The new Bay Bridge LED lighting system, built by Philips with Color Kinetics solutions, is a striking result of collaboration between the public and private sectors. The project, dubbed The Bay Lights, is economically supported entirely by individuals who can buy a certificate for one of the 25,000 LEDs that illuminate the bridge and donate it to friends and family. "Light ID", the minimum cost of which is $ 50, includes a unique title, message and photo. The maximum donation amount is not limited.
The original vision of renowned artist Leo Villareal and the vision of Ben Davis, director of Illuminate the arts (ITA), have made Bay Bridge a one-of-a-kind lighting installation of this magnitude that will delight visitors for the next two years. The renovated bridge will be seen by 50 million people, bringing the city of San Francisco nearly $ 100 million. An important part of the project is also the environmental component: the LED lighting system is 85% more energy efficient than traditional light sources, and the necessary electricity comes from CleanPath solar panels, specially allocated for this project and installed in Davis, California.
For The Bay Lights, Villarreal pioneered the use of LEDs and driven images from the Philips Color Kinetics eW Flex SLX system with a correlated color temperature of 4200K. This lighting solution is a versatile network of monitored LED nodes. The robustness and flexibility of the dynamic white light fixtures allows them to be installed on almost any surface in the interior and exterior, making them the ideal solution for The Bay Lights project. However, Philips Color Kinetics and Villarreal had to make changes to the structure of the luminaires - the distance between the LED nodes was increased in order to adapt them to the bridge structure. As a result, more than 7 km of LEDs were installed on the Bay Bridge, which is approximately equal to the sum of the distances between the bridge supports on both sides. The installed lighting will be visible from San Francisco without dazzling the drivers of vehicles traveling across the bridge.
“Using Philips LED technology gives the creative freedom to implement the project the way I envisioned it and breathes new life into this grand bridge,” says Leo Villarreal. “It’s not just lighting another bridge with white or colored light. The Bay Lights project shows us what smart light is capable of with 255 customizable LED brightness levels. The special software I have developed allows the system to constantly change dynamic lighting scenarios, creating a real work of art."
The transformation of Bay Bridge into a light sculpture is a unique LED experience that undoubtedly sets it apart from similar projects. Villarreal connected 25,000 LED nodes to create sophisticated lighting algorithms for the western part of the bridge. These scenarios will recombine over the course of two years of the system's operation, transforming the bridge into a living art installation, which, according to the organizers, will become the world's largest LED art object.
“The Bay Lights project is a prime example of how much LED technology can bring to society,” says Bruno Biasiotta, head of Philips America's Lighting Solutions Sector. “Where lighting and technology meet, the possibilities of light expand and new and exciting ideas emerge. The hard work of the ITA, Leo Villarreal and the California Department of Transportation has created a stunning new piece of art in San Francisco that highlights residents' interest in creativity and invites visitors to see what else this fantastic city has to show.”
Organizers of The Bay Lights have completely excluded taxpayer involvement through private funding. The cost of electricity for lighting the bridge for the year will be $ 11,000, which is equal to $ 30 per day or $ 4.25 per hour.
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