# It's a 2000s-style solar death ray!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-2000s-style-solar-death-ray/292651>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 2, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-2000s-style-solar-death-ray/292651 "2005-03-02T21:25:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-2000s-style-solar-death-ray/292651/1 "2005-03-02T21:25:28Z")

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[The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles](http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/02/gehry_fries_pedestri.html) fries eggs and passing pedestrians!

> [@](#):
>
> Sunlight reflected from the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles has “roasted the sidewalk to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to melt plastic and cause serious sunburn to people standing on the street”. The fix: dull the building’s highly reflective surface. Or – meep-meep! Paging mister Christo! Need some orange curtains over here.

I especially like the visual comparison of the Disney Concert Hall with the Odiello Solar Furnace.

CNN story [here](http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/02/disney.hall.ap/index.html).

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-2000s-style-solar-death-ray/292651/2 "2005-03-02T22:08:34Z")

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[From the LA Times article](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-030105disney_lat,0,5171623.story?coll=la-home-headlines)

> [@](#):
>
> “I will just appreciate not having the glare,” said condo resident Jacqueline LaGrone, who said her air conditioning bill doubled during summer months since the Disney Hall opened and that she can’t use her patio…
> 
> “Let them get shades,” said Charlotte Epstein, who was visiting the concert hall from New Jersey. “It think it’s very interesting. It’s very different. I would leave it the way it is.”

:wally

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-2000s-style-solar-death-ray/292651/3 "2005-03-02T22:40:01Z")

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Sheesh. You do have to be exceptionally obtuse (or at least an exceptionally bad neighbor) to design a building with a shiny metal surface in LA. Especially with nice curved surfaces that will focus the sun.