Hi John; That's a cool idea for the community center, thanks. It might be a challenge the closer we get to the equator as it might be hard to view.
I was thinking about roof pitch also. If my southern facing roof was pitched 90 degrees to my co-latitude it would be parallel to the earths' axis. So when I look up a groove of the corrugated tin roof it would point directly at the north star or southern cross. That has the same challenge the closer you get to the equator. How about a birthday window: On the east facing wall have a blacked out window with a hole in the middle. This might cast a spot of light on a different place on the wall each sunrise. When it is your birthday, hang your photo where the sun spot is shining and every year thereafter the sun will shine on you on your special day. I suppose you could do that for all family members. That sounds fun. The kids could watch their birthdays coming by following the sun spot. brent On 3/29/2011 7:27 AM, John Carmichael wrote:
How about this: On one of the buildings, design a southern facing roof. Angle the roof so that it is equal to the latitude. Then place a gnomon on the roof and make the entire southern roof into a giant polar sundial. Everyone in the village would be able to see and use it. John C. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brent Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 7:20 AM To: Sundial List Subject: Sundial house Hello again; I have the opportunity to design some ultra low cost housing for slum resettlement. Just because they are low cost doesn't mean they can't be cool places to live. here are a few ideas I have: 1. I could orient the houses to true north. The east or west walls could have a long horizontal window that could act as a sunrise/sunset calendar. The window could have a center mullion that would cast a shadow on the wall around the room which could be marked as a calendar. 2. Orient the gables north and south and leave the gable ends exposed with no overhanging eaves and set vertical dials on the north or south or both. Maybe I could make a stencil or two and simply paint on dial faces. Or show the new owners how to do that and let them mark their own. I would appreciate any other ideas. They just need to be inexpensive and simple to use. Here is a cool saying that seems appropriate: Sol Lucet Omnibus The Sun Shines for Everyone brent --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
--------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
