3D-printed sundial takes on a different flower-like shape in every city

Your experience of the sun’s path can change dramatically depending where in the world you are, which is why design studio prescription teamed up with Arup to create a sundial that can take on a different form depending on where it’s located. Made of 3D-printed white plastic, the site-specific sundial has a distinctive fan-like shape that creates a moving shadow with an illusion of a blooming flower.

While beautiful, the shape of the sundial’s curved fins is strictly pragmatic. The designers feed solar path cycle data into an algorithm that creates optimized geometry corresponding to each hour of daylight. The final form resembles flower petals that trace the direction of the sun’s rays.

The sundial can be used 365 days of the year and has cutouts to show the time of day in digit form. The designers have set up the first 3D-printed sundial prototype in Amsterdam.

By Lucy Wang. Via ArchDaily