flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Spireworks app lets users control a piece of the New York skyline

Spireworks app lets users control a piece of the New York skyline

Anyone with a smartphone can change the color of the lights at the Bank of America Tower and 4 Times Square.


By BD+C Staff | August 22, 2014

Mark Domino, the son-in-law of developer Douglas Durst, has developed an app, called Spireworks, that allows anyone with a smartphone to change the color of a building's lights. 

Durst installed the corresponding technology on two midtown skyscrapers—Bank of America Tower and 4 Times Square, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reports. App users will be able to play with the light colors on the spire and antennae of the buildings, as well as add sparkles and pulses of light.

The project is still in the testing stages, and users can join only if invited by a current user. Durst says there are a few hundred users so far and estimates that about five people manipulate the lights per night. 

Domino and Durst told the New York Daily News that the project is meant to be a fun alternative to the Empire State Building, which changes its lights for the holidays. “People don’t believe you can do this,” Domino told the paper. 

The company is still unsure how many users can utilize Spireworks at once without crashing the system.

Related Stories

| Sep 23, 2011

Fire and hurricane rated glazed wall assemblies installed at multi-family residence in Florida

Fire and hurricane assemblies meet design and code requirements.

| Sep 23, 2011

ABI turns positive after four monthly declines

On the heels of a period of weakness in design activity, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) took a sudden upturn in August.

| Sep 23, 2011

Under 40 Leadership Summit

Building Design+Construction’s Under 40 Leadership Summit takes place October 26-28, 2011 Hotel at the Monteleone in New Orleans. Discounted hotel rate deadline: October 2, 2011.  

| Sep 20, 2011

Jeanne Gang wins MacArthur Fellowship

Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship winner described by the foundation as "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."

| Sep 20, 2011

Francis Cauffman wins two IDA design awards

The PA/NJ/DE Chapter of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has presented the Francis Cauffman architecture firm with two awards: the Best Interior Design of 2011 for the W. L. Gore offices in Elkton, MD, and the President’s Choice Award for St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.

| Sep 20, 2011

PPG, Pleotint to co-market environmentally adaptive glazing technology with low-e glass

 Laminated between two lites of glass, SRT interlayer may be used monolithically or within an insulating glass unit. 

| Sep 19, 2011

Portland team hired as LEED and commissioning consultants for $5.5B downtown sustainable project in Qatar

The $5.5 billion sustainable downtown regeneration project underway by Msheireb Properties will transform a 76 acres site at the centre of Doha, Qatar’s capital city, recreating a way of living that is rooted in Qatari culture, attracting residents back to the city center and reversing the trend for decentralization.

| Sep 16, 2011

Chicago Architecture Foundation partners with seven renowned architects to re-imagine Chicago neighborhoods

Design on the Edge presents plans created by seven teams of nine Chicago-based architects to reimagine seven of the city’s neighborhoods to encourage street life, retail districts and dense housing around the existing “L” transit system.

| Sep 14, 2011

USGBC L.A. Chapter's Green Gala features Jason McLennan as keynote speaker

The Los Angeles Chapter of the nonprofit USGBC will launch its Sustainable Innovation Awards this year during the chapter's 7th Annual Green Gala on Thursday, November 3.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021