The project was part of a free of charge city event Lux Helsinki that is organised by City of Helsinki. The event consists of a cluster of individual lighting installations ranging from the spectacle to minimalistic realizations as well as a number of fire circus performances in the centre of the Finnish capital. Energy efficiency and sustainability is a major theme and designers are also encouraged to utilize new and innovate technologies to catch the attention of the public.
Lighting designer Matti Jykylä has been fascinated by Rubik's Cube, the famous 3D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ern? Rubik, ever since he himself was unable to solve it as a child. The rubix xpress concept was inspired by a video in which a six-year-old Chinese boy solves the puzzle in an astonishing 37 seconds. This feat is repeated by a giant illuminated Rubik's Cube in Helsinki's Senate Square, although in a slow-motion version taking about nine minutes and accompanied by music composed specifically for the occasion.
LumenRadio's award-winning CRMX technology was early in the design process identified as a necessary 'piece of the puzzle' as there were no provisions for getting control signals by cable to the center of the Senate Square. Matti and his team at Sun Effects, Finnish LumenRadio distributors, installed a wireless CRMX DMX/RDM system to cover the entire area and with a CRMX Slim unit inside the cube itself.
"A public project of this nature and magnitude in the presence of thousands of spectators on a daily basis and the international media requires the most reliable and best performing wireless solution available. Our experience with LumenRadio's CRMX technology in many critical projects over a long period of time has confirmed that it is a system that we can trust to perform 100% under all conditions and in very difficult environments," said Matti Jykylä of Sun Effects.
"This is probably one of the coolest installations we ever been a part of. Matti and his team have done an excellent job and we are always excited to see what fascinating projects will come next from this very creative group. Sun Effects has done many spectacular installations and projects over the years, and we are very proud to have them representing our CRMX brand on the Finnish market", said Anders Ardstål, vice president of sales at LumenRadio.
(Jim Evans)
