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Architecture

Sky Stack semi-invisible chimney

By James Holloway
December 06, 2012
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A disused smoke stack in the town of Kassel, more or less at the very heart of Germany, has undergone a peculiar transformation (Photo: asdfg)
A disused smoke stack in the town of Kassel, more or less at the very heart of Germany, has undergone a peculiar transformation (Photo: asdfg)
Glance up at the tower and the you will be met by the disarming sight of alternating floating and missing sections of chimney stack (Photo: asdfg)
There are no cameras, no screens; instead, they do it with mirrors (Photo: asdfg)
Five flexible reflective strips have been wrapped around the chimney, creating the impression that the stack is broken by the sky (Photo: asdfg)
Judging by the photography, from the right vantage point with the right conditions, the effect is really rather striking (Photo: asdfg)
A disused smoke stack in the town of Kassel, more or less at the very heart of Germany, has undergone a peculiar transformation (Photo: asdfg)
Glance up at the tower and the you will be met by the disarming sight of alternating floating and missing sections of chimney stack (Photo: asdfg)
There are no cameras, no screens; instead, they do it with mirrors (Photo: asdfg)
Five flexible reflective strips have been wrapped around the chimney, creating the impression that the stack is broken by the sky (Photo: asdfg)
Judging by the photography, from the right vantage point with the right conditions, the effect is really rather striking (Photo: asdfg)
A disused smoke stack in the town of Kassel, more or less at the very heart of Germany, has undergone a peculiar transformation (Photo: asdfg)
Glance up at the tower and the you will be met by the disarming sight of alternating floating and missing sections of chimney stack (Photo: asdfg)
There are no cameras, no screens; instead, they do it with mirrors (Photo: asdfg)
View gallery - 13 images

A disused smoke stack in the town of Kassel, more or less at the very heart of Germany, has undergone a peculiar transformation. Glance up at the tower and the you will be met by the disarming sight of alternating floating and missing sections of chimney stack, courtesy of a bold intervention, named Sky Stack, by asdfg Architekten.

Apparently fixated by the existential worth of obsolete industrial architecture and infrastructure, asdfg (try typing that on a qwerty keyboard) has, through this modification, attempted to prompt the same wondering in others.

Close up, it's clear that this is a simple trick. There are no cameras, no screens; instead, they do it with mirrors. More accurately, five flexible reflective strips have been wrapped around the chimney, creating the impression, especially at a distance, that the stack is broken by the sky.

Judging by the photography, from the right vantage point with the right conditions, the effect is really rather striking.

Sources: asdfg, Architizer

View gallery - 13 images

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ArchitectureInvisibleArtHack
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James Holloway
James writes about science and technology from his home in rural East Anglia. Whether it's the internet, nature, video games or AI, he pays particular heed to the flash points with culture, society and the planet.
11 comments
DemonDuck
Didn't go far enough. Wrap the whole tower in reflective sheets. Then you got something...
Buellrider
As if enough birds aren't killed by flying into windows. Very stupid idea and apparently given absolutely no thought to the negatives of such a strategy.
dsiple
or a trompe l'oeil sky painting might work as well, and not reflect buildings, etc. I kind of like the floating blocks of chimney, though.
christopher
@Buellrider - you've clearly never seen a bird hit a window. They drop to the ground, shake their head, and fly away.
Siegfried Gust
christopher, I've disposed of enough that didn't get back up again to know that it's not a rare occurrence that they kill themselves in the process. That being said, if the reflective bands have any sort of pattern that you can only see once you get close, like 3M's reflective tapes, I think the birds would pick up on it in time to avoid collision.
Kim Bilida
@christopher - birds do not always recover so easily. We just had an incident in our city where nearly a whole flock of Bohemian Waxwings were killed when they flew into a glass art structure in front of the Scouts building.
MerrylST
Not so Christopher. Very many die.
Charles Bosse
Convex mirror? The birds will see their stretched reflection with plenty of time to avoid the stack.
Robin McCabe
Think people this is not transparent it is reflective. As the birds get close they will see their reflection think it is an oncoming bird and turn away.
Kwazai
?"...the existential worth of obsolete industrial architecture and infrastructure..."
I guess a solar steam power plant hadn't crossed the 'artists' mind in the first place. It could stand to be taller- then it would need a light at the top...
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