Miguel de Guzmán, a noted photographer and Spanish audiovisual producer, has shared with us one of his most recent works. MOON is the lighting project by Brut Deluxe that has taken Madrid's Gran Vía, delivering a perfect urban setting for the year-end celebrations. This context is also the location of a new film by Imagen Subliminal, who has already delighted us in the past with audiovisual proposals for projects like The POP-UP House and Casa del Espinar. The full Moon, after the break.
Lighting: The Latest Architecture and News
Christmas Lights in Madrid: Brut Deluxe's MOON Through the Lens of Miguel de Guzmán
https://www.archdaily.com/581497/christmas-lights-in-madrid-brut-deluxe-s-moon-through-the-lens-of-miguel-de-guzmanPola Mora
Christmas Wars: The Fight to Hold the World Record for the Most Christmas Lights
In the ongoing battle to hold the Guinness World Record for the Most Lights on a Residential Property (aka the house-with-the-most-Christmas lights), the Gay family in LaGrangeville, New York has once again reclaimed their title. This year the family used 601,736 lights, spanning two acres and set to more than 200 songs. RITZ Crackers, part of Mondelēz International, helped the family top the record, providing 200,000 lights. The Gay family and the Richards family in Canberra, Australia, have been fighting for the title over the past three years. But not to be outdone, the Richards family took home the Guinness World Record for the Largest Image Made of LED lights for their Christmas light installation this year. The installation in Canberra used 1,194,380 lights to make a 3D image of three Christmas gifts spanning 3,865 square meters and raised money for the charity SIDS and Kids ACT. See more pictures and read more about the ongoing lights competition at City Lab and Guinness World Records.
https://www.archdaily.com/580824/christmas-wars-the-fight-to-hold-the-world-record-for-the-most-christmas-lightsKatie Watkins
Foster + Partners' SSE Hydro Arena Features Translucent Skin, Innovative Seating System
Glasgow has just unveiled its new multipurpose structure which will end up revitalizing the Clyde Waterfront, which went into decline and neglect for many years following the closure of the town's major shipyards. After 8 years of construction, Foster + Partners' SSE Hydro now reveals its ETFE facade which is lit up every evening. During the day it manages to blend in with the usual changing Glasgow skyline.
The structure of the SSE Hydro Arena is covered by a 1.400 ton steel housing – one of the largest domes in Europe - and the ETFE translucent building enclosure allows one to discern what is happening inside from the outside. A 260 ton ring which supports the lighting is suspended from the dome, which will allow spectacular and customized lighting for each show.
The modern technology applied to this project contrasts with its interior structure that has been based on the Roman amphitheater, allowing each and every spectator at an event -- which can be up to 13.000 -- to have an optimal view of the stage. The viewing angle and comfort of the user is furthermore guaranteed by the special seating system designed by Foster + Partners along with Figueras International Seating.
https://www.archdaily.com/498318/foster-partners-sse-hydro-arena-features-translucent-skin-innovative-seating-systemBecky Quintal
VIDEO: Light Installation Transforms Cylindrical Tower
The bowels of a Gasometer may be an unlikely place to stage a light installation, however, URBANSCREEN, a German projection company, has done just that. 320 Licht is a spectacle of light and sound within a cylindrical volume over 300 feet high. With the help of Epson Germany, URBANSCREEN was able to sync 21 separate projectors for a 22 minute loop, documenting the process in the amazing high-definition video above. Enjoy!
https://www.archdaily.com/498477/video-light-installation-transforms-cylindrical-towerAndrew Galloway
Behind the Magic of Media Installations
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In this interview, originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "Q&A: Melissa Weigel of Moment Factory", Leslie Gallery-Dilworth talks with Weigel about the challenges of devising multimedia installations for public spaces, as in their recent installation for the Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
Montreal’s Moment Factory, a new media and entertainment studio, is best known for creating and producing multimedia environments that combine video, lighting, architecture, sound, and special effects. You may have seen their work at Cirque du Soleil, Madonna’s 2012 Superbowl Half Time Show, Disney's E3 booth, or Jay Z's Carnegie Hall debut. Perhaps you were there when they lit up the facade of the Sagrada Familia or Montreal's Quartier des Spectacles district. Or maybe you saw that they were included in Apple's recently launched 30th anniversary timeline.
Moment Factory was the main content provider for the interior concept and media features in the newly opened Bradley International Terminal at LAX, designed by Fentress Architects. It was a large collaboration consisting of several partners, including Mike Rubin with MRA International, Marcela Sardi of Sardi Design, Smart Monkey, Digital Kitchen, and Electrosonic with installation by Daktronics and Planar.
https://www.archdaily.com/473848/behind-the-magic-of-media-installationsLeslie Gallery-Dilworth
Light Matters: Glass Beyond Transparency with James Carpenter
In Modernism’s attempt to dissolve spatial boundaries with transparency, the material used - glass - is all too often dematerialised. In contrast, the New York-based designer James Carpenter is interested in multiple readings of glass - beyond transparency.
As Carpenter explains: “People approach light in relationship to architecture. It is that the light is the means by which the architecture is revealed and the architecture is basically defined by the way the light enters the space. I tend to think actually from the opposite direction where the light itself is what informs the architecture. The architecture is in service of light rather than the other way around.”
More Light Matters, after the break…
https://www.archdaily.com/454892/light-matters-glass-beyond-transparency-with-james-carpenterThomas Schielke
Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards 2013: Winners Announced
The winners of the 2013 Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards have been announced. With a total of 608 projects submitted from 52 countries, €48,000 in prize money has been awarded to 5 winning teams. The Lamp Awards were given to projects that successfully met the architectural lighting needs of an interior or exterior space, having created a positive synergy between the architecture, interior design, landscaping and lighting. The four categories included Architectural Outdoor Lighting, Indoor Lighting, Urban and Landscape Lighting, and Students Proposals.
The 2013 Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards Winners are:
https://www.archdaily.com/429186/lamp-lighting-solutions-awards-2013-winners-announcedEric Baldwin
UVA Transforms Sou Fujimoto's Serpentine Pavilion with "Electrical Storm" of LEDs
London-based United Visual Artists (UVA) has brought Sou Fujimoto’s “cloud-like” Serpentine Pavilion to life with an “electrical storm” of LEDs. With the intention of making the architecture “breathe” from within, UVA seamlessly integrated a network of LED lights into the latticed, 20mm steel pole structure that mimics the natural forms of an electric storm. In addition, carefully conducted auditory effects further enhance the experience, transforming Fujimoto’s “radical pavilion” into an electrified geometric cloud.
https://www.archdaily.com/409605/uva-transforms-sou-fujimoto-s-serpentine-pavilion-with-electrical-storm-of-ledsKarissa Rosenfield
Light Matters: Seeing the Light with James Turrell
Light matters, a monthly column on light and space, is written by Thomas Schielke. Based in Germany, he is fascinated by architectural lighting, has published numerous articles and co-authored the book „Light Perspectives“.
From early nocturnal studies in a lonely hotel room to transforming a volcano in the world’s biggest landscape art project to, most recently, lighting up the Guggenheim in New York, the American artist James Turrell is driven by his fascination with light. He explores perception for visual experiences where light is not a tool to enable vision but rather something to look at itself.
More Light Matters, after the break…
https://www.archdaily.com/380911/light-matters-seeing-the-light-with-james-turrellThomas Schielke
Reconnecting the Subway with the Sky
In the early years of the New York City subway system, natural light played a dominant role in the illumination of subterranean spaces. The architecture emphasized a connection to the sky, often through skylights planted in the median of city avenues above — lenses in the concrete sidewalks.
However, it proved extremely difficult to keep the skylights clean, and light eventually stopped passing through. Subway authorities moved toward an almost exclusive reliance on electric lighting. While this allowed for greater flexibility in station design, permitting construction at any location and depth, it also created a sense of disorientation and alienation for some passengers.
For the design of Lower Manhattan's Fulton Center, Arup, in conjunction with design architect Grimshaw sought to reconnect the century-old subway system with the world above.
Read more about this "enlightening" subway station, after the break...
https://www.archdaily.com/370396/reconnecting-the-subway-with-the-skyArup Connect
Can Glowing Trees One Day Replace Electric Streetlights?
“We don’t live in nature any more – we put boxes around it. But now we can actually engineer nature to sustain our needs. All we have to do is design the code and it will self-create. Our visions today – if we can encapsulate them in a seed – [will] grow to actually fulfill that vision." - Andrew Hessel in a recent ArchDaily interview
"Engineering nature to sustain our needs" is exactly what the Glowing Plant Project aims to do. Synthetic biologist Omri Amirav-Drory, plant scientist Kyle Taylor and project leader Antony Evans are working together to engineer "a glow-in-the-dark plant using synthetic biology techniques that could possibly replace traditional lighting" - and perhaps even create glow-in-the-dark trees that would supplant (pun intended) the common street light.
How is this possible? Read on to find out.
https://www.archdaily.com/372998/can-glowing-trees-one-day-replace-electric-streetlightsBarbara Porada
Lamp Lighting Solutions 2013 Awards Finalists
This year, the Lamp Lighting Solutions 2013 celebrated its 5th version. The awards are organized by LAMP, an architectural technical lighting company, specialized in, advising on and designing efficient solutions adaptable to any project by way of innovative and competitive products and services.
Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards 2013 closed its registration period with record on all the previous editions, with a total of 608 projects submitted from 52 countries and 61% internationalization.
More details on the winners after the break.
https://www.archdaily.com/368392/lamp-lighting-solutions-2013-awards-finalistsConstanza Cabezas
Light Matters: What Media Facades Are Saying
Light matters, a monthly column on light and space, is written by Thomas Schielke. Based in Germany, he is fascinated by architectural lighting, has published numerous articles and co-authored the book „Light Perspectives“.
Today we have permanent media façade installations worldwide that call for attention. With size, tempo, colour and brightness they stand up as individuals within the urban nightscape. Many of them send out their luminous messages in a broadcast mode. For this reason, neighbours, on occasion, demand an intense dialogue with regard to content and form of the media façade, especially as it’s often unclear whether light installations are architecture or advertisement.
However, in the same way a good book requires a storyteller, media facades demand curators to arrange exciting stories that fit into the site and suit the client. The following four examples show how media facades reflect the story of the buildings themselves - see them all, after the break...
https://www.archdaily.com/344971/light-matters-what-media-facades-are-sayingVanessa Quirk