GreenPix Zero Energy Media Wall, Beijing, China

'Architainment' - Coonan

I came across the GreenPix Zero Energy Media wall in the July/August Innovation Magazine (Clifford Coonan) in the Irish Times. The wall is a 20,000 square meter facade of 2,292 computer controlled LED lights, designed by Italian born, New York based Simone Giostra and Partners, engineering consultants Arup and China's solar technologists, Suntech.

Seen from over a kilometer away, the wall will cast flowing lighting patterns and video over one of China's most congested main roads, close to the main Olympic sites.

The remarkable thing about this display is that its completely self powered; utilising solar panels located in the individual glass panes (photovoltaics). The panels absorb and store energy from the sun during the day to spend it on lighting the dazzling visuals by night.  

The building itself is China's first venue dedicated to Digital Arts. This is an exciting moment as China bounds forward as both an economic force, but also an artistic one (Computer Arts, July 2008). Expect to see this venue mentioned in the same breath as Ars Electronica and MediaLab Prado.