"This is the first time we've used light as a building material," says architect David Rockwell about Luminaries, an interactive, public lighting display in Lower Manhattan created by The Lab at Rockwell Group. Commissioned by Arts Brookfield and located in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place (formerly known as The World Financial Center), Luminaries inspires visitors to pause, reflect, and look to the future. Three glowing Corian Wishing Stations invite guests to "send" wishes to the canopy of lanterns where they transform into mesmerizing displays of dappling light and color, creating a collaborative ritual. Each wish results in a donation to the GRAMMY Foundation to support music education programs for high school students.
The display comprises 650 color-changing LED lanterns that hover like a magic carpet above the Winter Garden. The lanterns erupt every hour with choreographed light shows, inspired by natural phenomena. Luminaries remains on display through January 10, 2016.
"The Rockefeller Center tree is one of the greatest lighting installations in the world," says Rockwell, as quoted in Fast Company. "I was intrigued by big-scale installations like Rockefeller and in smaller traditions like the Saks windows…”
Now Rockwell has a holiday tradition of his own, featured on CBS Sunday Morning, December 20 at 9am, in an interview with correspondent Martha Teichner. The video will be available online after the broadcast: www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning.