LUCE estratti LUCE 323 _ Tagliabue _ Gates of Light | Page 7

for Dutch hydraulic engineering, innovation
and Dutch Design. I highly recommend a visit
to this very special place.”
Roosegaarde’s work was composed of three
different parts: two temporary installations
(which were dismantled last January), and
a permanent one. Among the works that are
no longer visible: Windvogel, a series of kites
that generated electricity using wind force.
By night, the anchoring ropes of the kites lit up
of a bright green, as the structures seemed
to dance in the darkness. Glowing in the Dark,
a series of luminous objects covered with
bioluminescent algae that light up when gently
touched by hands, has also been dismantled.
The idea of uniting man, biology and
technology wants - perhaps in an idealistic
way - to find a new way to solve the lighting
of public spaces.
Of greater interest, however, is the third work
of the Icoon Afsluitdijk project: the grandiose
Gates of Light. This intervention has as its core
the sixty monumental bulkheads that are
located in different points of the dam.
Restored to their original appearance through
careful restoration work, this gigantic “doors”
were designed by Dirk Roosemburg – nothing
less than the grandfather of Rem Koolhaas –
and are the operational elements of the
structure. Daan Roosegaarde has covered
the bulkheads profiles with small prisms of
a special material (which is currently top
secret!) that light up when hit by the
headlights of passing cars. The designer said
he was inspired by the changing wings of some
butterflies. Gates of Light works without any
kind of artificial energy, and the monumental
and futuristic result is truly worthy of a science
fiction movie. According to the designer, this
is the first tangible example of the evolution
of street lighting in the Netherlands.
He furthermore calculated that the extensive
application of this technology could become
a reality around 2030.
Gates of Light is therefore born from the
combination of research and a pinch of
madness, from the desire to go further and
the desire to experiment, an atavistic feeling
that seems to be particularly innate in the
very nature of North European populations.
Daan Roosegaarde concludes: “The Afsluitdijk
represents a part of Dutch daring and
innovation. We live with water, we fight with
water, and we endeavour a new harmony.
The Afsluitdijk is the Madonna of our
waterworks. By adding a subtle layer of light
and interaction, we enhance the beauty
of the dike and form new links between man
and landscape, darkness and light, poetry
and practice. To see the dike as a 32-kilometre
Zen-line in the water is a unique experience
that more people should see.”
DESIGNING LIGHT / LUCE 323
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