LIGHTHOUSE

For the past two years, Kollision has been involved in developing and implementing a lighting design in and around the Aarhus highrise Lighthouse. The lighting design encompasses the spectacular ceiling, Crown, in the restaurant on level 44, the large mullions on the northern façade at the top of the building, as well as the vertical posts on the terrace facing the city. Together, these elements create a soft lantern-like glow from within, combined with a more structured media expression on the exterior of the 142-meter-tall building.
In addition to the permanent installation, 24 large wash lights mounted on eight mobile trolleys can be used to illuminate the entire volume of the tower from the ground during special events.

The lighting system combines RGB and RGBW sources, all controlled by Kollision’s MAP player, which enables precise and coherent 3D expressions across the entire building. For instance, the entire tower can glow in soft red and white tones while a digital Dannebrog flag waves across the mullions, Danish colors flowing in and out on the terrace, as the restaurant ceiling glows faintly in the background.
On regular days, the lighting is more subdued and monochromatic, acting primarily as a visual landmark that makes the tower visible from across Aarhus. At other times, the illusion of a lighthouse is created by rotating a zone of white light slowly around the top of the building.

The extensive installation was executed by a team consisting of Design Smedien, who contributed the outdoor installation and rails; Martin Professional and LiteNordic, who supplied the lighting products; Lystek, who handled the indoor installation and general infrastructure; and Cipex, who provided the network. Kollision was responsible for content management, lighting design, and coordination with functional lighting.
The underlying concept behind the installation is based on ideas developed by 3XN, Form3, and Jesper Kongshaug.

Movie by Allan Toft.