Star-packed design teams unveil eye-catching plans to light up River Thames
– Hannah Rothschild
Proposals by six international teams – representing seventy-three artists, architects, designers, planners and engineers – to illuminate 17 of central London’s bridges along the River Thames will be unveiled on 9 November.
The Illuminated River International Design Competition called for lighting designs that include new technologies and display outstanding aesthetic quality. It attracted entries from 105 teams working in the fields of art, technology and design and a shortlist of six – led by Adjaye Associates, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, AL_A, Les Éclairagistes Associés, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Sam Jacob Studio – was drawn up in September.
The designs will be on public display this week in a free exhibition running for three weeks at the Royal Festival Hall.
The competition winner will be chosen by a jury supported by a technical advisory panel and announced on 8 December. The successful proposal will then enter the development stage. The project has so far received £10m (US$12.4m, €11.2m) in funding through the Arcadia Fund and the Rothschild Foundation.
Hannah Rothschild, chair of the Illuminated River Foundation, said: “Since the founding of London, the mighty Thames has been the city’s main artery, linking north and south, east and west, encouraging business, activity and recreation. But at night, the river becomes a ribbon of darkness, a place that few enjoy and at odds with the ambition to make London a 24-hour city.
“This project will bring light, energy, beauty and recreation to the river and at the flick of a switch, transform the city at night.”
The shortlisted designs, including new renderings, can be viewed below:
1. Blurring Boundaries
Adjaye Associates with Cai Guo-Qiang, Chris Ofili, Larry Bell, Jeremy Deller, Philippe Parreno, Richard Woods, Mariko Mori, Lorna Simpson, Teresita Fernández, Joana Vasconcelos, Angela Bulloch, Thukral & Tagra, Katharina Grosse, Glenn Ligon, Doug Aitken, Tomás Saraceno, onedotzero digital consultants, Plan A Consultants, DHA, Hurley Palmer Flatt, AKT II, AECOM, Arup, Sir Robert McAlpine, Tavernor Consultancy, DP9, Four Communications, Hayes Davidson digital visualisers, Bosch and iGuzzini
2. The Eternal Story of the River Thames
AL_A, Asif Kapadia, Simon Stephens, SEAM Design, Arup, GROSS. MAX., Mark Filip, Soundings and DP9
3. Synchronizing the City: Its Natural and Urban Rhythms
Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Oliver Beer, Arup, Copper Consultancy, L’Observatoire International, Penoyre & Prasad, Jennifer Tipton and Transsolar
4. Current
Leo Villareal with Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and FuturePace, Atelier Ten, Beckett Rankine, Bradley Hemmings, Core Five, Futurecity, Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, MBNA Thames Clippers, Montagu Evans, Pentagram, Price & Myers
5. A River Ain’t Too Much To Light
Les Éclairagistes Associés (L.E.A.), ecqi ltd. and Federico Pietrella in association with GVA Lighting Europe Limited and ewo srl
6. Thames Nocturne
Sam Jacob Studio and Simon Heijdens with Studio Dekka, Daisy Froud, Elliott Wood, Jackson Coles and Professor John Tyrer
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