Gold Fine Arts and Art Installation Design · 2021
Milky Way Giant Installation Artwork with Lights
by Capa
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Fine Arts and Art Installation Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Capa
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 65,307
- Verification code C3EC988060 · Verify this award
About Milky Way Giant Installation Artwork with Lights
Milky Way is a public art installation located in Wuhan, China. The sculpture spans 90 meters in diameter and reaches a height of 40 meters, and is made of forged stainless steel with a sprayed paint finish. Full-color LED lighting is integrated into the structure, with seven preset colors that can be changed for different occasions, such as weekdays, holidays and special events. The rising and falling curves recall the mountains and rivers of Wuhan, while three main lines refer to the three towns of the city.
CAPA's Milky Way Giant Installation Artwork with Lights represents a distinguished achievement within the contemporary discourse of monumental public art and parametric design, situating itself at the intersection of computational aesthetics, experiential architecture, and urban placemaking traditions that have flourished since the late twentieth century. The installation demonstrates remarkable technical accomplishment in its realization of complex doubly-curved surfaces through triangulated steel mesh systems, a methodology that traces lineage to pioneering structural explorations while advancing these principles through contemporary digital fabrication capabilities. The chromatic programming reveals sophisticated understanding of color psychology and atmospheric effect, deploying graduated illumination that transforms the rigid geometry of the steel framework into an apparition of flowing cosmic energy, perhaps evoking the galactic formations suggested by the work's evocative title. The serpentine formal language engages productively with traditions of kinetic and environmental art, suggesting movement and temporal duration within static material form, while the scale relationship between the sweeping horizontal extension and vertical cresting creates a dynamic spatial experience that activates the surrounding urban plaza as participatory theater. The integration of landscape elements, visible in the warm-lit deciduous plantings that punctuate the installation's perimeter, demonstrates thoughtful attention to the dialogue between constructed intervention and natural systems, softening the technological precision with organic counterpoint. One might observe how the work negotiates the challenging context of high-density metropolitan development, offering a moment of wonder and contemplation within the commercial intensity of the surrounding towers, perhaps inviting viewers to consider their relationship to both cosmic vastness and immediate urban experience. The installation's membrane quality, neither fully solid nor transparent, creates intriguing phenomenological conditions as viewers move around and potentially through the structure, encountering shifting relationships between interior luminosity and exterior darkness. What experiences of wonder, movement, or cosmic imagination might this installation kindle in those who encounter its glowing presence?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The span of 90 meters in diameter and the height of 40 meters ensure the volume that it should present in the space. And the lighting of the work adopts a full-color LED lamp design, preset 7 colors for the color change, which can meet the visual effect and show the mystery and charm of the vast universe. 7 colors can be adjusted according to needs, such as weekday mode, holiday mode, New Year mode, major event commemoration mode, etc.,
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 90 meters in diameter and the height of 40 meters，1400t
- Tags
- China Wuhan; 7 colour LED; Giant Installation Artwork; Public Art
- Production Technology
- Stainless steel forged spray paint
- Design Challenge
- At the beginning of the project, we had a regular understanding of the sculpture in Wuhan. However, when we arrived at the site, we found that it was a very huge place, about 200 meters away from the circle island to the nearing buildings. Besides, there were many tall buildings nearby, which made the place like a bowl. Underneath the circle island is a large commercial complex, which includes tunnels for cars and subways. so it is a particularly complex infrastructure. Moreover, when making this commercial complex, there was no structural requirement for making large sculptures on the top cover.
So we're going to have three big questions:
First, the oversized structure was placed on a surface similar to an eggshell.
Second, the architecture is faced with complicated visual problems, there are very far perspectives, there are very close perspectives, also have the view from the tall building.
Third, Wuhan is a famous cultural city with a long history. What kind of story to be told here can not only reflect the cultural connotation of Wuhan but also conform to the modern temperament of Optics Valley business circle? - Project Duration
- PROJECT DURATION：2018-2019
LOCATION：CHINA, WUHAN - Operation Flow
- Light Interaction
- Research
- The Yangtze River, the third-longest river in the world, and the Hanshui River, its largest tributary, run through the central part of the Wuhan city, dividing the city into three parts, forming a pattern of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. Therefore, Wuhan has been called the river city since ancient times and is a famous cultural city with a long history. The Galaxy is the largest single steel structure public art installation in China at present. Also, the Wuhan government welcome the 7th World Military Games to create one of the key projects. We tried to create sculpture just by using the "light" of Optics Valley as a primary visual element. Through the changes of different lighting colors and positions, the different theme effects can be combined with each other to integrate the whole sculpture. In every late night, light up the night sky of Wuhan.
- Inspiration
- The shape of the ups and downs of the sculpture symbolizes the urban landscape of Wuhan's blending of mountains and rivers. Three obvious and intensive lines of curves correspond to the magnificent three towns of Wuhan. The circular shape from an over-looking of is an aspiration for a better life in the future. The interweaving dream out into the future is lighted up in the night sky.
- Image Credits
- Photographer: Long Qiuye(Nero);
Video Cutter: Sun Chao
Colors of Milky Way Giant Installation Artwork with Lights
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