2024 - Sunflower

In the past half-century, northern China’s industrial cities have experienced significant expansion.
During this period, numerous community and collective housing projects were designed and constructed. Due to the production structure, these residential communities will continue to serve large families for an extended period, particularly in rural areas.
However, in regions north of the Tropic of Cancer, where the sun’s direct rays cannot reach, many north-facing rooms fail to meet the minimum daylight standards over a long period, becoming dark and uninviting. These rooms often have to be used as bedrooms or living rooms despite their inadequate lighting conditions.
At the same time, this is my hometown. As a child, I loved peeking southward through the gaps between the houses, allowing me to see fields of wheat bathed in the sunset light beyond the rows of buildings. This made me realize that it is possible for sunlight to pass through these gaps.
Therefore, I propose a solution called ”Sunflower”, which is a lightweight and easy-to-install device designed to reflect sunlight into the dark rooms on the shaded side of buildings. Since residential communities in China typically have courtyards, these devices can be flexibly installed within the courtyards. The name ”Sunflower” is chosen because of its similarity in mission to a sunflower, which follows the sun. These ”Sunflower” devices are installed in the sunlight gaps mentioned earlier. By utilizing reflective materials with minimal sunlight attenuation, sunlight can be effectively redirected into the rooms in Hunan province.