Comments on: Solar Shade by Buro North

By: Kyley

Kyley — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:54:56 +0000

I live in North Carolina and we are designing a playground at a school. We have very few trees in the area and cannot wait several years for them to grow enough to produce ample shade. Also we have an outdoor classroom on the playground as well (kind of like a gazebo). Can these solar shades be used to “power” the outdoor classroom?

By: Tushar H

Tushar H — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:30:14 +0000

Yaa, work is good but it ‘ll affect environment. As the solar shade is made sufficient to replace a tree for shadow but it should not create oxygen which is basic need of our body. And i think a person ‘ll not think about that and he ‘ll replace it for electricity which is important in todays date also…

So i wont think it is good for future gen….

By: McGyver, MA.

McGyver, MA. — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:41:00 +0000

just like cobra figure..

By: Pedro Saturno Galdona

Pedro Saturno Galdona — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:56:27 +0000

Interesante diseño, pero aún estamos a tiempo de fomentar la siembra de árboles, que seguramente colaborará más con el entorno que este tipo de solución.

By: Sally Allnutt

Sally Allnutt — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:23:22 +0000

Great idea for the school environment, as well as the education component, any outdoor activity like sports carnivals or open days, drama or music performances, could use such units to shade teachers and students while providing power for administrivia and communication needs without the spaghetti leads. There are often problems setting up marquees and tents for such occasions how portable is this unit? Maybe we could use them at bus stops or temporary shelters in the bush. In this country our need for the most environmentally friendly power collection and shelter are paramount.

By: lybao

lybao — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:57:55 +0000

it like a shape of Snake Head !

By: Jerry

Jerry — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:58:44 +0000

What a brilliant idea! I just love this genius design and I appreciate Buro North’s work. I am from Shenzhen China. I was wondering how much money should be invested to make this design come true so that we can use them in our university. I believe students of SZU would love those leave-shape public architectures. Shenzhen has a rather hot climate in summer.

By: Gabs

Gabs — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:58:52 +0000

They’re gorgeous!!!!

By: Lee S

Lee S — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:04:02 +0000

Nice work buro north.

I notice its described as a ‘future possibility’ and ‘concept’ and whilst the images look convincing, they are renderings, something I think some of the commentary above is missing the point on?

If we dont conceptualize a better future, and put in place ideas such as this to harvest our most abundant resource, we are just going to be burnt by it!

Solid concept and I think it looks super sweet. !!

By: Tao ZW

Tao ZW — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:08:57 +0000

i think is great to see such design being supported by the aussie government. i think the design is abit fussy, but it does look good and sexy (not sure whether this is the kinda thing kids are looking for).

educating the children: seems to me that the solar shade is not interactive enough. could there be a chart/diagram/animation on structure to show the comparison between one of these to a tree?

i guess people’s concern over the embodied energy versus the actual benefit (energy and economical) is missing the main point: educating the children and providing shade for flexible play space. note that this is not some design feature aim to power a building, and the fact that it is implemented in a children school, rather than some plaza of a corporate building illustrates that.

maybe we don’t rely on 1 design like this to educate the children. a collaboration of design products and nature might be a better solution in teaching the children to be environmental minded: the value of tree planting and the value of environmental design.