A festival of light: 30 glowing see-saws illuminate downtown Montreal
A group of Canadian designers have collaborated on a huge illuminated playground in Montreal where members of the public can ride 30 glowing, musical see-saws.
Located in the city’s downtown, each see-saw is fitted with LEDs and speakers and emits waves of light and sound which change in intensity depending on movement. The subsequent music and visuals merge together to create an ever-changing composition.
The dreamlike effect is enhanced by abstract pulsing, soundtracked video projections displayed on the walls of nine surrounding buildings. These play with concepts of balance, symmetry, harmony and their binary opposites.
The art project, named Impulse, is the work of lighting designers CS Design, architecture studio Lateral Office, composer Mitchell Akiyama and engineer EGP Group and was commissioned by Canadian cultural organisation Quartier des Spectacles. It will be open to the public until the end of January 2016.
“We wanted to create a holistic environment through the use of physical objects,” CS Design partner Conor Sampson told CLAD. “The response has been overwhelming. The public love it. We’ve had more than 500 people using the see-saws every day.”
Sampson said that Impulse, which was created in just four months, is designed to be easily assembled and dissembled and revealed that several other cities have expressed interest in exhibiting the installation.
“It’s certainly a model that can be used again and again,” he said. “Public art can lift environments, change perspectives and create added value to an urban area.”
Impulse forms part of Montreal’s Luminotherapie festival, now in its seventh year. The annual event is organised to create an original winter experience for city-dwellers and provide a platform for young designers and digital artists.
David Rockwell installation dazzles New York with cascading LED light display
Lumiere set to light up London with winter street art installations
Shirane + Miyazaki's 3D kaleidoscope installation stars at Vivid Sydney light festival


James Corner Field Operations creates Highline for London

Esbjerg’s landmark maritime center, designed by WERK Arkitekter and Snøhetta, opens to the public

SEVEN to open world’s first indoor Discovery Adventures centres in Saudi Arabia

Fun and fear drive new Universal attraction concepts for Texas and Las Vegas

Voelker Gray Design creates 10-acre hot springs wellness haven for Atlanta

AIDarchitecten create healing spa for Antwerp's Botanic Sanctuary

Hollaway Studio's Seahive would bring blue health to South-East England

SEVEN to invest US$13bn in developing entertainment destinations across Saudi Arabia

World Spa’s expansive 50,000sq ft urban bathhouse and wellness club opens in Brooklyn

Floating Salmon Eye visitor attraction by Kvorning Design highlights sustainable aquaculture

White Arkitekter's Wood Hotel in Skellefteå Swedish Lapland is climate positive and made from local timber

Nohlab's 'Everything' installation among Noor Riyadh festival highlights

Bob Iger's return to Disney sparks major restructuring focused on creativity and storytelling

Therme Group plans US$200m urban wellbeing resort in South Korea

Digital art installation in Nanjing helps the public keep an eye on exoplanets

First glimpses revealed of flagship Blue Zones Centre in Miami

Warner Bros. and Infinite Reality launch metaverse experiences for live sports fans

Storyland Studios' Nigeria's film city project will break ground in Q1 2023

Canyon Ranch preps for major expansion with new destinations in Austin, Fort Worth and Houston

WilkinsonEyre-designed Battersea Power Station development opens as leisure district following £9bn redevelopment

Healthy cities conference to discuss diversity and inclusivity in urban planning and design

Foster and Partners reveal design for sustainable marine life centre on the Red Sea

Anaheim's US$4bn ocV!BE project approved by planners

Construction marches ahead for Saudi giga-projects Amaala and The Red Sea

HBG Design behind Michigan’s six-storey Aquadome inspired by the sun’s path across the sky

Seventh International Museum Construction Congress to be held in Norway this year

The 'world's most anticipated museum' to finally open this year

Nike's Serena Williams Building, designed by Skylab, follows the concept of flow

Saudi Arabia's Neom mega-development to include 100-mile long 'horizontal skyscraper city'

David Adjaye and Ralph Appelbaum selected for £57m International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum project
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates