Transcriber: TED Translators admin Reviewer: Jeong-Lan Kinser
I will share with you today my professional and also personal journey,
towards a vision of Wind Blowing Light into my world.
My thing...
(Laughter) OK! Sorry.
So, I was always intrigued by these fascinating,
simple naive reminders
to the potential that is actually all around us.
I see them as signs of hidden plenitude,
calling our sensitive creativity
to find new and inviting ways
to connect to the abundance that is right here and right now.
I find the soft gusts of wind that are so often
existing as the urban environment
to be a wonderful manifestation of this potential.
And from the motivation of finding ways to connect
to this encircling self renewing energy, my project Windy Light came into life.
Windy Light is a collection of self sufficient outdoor light
that perform on free clean energy
while creating a unique and sensual illuminating experience.
(Applause)
It is designed to utilize the soft gusts of wind
and to provide light even in urban environment.
The first step to start with this project with the aim
of exploring how I might connect to this renewable resource.
How can we find ways to dance to the wind?
How can that wind really bring light into our world?
I started with setting this wind monitoring station
on the roof top of my residential building in Tel Aviv.
I was caught by the wind with complete surprise and curiosity.
I expected it to be changing and playful in nature
but still that it would move according to a certain pattern.
Forget it!
In a moment it would move from 22 to zero kilometers per minute
and then 5, 60, 7, 9, zero again.
In the beginning, I couldn't leave the monitor.
Every zero broke my heart.
I found myself holding my breath every time the wind stopped,
seeing my project completely falling apart in front of my eyes,
and then breathing in relief, when it came but once again,
teaching me that I have to work with the way things are,
instead of the way I was hoping them to be.
I also placed these playful wind-wheels on my balcony
to nourish my more playful, naive designer,
while at the same time exploring and studying
the necessary scientific data.
All along, we went on with developing the Windy Wheel,
the one repetitive module that collects energy from the wind
and transforms it into electrical current.
This one module is what makes the entire family of Windy Light possible.
And this is a part of the collection of Windy Lights
that aim to be both in the public
and also private sectors.
We were doing all our tests on this self developed mobile device
where we ride... (Laughter)
where we ride a bicycle to check and navigate our progress.
The first product we are aiming for the market
is the one module standalone Windy Light
that you can place on your window, balcony or garden.
The same module will also be used to create urban lighting installations
that would be followed by community activities
to create different brainstorming and thinking sessions
around the possibility of integrating
deep sustainable design thinking into our cities.
I'm sharing Windy Light with you today,
a raw design process that is still in the making.
I am doing so betraying the ancient tradition of designers
normally only showing sleek images of final results.
I'm doing this, because for me
the product is the means and not the end.
I work towards a vocation of design
that comes from a deep sense of participation,
trying to explore how we might aim together towards new visions
of communicating with the natural environment.
Windy Light and me, we grow together,
stretching the limits of each other as we go along.
At times, I am its loyal midwife
and at others, Windy Light is my inspiring teacher.
It has taught me to take the next step even though at times
I have no clue how I will take the one that follows.
But every time aiming again towards a vision that is greater than both of us.
Because at a time like this, we must not be stopped
because we feel incapable to fulfill our visions
but rather agree to take one step at a time
growing our projects and also growing ourselves.
Because it is up to each and every one of us
to let the Wind Blow Light into our world.
Thank you.
(Applause)