Wind I Screen

This project seeks to choreograph the climatic landscape of San Francisco in an effort to expose its temporal and cyclical processes while simultaneously providing a moment of respite. The city has a unique urban wind condition as a result of its topography, proximity to the ocean, and temperate climate. Year-round, strong gusts often come from the northwest, creating dramatic wind tunnels throughout most of the city. At its core, the project is asking a simple question: how can we register this change while activating previously unusable urban spaces?

Wind I Screen consists of a series of fabric panels that are positioned perpendicular to the dominant wind direction. Two metal cables stretch across the desired area of intervention and are attached to existing urban infrastructure such as light posts, fences and trees.

Pedestrians can manually re-position the panels for optimal protection and can also use the panels as screens for digital projection or lighting.

Step 1: Materials + Tools

Materials:
- 1/8 inch cable
- 5/16 inch vinyl tubing
- rope clips
- turnbuckle cable tensioner
- steel chain
- ratchet
- fishing line
- nylon fabric
- heavy-duty thread
- LED lights/projector

Tools:
- sewing machine
- scissors
- pliers
- work gloves
- cable cutter

Comments

[Truehart]

It appears that you have pictures of this being implemented. What were the results? Has this been refined? Any pros and cons you can list? Basically, what have you learned from it? Our house is pretty much in an open field and the wind howls across the sides. With no trees big enough to provide any protection, this seems like an inexpensive way to lessen the problem.