Objections Raised As Solar Death Ray Defused

[athelind]

Disney Concert Hall to Lose Some Luster
(Thanks to BoingBoing)

It seems the Walt Disney Concert Hall has a lovely parabolic curve on the front surface, lined with gleaming, polished steel plates. As a result, beams of searing heat get focused on the sidewalk in front of the building and the condos across the street, giving pedestrians sunburns, heating the sidewalk to egg-frying temperatures, and doubling the a/c bills of the neighbors.

So, city officials have decreed that those panels be sanded down to a brushed-steel finish--which, incidentally, will match other parts of the building that aren't so dramatically curved.

Some have complained about "defacing" an "architectural landmark" like this -- of course, they don't live in the vicinity. "Let them get shades," insisted Marie Antoinette a New Jersey visitor.

Let's put this into perspective, shall we?

One of the following is the Disney Concert Hall. The other is the Odeillo Solar Furnace in France, which can produce power densities of 12 megawatts per square centimeter. Notice any similarities?




Yeah, just get shades. That'll fix everything. And we can land on the sun, if we just go at night.

Note that the Odeillo Solar Furnace opened in 1970, so it's not like this is some mysterious, recently-discovered quirk of optical mathematics.

Comments

[shavastak.livejournal.com]

What surprises me is that no one caught this before the building was built. Granted it's lovely to look at, but surely any architect worth his salt has some knowledge of physics? Maybe I'm putting too much faith in higher education.

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

The architect of this building is the world famous and renowned Frank Gehry, who does not let petty concerns such as physics interfere with his artistic vision.

[drauh.livejournal.com]

well, i have my doubts that gehry's building is actually a parabolic reflector like that solar furnace. sure, it will cause some focussing of light, but not to the extent of the furnace. regardless, it should have been something that was spotted sometime in the design phase (or whatever architects and structural engineers do).

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. That's why there are reports of "sunburn" and not "spontaneous human combustion".

[pavel-lishin.livejournal.com]

The only thing funnier than the post is that comment. :P

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Yes... in my "punishment fit the crime" world, the architect gets to sit at the focal points for a week. Without sunglasses.


Let's see how his artistic vision handles that.

[drleo.livejournal.com]

I read the article. Yeah, the woman from New Jersey is a big damn idiot. I wonder if she'd be so generous if a TV station had a microwave transmitter aimed right at her kitchen.

[mythos-amante.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post! That is effing funny!

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

Gee, it's the only surface of the building with such a reflective finish? If it weren't Disney, I might pause before going so far as to suggest that maybe someone knew full well this "mistake" would bring some built-in publicity.

[susandeer.livejournal.com]

Similarities? Yeah, they're both butt-ugly! @:D

[soreth.livejournal.com]

It's a circle of liiiiight!
And it roasts us all
With reflected photons
With amplified light
Until we all combust
On the sidewalk boiling
It's a circle
A circle of liiiiiiiiiiight!
*loud whoompf as singer ignites*

[athelind.livejournal.com]

*spit take*

[soreth.livejournal.com]

*cackles*
Not bad for being off-the-cuff, though I probably should have used "gathered" instead of "amplified." Ah, well.

Do I owe you for a replacement keyboard or monitor now? =D

[rikoshi.livejournal.com]

And we can land on the sun, if we just go at night.

You win.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Nah, SORETH wins.

[rikoshi.livejournal.com]

Heh. True. That was pretty frickin' amazing.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Yay! I got in BoingBoing!

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/02/gehry_fries_pedestri.html

[the-hoptoad.livejournal.com]

gg

[l-c.livejournal.com]

Having worked in downtown Los Angeles in the summer and walked by this building, I can say that the OMG SUNBURN! claims are complete bullshit. I'm imagining a cabby asleep at the taxi stand in front of the buildling for an hour might actually have that complaint, but I've yet to meet this person.

I also looked at an apartment (there are, by the way, no condos across the street from the place. All of the residential buildings are at least one block removed by parking lots) facing the hall during the afternoon when this problem is most acute. It's bright, but no more or less so than a south facing apartment (which I also looked at at the same time). All of these buildings have central air, and during the summer it would be hot as hell in them without it Concert Hall or no.

So in conclusion, I'm sorry that they are bothering to do this - I hope it doesn't ruin the look of the place, which if you actually visit is quite lovely both inside and out. I'm curious about your source for the claim that the rest of the building is not as reflective - it certainly didn't seem to be that way in person.

and managed to hit it in the afternoon right about the time the light was reflecting most fully -

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I'm just quoting the original L.A. Times article:

While most of the hall is clad in duller brushed steel, these areas contain a much more reflective polished steel surface.

Never seen the place, myself.

[danuman.livejournal.com]

Like l_c said, residential buildings are not close to it at all, I mean, it is in Downtown L.A. I attended the Final Fantasy Dear Friends concert last May in this very concert hall, right around when temperatures are already soaring, and I stood on that very sidewalk they talked about. The reflective surface is quite nice to look at (especially for the Mirror Project (http://www.mirrorproject.com)), so it'd be a shame if it was made dull since it was not that harmful.

Evil genious!

[(Anonymous)]

Two possibilities here:

It is correct and the architect did it on purpose with thinking along the lines of "Lets see if I can get disney to pay for my evil death oven" In which case I support him 100% as that is too cool.

More likely we can assume he thought it would be a neat curve and never thought about it... in which case he is a moron.

As Athelind says: Hanlon's Razor states never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompitence.

[dbizelli.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but its a dry heat.