CF Type 1, Ceiling Fan

CF Type 1 is part of a series of experiments exploring the potential of mechanical and natural ventilation within interior spaces to replace air-conditioning systems and generate comfortable, aesthetic interior climates and air qualities. The widespread practice of using air-conditioners to control and standardise interior climates is being increasingly scrutinised, due to its high-energy use, impact on climate change and health issues related to poor air quality. Through an unconventional blade design, this project re-envisions the traditional archetypal ceiling fan to produce a design that generates air movement that simulates natural air movement - characterised by irregular fluctuations in air velocity, pressure and direction, whilst also creating a striking visual-kinetic effect. The blade fins fold back on themselves in three dimensions, allowing for a larger cross-section of air to be moved at slower rotational speeds, with irregular pulses of air movement through a range of frequencies. When spinning, the clear thermoformed acrylic blades generate a cloud-like three-dimensional volume refracting light and resembling a shimmering nebula. Exhibited in Mood River, Wexner Centre for the Arts, Ohio USA, a major international snapshot of turn of millennium design curated by Jeffrey Kipnis, Annette Massie with Philip Johnson, inspired by the landmark 1934 exhibition Machine Art curated by Johnson at MoMA, New York; short-listed for the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award and exhibited throughout Australia. Exhibited 'Spacecraft 0701', Melbourne Monash University Gallery; 'Chrysalis Light', Span Galleries, Melbourne; reviewed in the Age (2001); published in a book New Design in Australia (Craftsman House, 2001) and design journals Indesign (2001), Artichoke and Curve (2004).