The sun is always shining somewhere in Innsbruck. Unless, of course, somebody turns it off. That's because the Austrian city has the Bartenbach LichtLabor artificial sky. Equipped with 3,000 computer-controlled fluorescent, halogen, and LED bulbs, the 14-foot-tall dome can simulate daylight conditions - from a clear summer morning to a stormy winter afternoon - anywhere on Earth. The idea is to let architects see how natural light might filter through future building configurations. In recent years, computer modeling has largely displaced simulators like this one. But sometimes, silicon just won't suffice. For example, when the architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill wanted to prove the brilliance of their planned 919-window roof for a new terminal at Singapore's Changi International Airport, they invited officials to Austria for a sneak peek. "It was a hard sell," architect Ross Wimer says of the $1.7 billion plan, "until they stuck their heads inside the building."
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