What is a City but the People – Vivid Lighting Festival 2019
Light art installation · Vivid Sydney
Thirty-one towers at Circular Quay, changing colour with the path of the sun so that visitors could stand inside a city in miniature.
‘What is a City but the People?’ was exhibited at Circular Quay for the Vivid Sydney festival in June 2019. The work was developed at WSP Australia, in collaboration with fellow lighting designers Fiona Venn and Rachel Smith.
The idea
Cities have a way of making us feel small, and sometimes of swallowing us up. The installation allows the event goer to become fully immersed within the city, to connect with it and enjoy it, and to see it from a different perspective.
Light, shadow and the path of the sun
The way natural and artificial light affects a city and its inhabitants is not always understood or acknowledged. Cities change with the path of the sun at different times of the year, and the interplay of light and shadow across buildings affects both the way we design them and the way we use them.
Thirty-one towers
The installation’s 31 towers rise from the ground and are illuminated internally. They change colour with the path of the sun, moving from warm to cool, and twinkle when seen from a distance, mimicking a cityscape in real life.
Fiona Venn
Rachel Smith
- Light Art
- Public Installation
- Festival Lighting
- Colour & Dynamic Control
- Immersive Experience
- Conceptual Design
