Falling temperatures and final essays signal the tail end of the fall semester, but for Dalhousie鈥檚 Architecture students it means something different: it鈥檚 time to prep for the 22nd Annual Chronicle Herald Holiday Parade of Lights.
Nearly a dozen Architecture students have been hard at work over the last few weeks crafting their entry for the parade, scheduled for Saturday, November 18 in downtown Halifax. The students have taken on the challenge of designing, building and executing a float using the skills they have learned in class.
鈥淲e started by asking ourselves, what is the parade about?鈥� says Shaili Chauhan, a student in the Masters of Architecture program and leader of the initiative. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about light, so we needed to find an interesting way to feature light.鈥�
Architecture student McKenna Young had the idea to focus on the kinetic movement of light.
鈥淲e had a few ideas of how to incorporate light. We wanted to do something kinetic, like a pendulum, that has a self propelling motion,鈥� says Young. 鈥淏ut it was important for us to be able to understand what we were building and how it works.鈥�
Architecture students at work on their designs.
The idea evolved to incorporate both static and kinetic ideas of light. 鈥淲e have our pendulum, symbolizing motion and a static cloud that contrasts it,鈥� explains Chauhan. 鈥淭he two elements come together to complement each other well.鈥�
From idea to execution
Once they had their idea, the students began creating, bringing in some of their Engineering colleagues for input.
鈥淎ctually executing an idea can be difficult, but that鈥檚 part of the experience. We had to develop problem-solving strategies along the way,鈥� says Chauhan.
Young agrees, emphasizing that actually having the product in your hands and being able to see what works and what doesn鈥檛 leads to design changes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that would ever happen when designing a building, but with this float we are able to experiment,鈥� she says.
The students are excited to show off their hard work in the parade, but their piece isn鈥檛 a traditional float propelled by a motorized vehicle. Instead, the students took a more sustainable approach.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 use cars!鈥� explains Chauhan. 鈥淏eing Architecture students, we鈥檙e focused on sustainability. In the past we have used bicycles, but this year we are carrying the float on foot.鈥�
鈥淲e hope that the project is visually stimulating. It鈥檚 not about the people carrying the float鈥β� it鈥檚 about the light and the effects you get from it.鈥�