Smart stargazing in Genk
- Details
The permanent lighting installation was the brainchild of Genk Mayor, Wim Dries. Ambient lighting has been part of the vibrant and forward-thinking city’s festive experience for the last decade, however the new stars can now make an atmospheric impact throughout the year.
Once the project was green-lighted by the city council, a tender was issued for a concept design and specification which was won by Painting with Light.
The design - comprising the 275 stars - was chosen both for its aesthetics, smart technologies, innovation and functionality.
A second tender was then issued for the technical design and manufacturing of the stars, which are distributed around the city centre attached to building facades and other objects. This was won by another local company, Alkatech, and also involved close consultation with Painting with Light’s creative director Luc Peumans and his team.
The illuminated stars feature four elegant, varying length curved elements winding around a centre-point and tapered at the ends, held in place by eight prongs. The stars themselves are constructed from brushed aluminium.
Each star contains 2,064 LEDs which can change colour, twinkle and be programmed to create multiple effects.
Painting with Light is also based in Genk, so everyone in the company was delighted to be involved in the project.
“It’s a great honour to be asked to imagine and deliver an active, living and sustainable contribution to life in Genk using the art form I know and love. I hope it will engage people and add to the bustle and energy of the city,” says Peumans.
The stars have already become part of Genk’s social fabric - highlighting occasions by running special colours and lighting sequences. All content has also been supplied by Painting with Light, and new content will be produced as required according to activities in the city, establishing a library of material that can be stored for future use.
The installation utilizes a control system developed by Alkatech, with adaptability at its heart. Every LED pixel in each Star can be individually controlled to display around 270 trillion colours and is sent data via a cloud-based server which is synchronised by the internet clock.
Luc concludes: “A system like this can add value and great vibes to any city, space or place for that matter! I can envision many future uses for this technology including theme parks, visitor attractions and all types of built environments.”
(Jim Evans)
