Daphne: Weather Beacon

Daphne is an elevated public room extracted from Renzo Piano’s masterplan grid for Faliron Bay in Athens, Greece. The observatory is an environmental intervention along the spine of an artificial tree; branches illuminate the park with different light colors based on temperature thresholds. The project is currently under construction.

Credits: Lydia Kallipoliti, Andreas Theodoridis, Stella Nikolakaki and Ezio Blasetti

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.