Salling Lights

In 1906 Ferdinand Salling opened a small haberdashery in the sleepy market town, Aarhus, eventually opening the first department store on the main shopping street in Aarhus. In 1953 his son, Herman Salling took over, and grew Salling into a large retail empire, including two iconic department stores in Aarhus and Aalborg. Both father and son had a vision that the facades of the flagship stores should be able to change colour when the seasons changed and at special occasions. 110 years after opening the first store, Kollision helped realise this vision, creating the first media façades in the city centres of Aarhus and Aalborg.

The facades are using Kollision’s player software to control a number of lighting designs, ranging from architectural light patterns to Valentine’s Day Hearts. At special occasions the facade is interactive allowing users to paint with light on the large canvas. The facade is not used for commercial messages, but created as a cultural platform communicating activities in the two cities along with subtle brand values in dialogue with the citizens.

The two facades cover more than 1,300 sqm. Kollision designed the two layouts of the pixline products from Martin Professional, provided the player software with dynamic plugins, interactive lighting, and bespoke lighting designs. Kollision also handled the entire design process together with the two municipalities. Both dialogue and testing together with the city architects as well as meetings with neighbours, resulting in site-specific design manuals for the media facades. The project was realised in close collaboration with Salling and was funded by the Salling Foundation.