7 World Trade Center
Opened in May 2006, the 52-story, 1.7-million-square-foot 7 World
Trade Center is the first LEED certified office building to be constructed
in New York City. The lower seven floors of the south and north facades
of the building are illuminated with an LED lighting system that glows
white & Blue at night. As people wander the pavement in front of the
building a specialized camera system developed by Kinecity interprets
their movements and changes the LEDs accordingly. The result is a
kinetic work of art where 7- story tall blue bands of light sweep
across a white field on the building; a fusion of architecture and
the people who interact with it.
A unique element of the building is that it stands on the site of
a Con-Edison Substation that supplies most of Lower Manhattan. The
first 10 stories of the building accommodat the transformers and switches
of the substation. To allow for cooling, the outer curtain walls of
this part of the building consist of screens to allow air movement.
When the LED system was designed, only two companies in the United
States had the capability to compete for such a large project. Of
these two, only KiboWorks had the knowledge and experience to provide
the custom engineering and design needed for this unique concept.
The transformers in the station produce heat, so each fixture had
to be able to withstand temperatures up to 220 degrees Celsius. Also,
the 60-Hz, AC electrical field, high voltage arcs and resulting RF
generated by the electrical equipment in the station would play havoc
with the digital signalling of the LED control system unless extensive
electronic shielding was incorporated.
7 World Trade Center combines a one-of-a-kind building design with
a one-of-a-kind custom lighting installation that could only be acheived
with a custom solution.
