Don’t worry! We haven’t forgotten! Did you miss our usual Tuesday publication? We’re justified… We asked Santa for help with this week’s entry, and of course, we had to wait until tonight for him to put everything under the Christmas tree in our patio. Now that we have everything we asked for, all we had to do was prepare and publish it!
What are we going to talk about? Well, just like the nougat, our dearest relatives who live far away from us, the Christmas tree or the Nativity scene that we improvise in our homes, cities are also decorated as we well know with different elements. As he flew over the skies of our cities, we decided to ask Santa for a small compilation of the illuminations that most caught his attention. What has he left us? Here it is!
One of the examples he wanted to show us has to do with one of the most traditional types of lighting, but carried out in a more subtle way. It is an example where, as can be seen, we work with the present nature, which is dressed with different lines of light that follow the organic forms of the plants. However, a bluish light halo is added which gives a certain majesty to the whole, giving it the power that these scenes may require when, as in this case, the bulbs that accompany the branches are of a neutral white colour. The result is a timid work, which does not scream in the darkness of the night, preserving the dark nature of it, while providing the space with that Christmas spirit.
In a somewhat more artificial, though equally unique, Santa shares with us “The Helix Tree”, a lighting work in which sound also takes on part of the protagonism, since one of the characteristics of the piece is its ability to alter itself according to the sound it receives. Let’s remember that Christmas is a time when Christmas songs follow one another continuously, so doesn’t it make sense to integrate that factor into Christmas lighting? The fact that you can interact with it makes the piece an attraction, and not just a thing to observe from far, thus managing to bring together people who happened to come across the object – we suggest you see it in action on the artist’s website!
The last example left by Santa Claus is this work of TCD (Technical Direction Company), in Sydney. For Christmas 2015 the city council commissioned them to light two of the city’s most emblematic elements, its cathedral, and a brutalist building known as the CTA (Commercial Travellers Association Building). TDC made a more theatrical and imaginative lighting on the main facade of the cathedral, however, although full of color and brightness, we found it really original to want to transform a building into a giant gift, something that works really well in this architectural example. Perhaps it is not an exaggeratedly original solution, but the great realization and integration of the building leads us to take our hat off to a job well done.
However, there is one aspect that we did not take into account until now when teaching these works… What about the energy expenditure? In these last years we see how the cities fight to be the protagonists in this field, shooting the consumption of electricity, spending high budgets in the putting of these elements, and producing waste in the form of elements that in time are not going to be reused…
At this point, then, we wonder if we should turn off the Christmas lights definitively, or start integrating sustainability principles – is that possible?
What do you think? Should they be shut down? Or do you have more examples of these that you want to share with us for some reason? Tell us on our networks or this post!