Circa Diem 2.0

Share this webpage

Add to favorites

Our daily expos­ure to light is a key factor in a healthy and sustain­able life in urban envir­on­ments. Light received at the eye regu­lates our neuro­physiology and profoundly affects the live­ab­il­ity of cities, which we tend to inhabit increas­ingly indoors and deeper under­ground. This multi-sensorial immer­sion seeks to bring aware­ness about the threat of our discon­nec­tion from natural light and reflect on the rela­tion­ships between urban life­styles and light hygiene through a day in the life – or, rather, a day in the light.

Insuf­fi­cient light expos­ure during the day or excess­ive bright­ness in the even­ing and at night affect our circa­dian rhythms and can have detri­mental effects on our health, well-being and sleep. Archi­tec­ture and the urban fabric control our access to daylight, often to the point of discon­nect­ing us almost entirely from daylight and the natural cycle whereby we evolved.

Penet­rat­ing the anonym­ous enclos­ure formed by its surround­ing curtain, Circa Diem 2.0 invites us to meander inside a maze of mono­liths evok­ing an oppress­ive urban envir­on­ment. The passage of time is exper­i­enced by follow­ing the sun course through the four phases of a twenty-four-hour day – morn­ing, midday, even­ing and night. From one day-night cycle to the next, these phases are accom­pan­ied by the urban hum asso­ci­ated with them, and celeb­rate the natural, lumin­ous qual­it­ies inher­ent in each one.

This sensorial exper­i­ence prompts us to think about our own light hygiene in cities. At four key moments, images are gener­ated by lenses formed by novel light-shap­ing tech­no­logy based on refrac­tion prin­ciples. By controlling contrast with extreme preci­sion, these free­form lenses invoke the filter­ing role played by the built envir­on­ment in our access to daylight. Clouds of light then discreetly turn into urban images embed­ding messages, before evap­or­at­ing again to let the sun continue its course.

Addi­tional cred­its:

Design and Construc­tion: SKIL plat­form (EPFL), S. Wasilewski (LIPID, EPFL), AGM & B. Magnenat, Solu­tions Acous­tiques, Guggis­berg

Elec­tron­ics and light­ing: PL-MTI plat­form (EPFL)

Imagery: labor­at­or­ies GCM & LIPID (EPFL), Rayform SA

Sound­scape: M. Limou­joux

Produced with the support of: EPFL

This install­a­tion’s initial version, Circa Diem (Ø 400 cm x (h) 575 cm), displayed in hybrid form at the Seoul Bien­nale of Archi­tec­ture and Urban­ism SBAU 2021 then show­cased in full phys­ical form as part of the Lighten Up! On Biology and Time exhib­i­tion at EPFL Pavil­ions in 2023, emerged from an EPFL x HEAD–­Genève collab­or­a­tion (Marilyne Ander­sen with Mark Pauly, Florin Isvor­anu, Javier Fernán­dez-Contreras). Circa Diem 2.0 draws on the same narrat­ive and concept in a fully new embod­i­ment.