Award Number : 09B06058 Award-winning item : Fractal shade[Fractal shade for your better outdoor life] Company : LOSFEE Co.,Ltd. Producer： LOSFEE Co., Ltd. + Terumitsu Tamotsu, CEO, Reform Kagoshima Co., Ltd. Director： Satoshi Sakai, Associate Professor, Kyoto University + Ouki Miyagawa, Chairman, Landscape Project + LOSFEE Co.,Ltd. + Emiko Tamotsu, Manager, Reform Kagoshima Co., Ltd. Designer： LOSFEE Co., Ltd. + Kiyohito Tamotsu, Reform Kagoshima Co., Ltd.

A fractal is a geometric concept under which both parts and the whole of the design are similar to each other. Fractals are seen widely in the natural world, in phenomena such as leaf patterns and tree branches. This design has developed a new sunshade using a shape known as a Sierpinski tetrahedron. It is a sunshade with a new, natural design that provides comfortable spaces resembling the shade and ventilation of trees, in hot urban environments and outdoor living spaces. Its lightweight, foldable aluminum frame makes installation easy, and its cloth openings create an effect like that of rays of sunshine filtering through trees, without flapping in the wind. Using wind to diffuse heat, it is even more comfortable than an ordinary sunshade, without emitting radiant heat.

It would be nice if the urban environment felt like the woods. This sunshade, which resembles the structure of a tree and is intended to provide people with comfortable outdoor spaces and keep temperatures down, also proposes innovations in urban design and new ways of living in society. More than just a substitute for the eaves of a house, it also can increase opportunities for interaction with nature through use of fractal design for the roofs of shopping arcades, providing sunshades for spaces such as parking lots, and changing places where children play or people gather into comfortable and safe outdoor spaces. Being able to do so would make the urban environment a comfortable space like a forest.

Simply reproducing the effect of tree shade would have made this product just a good idea. However, this fractal shade is a powerful product that could transform our environment in the future. The natural accumulation of tree leaves dissipates heat without storing it, cooling the surrounding area by creating gentle rays of sunshine filtering through trees. This product, employing the fractal concept to reproduce natural conditions using simple forms, not only features these heat-dissipation effects of the natural world but also is low-priced. The country's leaders have pledged to the world that they would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levels. This is a revolutionary product that can support this effort. The city might be covered in this sunshade quickly.