Entrium Light Cloud | Architect Thom Faulders

Entrium Light Cloud

The “Entrium Light Cloud” is a prefabricated lightweight canopy designed to span the Portland University Science, Research, and Teaching Centers Oregon, USA building’s entry platform and stairs.” It is a cantilevered canopy supported by steel cables permanently installed to the walls of the host/main building. This canopy features laser cut aluminum fins which have been bent to achieve the curved outcome. The whole is interconnected with “a gridded network of small tube members passing through each strip to connect the system to the larger structural frame and supporting steel cables”.

The “Entrium Light Cloud” is a cantilevered canopy supported by steel cables permanently installed to the walls of the host/main building. This canopy features laser cut aluminum fins which have been bent to achieve the curved outcome. The whole is interconnected with “a gridded network of small tube members passing through each strip to connect the system to the larger structural frame and supporting steel. Architect Thom Foulders, the designer, describes the resulting patterns as being evocative of “vertical weather flows, topographical contours, wave oscillations, and amorphous cellular clusters”.

This “Entrium Light Cloud” is different things from different perspectives and time: On sunny days, the light seeping through the geometrical patterns casts a beautiful shadow on the floor of the entrance and the adjoining wall. Viewed from an angle, it evokes optical illusions and appears covered. “At night, “Entrium Light Cloud” transforms into a glowing, abstract and iconic presence that accentuates evening access and egress.” Gazing upwards from beneath this canopy, the view is open to the skies and one can gaze upon the beautiful heavens. This sculpture is a play on forms. It emphasizes the importance of “light, space and order”. As Le Corbusier puts it “light, space and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread, or a place to sleep”.

Project Info:

Architecture: thom faulders / faulders studio
Location: portland, oregon, USA
Completion date: january 2014
Structural engineering: endrestudio
Lighting design: pritchardpeck lighting
Fabrication: LIT workshop
Photography: mark stein, faulders studio

By D’zyna Eni