February 23, 2012 at 9:33 am

Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

by twistedsifter

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 14 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

Photograph via Christophe Cauvy

 

 

About 120 km (74.5 miles) northeast of Turin, Italy, lies a hamlet called Viganella. It’s a remote commune of a couple hundred German Buddhists situated at the bottom of a steep-sided Alpine valley, right up against the Swiss border.

Every year from November 11th to February 2nd, the sun disappears for Viganella. The village square, which is described as the ‘living room’ for the entire hamlet empties out. The people don’t gather to socialize and play and that bothers the Village Mayor, Pierfranco Midali.

 

 

viganella italy aerial from above Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

The hamlet of Viganella | Photograph via Christophe Cauvy

 

 

mirror reflects sun on viallge in darkness Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

From Nov 11 – Feb 2, Viganella gets no direct sunlight | Diagram via BBC News, fixed by soulstealer1984 on Reddit

 

 

To combat this, the mayor came up with a novel solution. Build a gigantic mirror on a nearby peak to reflect sunlight on Viganella’s main square below. As the sun moves, so to will the computer-operated mirror.

The mirror measures 8 meters by 5 meters (26 x 16 ft) and cost approximately 100,000 euros to buid and install. The project was financed by the regional authorities and a bank.

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 13 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

Photograph via Christophe Cauvy

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 3 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 4 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 5 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 6 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

 

 

viganella italy builds mirror to reflect sun combat darkness 1 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

 

 

In a documentary entitled, The Mirror (Lo Specchio), director David Christensen captures the process of installing the giant mirror and the project’s affect on the lives of the people in the village and the surrounding valley. A trailer for the film can be seen below:

 

 

 

 

mr burns blocking out the sun Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness

Relevant

 

 

Sources

The Mirror (Lo Specchio) Trailer on YouTube
BBC News: Italy village gets ‘sun mirror’
Christophe Cauvy: What is the link between Facebook and an Alpine Italian village?
First spotted on Reddit

 

 

 

 

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cell phone tower disguised as a cactus 1 Italian Village Builds Giant Mirror to Combat 83 Days of Darkness