater wind to pass through the turbine, and this, in turn, increases blade rotation and energy output. Wind lenses are being mainly researched by Yuji Ohya, the chief of the Wind Engineering Section of Kyushu University in Japan.
Common sense and conventional practice prohibits the evolution of architecture. Through reproducing past models for efficiency and economy, routine thinking preserves the flaws of the standard model.[1] Using different frameworks of thought, architects can create new solutions, which rectify the faults of the norm, and distance themselves from making habitual design decisions.
Built on the foundations of Victorian Nonsense, Alfred Jarry’s ‘Pataphysics, and Absurdist Theatre, Absurdity expands the limits of human reason by presenting a paradoxical solution. By allowing solutions which would normally have been ruled out due to irrationality, absurdity provides non-linear alternatives which interrogate contemporary logic.
Thus, absurdity is a rhetorical device aimed at questioning (architectural) conventions. Architectural absurdity playfully transgresses within the rules of building formation to create valid alternative assemblages while scrutinizing regulation. The resultant architecture redefines the rituals of program and questions the notion of typology. Unbound by strict conformity to logic, the liberated architect breathes new life into architecture.
The Reichstag dome is a large glass dome with a 360 degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The debating chamber of the Bundestag, the German parliament, can be seen down below. A mirrored cone in the center of the dome directs sunlight into the building, and so that visitors can see the working of the chamber. The dome is open to the public and can be reached by climbing two steel, spiraling ramps that are reminiscent of a double-helix. The Dome symbolizes that the people are above the government, as was not the case during national socialism.
The futuristic and transparent design of the Reichstag dome makes it a unique landmark, and symbolizes Berlin’s attempt to move away from a past of Nazism and instead towards a future with a heavier emphasis on a united, democratic Germany.
No, it’s not a giant slinky, though the comparison seems inevitable. Russian architect Alexander Remizov has released his design for what he calls ‘The Ark’, a building he says attempts to answer the “challenges of our time”, like extreme environmental conditions and climate change.
Made of wood, steel, high-tech plastic, and featuring photoelectric cells (solar panels), the environmentally friendly dome structure has multiple uses, from a hotel to housing, to a more bioclimatic house function able to withstand forces of nature including floods, earthquakes and tornadoes.
The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome is the world’s first hexagonal wind tunnel. Its large scale structure (25 meters diameter for the inner dome and 40 meters diameter for the outer return dome) will allow for wind simulations over extended areas and complex terrain. In a nutshell WindEEE will, for the first time, allow for the manipulation of inflow and boundary conditions to reproduce, at large scales and under controlled conditions, the dynamics of real wind systems.
Tornadoes are wild, destructive natural phenomena – right? Not necessarily, according to engineer Louis Michaud, who believes that he has found a way to create “tame” tornadoes that could be used to generate electricity.
Michaud has spent forty years studying tornadoes and is convinced that it is possible to create small tornadoes on demand using a “vortex engine,” a device he has patented in both the U.S. and Canada. A full scale vortex engine would produce a funnel cloud that would stretch several kilometers into the atmosphere. The artificial tornado would be powered at the base by waste heat (ideally from a power-generating facility).
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is now officially home to the “strongest artificially generated tornado in the world”. The attempted record was confirmed in the presence of Guinness Book of Records representative Olaf Kuchenbecker. The 34.4-metre-high artificial tornado serves to eliminate smoke from the museum in the event of a fire. “We are delighted that the Mercedes-Benz Museum is now also featured in the Guinness Book of Records,” said Michael Bock, manager of Mercedes-Benz Museum GmbH. “By successfully achieving the world record as ‘strongest artificially generated tornado in the world’, the Mercedes-Benz Museum has once again underlined its outstanding position in the world of museums also in terms of architecture.”
The architecture of the Mercedes-Benz Museum placed particular demands on construction planners, architects and engineers with regard to smoke elimination. The provisions of the approving authority and fire protection regulations require all areas outside the fire level to be smoke-free in the event of smoke emission. However, due to the open-plan structure of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the various exhibition areas are connected to each other without any fire zones via an interior courtyard and ramps. From the perspective of smoke elimination this presented a challenging task that could not be implemented through conventional fluid mechanics.
It was necessary to take a new approach, and so a globally unique smoke elimination system was developed especially for the Mercedes-Benz Museum. In the event of fire, 144 outlets located along the core walls inject air into the interior courtyard of the Mercedes-Benz Museum. This generates an artificial tornado, and the smoke collected is then discharged into the outside air via a smoke elimination ventilator located in the upper part of the building.
This procedure uses the principle of the tornado force, which has a devastating effect under natural conditions, to create a controlled life-saving form of fluid mechanics that opens up new architectural possibilities.
Have you every felt the need to have a funnel cloud swirling around in your living room? Maybe the idea of a rushing vortex of air really steams your clams? If this is indeed the case, look no further than this machine that you can build from spare parts. Highly detailed instructions on how to build a machine that generates a mini self-contained tornado are available to you at absolutely no cost from this gentleman’s Web site. A trip to the local electronics junk seller (or eBay, for the never-leave-home types) is all that is needed to obtain the necessary parts. Follow the step-by-step instructions and your living room will be the envy of all others. Flying debris and cows not included, we are afraid.
ENERGY RANGERS 