Public Commissions The Royal Library, 1999 Lightscreening for parts of the new Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark (Architects: Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen K/S) Blinds in laminated fibre-glass Fluorescent wires "moulded" into the material Shine for c. 10 seconds when the light is switched off. Size: c. 1.4 x 4.0 metres /////////////////////////////////////////////// In 1998 the new Royal Library was finished in Copenhagen, located right out at the harbour fairway on the southern side of the city. The large, asymmetrical window sections which go from floor to ceiling and face the water needed inside blinding. The architects Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen were sceptical about the idea of actual textiles in the rooms, which have been kept consistently in bare "silk concrete", glass and steel. The solution was fibre-glass used as blinds all the way up the window surface. The laminated, specially treated fibre product filters the strong light from the sun and its reflections in the water. At the same time the paper-light material permits a certain amount of transparency out towards the beautiful surroundings. But in the lamination of each blind a single fluorescent wire has been inlaid, which after the sun has gone forms a last reflection of the light, a twilight pattern in the blind itself.