Shanghai Weather
78.8 - 93.2 °F
on 2010-09-09 at
10:26
The Energy Source is where the energy a city needs to live originates. It is the heart of balancity and the ultimate highlight of the German Pavilion, the source of power and zest for life. But, in fact, the visitors themselves are the source of the energy. Their ideas, thoughts and impetus are brought into balance, thus creating a balanced city.
The visitors enter an awesome, energy-laden room filled with an exciting light choreography. Then they spread out across three galleries from where they can see the room’s focal point: a sphere. The sphere has a diameter of three metres and its surface is covered with around 400,000 LEDs. During the seven-minute show, images, colours and shapes appear on it, symbolising German ideas related to the EXPO theme of “Better City, Better Life”.
Jens and Yanyan, who have been accompanying the visitors on their journey through the pavilion in virtual form so far, now appear in person. On kickboards, they circle around on the second-level gallery and encourage the visitors to get involved in the action. With Jens’ and Yanyan’s help, the visitors quickly realise that they can influence and bring to life the sphere and the entire room by shouting. The sphere begins to swing back and forth. It absorbs the audience’s energy, flies higher and higher, faster and faster. At its highest point, it starts to
move in circles.
Through the images on the sphere, which depict diversity and differences, the visitors themselves build a city for the future, in which everyone will enjoy living and where everything has its place. A city where contrasts are vital and whose diversity contributes to the quality of life of everyone living in it. The sphere shows a city in which both renewal and preservation are important, in which different cultures complement and enrich each other and different generations support and help each other.
Jens and Yanyan show the visitors how important it is that people do something themselves for the city of the future, that everybody has an important role to play and that, quite literally, together we can make a change and get things moving.
Technical details
| Diameter | 300 cm |
| Weight | 1.230 kg |
| Segments | 12, each weighing 66 kg |
| 330 kg | |
| LED modules | 1.561 (plus 50 reserve modules) |
Module weight | 200 g |
| Module mounting | 4 magnetic feet (can hold 8 kg) |
| Per module | 256 LED pixels (16 x16 RGB SMD) |
| Number of pixels | 399.616 |
| Total power consumption | 22 kW |
| Power packs | 84 |
| Controller | 72 |
| Signal processors | 1 |
| Switching points for switch-on delay | 72 |
| Number of cables (inside the sphere) | 3.500 |
| Mechanical assembly time (with modules fitted) | 4 Days |
| Sliding contacts | 15 x power, 1 x fibre optic signal, 1 x network (control, fan, etc.) |
Project collaborators
| Milla und Partner Agentur und Ateliers, Stuttgart | Idea and concept |
| Stuttgart University | Control and drive design |
| Institute of Machine Components | Design and calculation of service life of suspension pole |
| Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufactoring Units (ISW) | Electromechanical drive design and sensors |
| ict Innovative Communication Technologies AG, Kohlberg | LED technology, sound equipment |
| RS Rock-Service GmbH & CoKG, Salzgitter | Lighting equipment, media playback equipment |
| metron GmbH, Eging am See | Engineering and construction of drive system |
Klangerfinder | Sound composition, programming of sound evaluation |
| Emenes GmbH, Stuttgart | Image production |
| E³ Engineering, Paderborn | Networking/programming ofmaster control system |
Factsheet about the Sphere as PDF-File
back to Pavillion tourhttp://www.expo2010-germany.de/en/fun/german-pavilion/pavilion-tour/