Nicolas Wüthrich (at the front) and Julian Fischbacher set up the laser scanner at a crossroads immediately adjacent to the Rail Corridor. They will subsequently insert their designs for the corridor in the point cloud images created by the scanner. (Photo: Lina Meisen)
Today they are back with a 3D laser scanner. Jonas and Manuel place the blue box on its tripod and start taking measurements.
The scanner begins to rotate slowly around its own axis, while a round mirror in the open, central part of the device spins around vertically at tremendous speed. The scanner is sweeping the area with a barrage of invisible laser beams, which are reflected by any objects within a distance of 300 metres, including leaves, wooden posts, puddles and mounds of earth. The scanner converts each reflected pulse into a data point in a three-dimensional model. It captures up to 500,000 points a second, and the intensity of the reflected beams provide information on the properties of the surface they bounce off. The scanner also shoots 80 images of its surroundings, so that they can be assembled into a 360° panorama, to later on render the point clouds in their original colours. Girot’s group has spent years using these kinds of three-dimensional point cloud models to map large-scale urban topographies and their characteristics. As part of this seminar, the students will create their own point clouds of the Rail Corridor and then flesh them out with interventions to combat Singapore’s urban heat island effect.
Just before sunset, as the first mosquitoes start to bite, the two students successfully complete the last of their six laser scans. We bid farewell to the wild stretch of urban rainforest and, just 15 minutes later, find ourselves back in the heart of the noisy, bustling metropolis. A heavily air-conditioned metro train, which runs every five minutes, whisks us back to Little India where the students are staying the night – back to the ever-chaotic part of Singapore, where the humid air smells of masala, carnations and perspiration.
Transcontinental cooperation
Christophe Girot has spent many years establishing a broad network of contacts across Japan and Singapore, including Professor Erwin Viray at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Girot managed to persuade Viray to hold the seminar in tandem at SUTD, and on Sunday evening the students from Zurich and Singapore met for the first time. Two days later, they were already in mixed teams working on designs for the Rail Corridor. Another joint workshop is scheduled for Thursday morning, this time at SUTD, which is near the airport on the eastern part of Singapore island. Palm trees tower over the courtyard of the modern, organically-shaped building, and the bougainvillea has transformed the balconies into a riot of violet. The university’s motto –
For a better world through design
– is displayed on the white facade of the reception building.
