kingston bridge: image by Steve Hosey, Glasgow City
Council
Kingston Bridge Lights up
One of Glasgow City Council’s most unusual lighting projects is being
switched on tonight (July 4 2005) at the Kingston Bridge.
The £300k major public art commission, funded by Glasgow City Council,
is entitled “Chroma Streams; Tide and Traffic”. It is the work
of New York lighting artist Leni Schwendinger in collaboration with Ian
Alexander of jmarchitects.
kingston bridge: image by Steve Hosey, Glasgow City
Council
Sculptural armatures standing on the banks of the River
Clyde hold hi-tech lighting fixtures which project colour onto the
Kingston Bridge focusing on the underside of the central span. The lighting
sequences and colour palette is linked to road traffic levels on the bridge
and the tidal flows of the Clyde.
Bailie Allan Stewart, Convener of Glasgow City Council’s Lighting
Strategy (Policy & Resources) Working Group, said: “I’m
delighted to see the switching on of this project which is an innovative
and unique commitment by the Council to lighting as an art form.
“It is part of the Council’s wider commitment to our lighting
strategy which highlights some of our best architectural assets and at
the same time ensures a safer, brighter street environment for our citizens.
kingston bridge: image by Steve Hosey, Glasgow City
Council
“But this launch is about more than just one lighting project, it
is a celebration of the success of the Council’s lighting strategy
which during its first three years has seen dozens of our city’s
most beautiful buildings and monuments lit up.
“Our lighting strategy is also providing a UK first in 2005 - a Lighting
Festival called Radiance which will take place in November. It will provide
a perfect showcase and celebration of the work carried out by the Council
to turn Glasgow into a City of Light.”
Leni Schwendinger of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects Ltd said: “Two
concrete structural arcs make up the Kingston Bridge. This canvas consists
of the bridge’s grand concrete swaths; the underside and two inward
faces that connect the arcs.
“My refined palette selection and highly orchestrated programming
allows for 144 sequences of unique colour mixes - which will be linked
to the actual traffic patterns as data flows through sensors to the lighting
control board.”
kingston bridge: image by Steve Hosey, Glasgow City
Council
Ian Alexander of jmarchitects, who were the co-designers of the project
and in particular the land based armatures, said: “With Leni we were
amazed by the concrete mass of the twin bridge structure at Kingston Bridge
and the potential to interact with the movement of the water below and
the traffic above.
“The curving armatures below the bridge are mysterious objects by
day and night. The curve of the armatures is partly based on Lord Kelvin's
tidal measurements for Queens Dock.
“It is our hope that the lighting for the bridge will reveal the
heroic qualities of this structure and allow onlookers to reappraise such
a significant structure in the centre of Glasgow.”
Kingston Bridge Lighting - Background
Speeches will begin at 9.30pm. The lighting will be switched on at 10.30pm.
The Council will also launch its updated lighting leaflet called Glasgow
City of Light - a guide to projects implemented through Glasgow's Lighting
Strategy together with new installations at Crookston Castle and Glasgow
Necropolis.
Leni Schwendinger Light Projects Ltd is based in New York. The firm creates
lighting environments for architectural and public spaces all over the
world. Commissions include an innovative art lighting installation at
the Marion Oliver McCaw Opera House in Seattle, USA; illumination for
the landmark Coney Island Parachute Jump in New York, USA; and community-based
called “Water Above Water, a Sublime Floating Landscape” for
Glasgow 1999 at the Forth and Clyde Canal in Maryhill, Glasgow.
The Kingston Bridge Lighting Art Project is a collaborative venture between
Glasgow City Council (involving the Council departments of Development
and Regeneration Services and Land Services) and Leni Schwendinger Light
Projects Ltd in association with jmarchitects Glasgow and consulting engineers
Mott MacDonald. The contractors for the project were Northern Light and
James Young Ltd.
The Kingston Bridge opened to traffic in June 1970 and now carries in
excess of 180,000 vehicles per day across the River Clyde. The Bridge,
which is owned by the Scottish Executive, consists of two adjacent structures.
The main span across the River is 143 metres long.
Glasgow: City of Light is Glasgow City Council's city wide lighting strategy.
The initiative was launched in March 2002 for which the council allocated
£2.65 million from 2001/02 to 2003/04. A further £2.75 million
net capital has been allocated for 2004/2005 to 2006/2007. The Kingston
Bridge has a separate budget.
Prominent buildings that have been lit up include the Gallery
of Modern Art Glasgow, the Glasgow
Royal Concert Hall, The City Chambers, St George's Tron Church, Tollbooth
Steeple at Glasgow Cross and Anniesland Tower. On the River Clyde, other
structures that have been lit up include George V Bridge, Glasgow Weir,
Victoria Bridge and Glasgow Bridge.
Buildings which are due to be lit in the coming months include Mitchell
Library (Nov 2005) and the Kelvingrove
Art Gallery and Museum (Jun 2006).
The private sector has also got involved investing more than £2.2
million and have come to the Council for advice on how best to light their
buildings. Buildings which have been lit up in the private sector includes
The Sentinel, Waterloo Street; The Corinthian,
Ingram Street and Radisson Hotel Glasgow,
Argyle Street.
Kingston Bridge - Glasgow City Council PR
Glasgow School of Art
SECC Glasgow
Falkirk Wheel
Glasgow Science Centre
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Future
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Kelvin Bridge
Glasgow Bridge by Atkins / Richard Rogers