Paint by drone
Paint by Drone is a new portable technological solution developed by the international design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati.
The concept for the system is that drone formations are employed to 'draw' on urban facades, able to turn any blank vertical surface into a space for artistic expression or for the visualisation of urban data.
The first two installations of Paint by Drone are planned for Autumn 2017 in Berlin and Turin. In both cities, large-scale collaborative graffiti projects will be created, using the facades of construction sites as giant canvases.
Paint by Drone employs a set of 1 m-wide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), each of them equipped with sensors and carrying a spray paint tank. Each drone paints with CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key) as in most traditional printing processes.
A central management system regulates the drones’ operations in real-time, from image painting to flight, using an advanced monitoring system that precisely tracks the UAV’s positions. A protective net placed on the scaffolding’s’ cover allows the drones to move in a 'safe' space.
Drones can draw content submitted digitally via an app. The artistic input can come from either crowdsourced platforms or from a curator orchestrating the contributions of several people.
Professor Carlo Ratti, founder of Carlo Ratti Associati studio and Director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said:
“Our cities are filled with blank vertical surfaces, either permanent or temporary. Scaffold sheeting, for instance, has great potential, but in fact it is mostly used in bland ways – left empty or employed for advertising.
“With Paint by Drone we would like to unleash the potential of ‘phygital graffiti’. Any façade can become a space where to showcase, new forms of open-source, collaborative art or to visualise the heartbeat of a metropolis through real time data.”
Content and images courtesy of Carlo Ratti Associati.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Social distancing goes high tech
Tech tools to help manage people and space post-pandemic.
Eclectic Edwardian architecture
A style that ranges from mock Tudor to arts and crafts to the 'Wrenaissance'.
Free guide from Secured by Design.
Building Back Better: Circularity
BREEAM strategy for sustainability and the circular economy.
Free tool to improve the construction programming process.
Building services verification
Are buildings doing what they're supposed to be doing?
Cities with quick access to everything by foot or bike.
The pressures and pinch points of global destinations.
The green economic recovery beyond COVID-19
Making the case for a sustainable future.
Building Conservation Certification Scheme expands eligibility
Retrofit professionals now entitled to enter CIOB programme.
Unlimited Potential report looks at gender and racial bias
How, where, when and why stereotypes happen.
Optimising the best features of both energy performance tools.
The project information process
BSRIA guidance updated in BG 78/2021 publication.
ISO standard supports crime prevention through environmental design.