2nd Prize for Students at Light Challenge/ Floriade
A team of students of the Master Digital Design has won the 2nd prize at this year’s Light Challenge at Floriade Almere, The Netherlands.
Sheila Guo, Mohammad Afkhami, Tudor Cora, Michael Verdel, and Paige Lucas-Dean designed an interactive street lamp that promotes engagement and feelings of safety. “This is a very nice space and the municipality felt people were not engaging with it as much,” explains Mohammad Afkhami. “The problem is that it is a rather dark area and people don’t feel comfortable walking around there.”
The device, developed for a neighbourhood in Amsterdam Noord, becomes brighter when a passerby approaches. The light intensifies as the distance shortens. As more people come closer to the lamp, it will provide different colourful effects and animations.
The idea behind it is to bring people to experience something together. By doing so, they get to know one another and, therefore, feel safer when walking around the neighbourhood.
Furthermore, the interactive street-lamp is powered by renewable energy from the wind and sun. “Our design is smart and interactive. When no one is around it’s in dim mode to save energy consumption and to reduce light pollution at the same time,” explains Mohammad.
The lamp is on display during Floriade in Almere, The Netherlands. The group will continue working on the prototype for the next few months together with the City of Amsterdam. The Light Challenge started in 2011 with the goal to dare young generations to conceive lighting solutions that are innovative and sustainable for the modern society.
