VodafoneZiggo’s new head office in the Netherlands has just opened, right in the heart of the development that is transforming Utrecht’s west side, uniting 1400 employees in this state-of-the-art location. The area, which includes the Hoog Catharijne shopping complex and the city’s Central Station, one of the busiest in the country, is currently undergoing extensive urban expansion, redevelopment and modernisation.
VodafoneZiggo wanted to create a big impact to celebrate the move, so Olaf van den Berg and Bas Frenkel Frank from live event and activation agency Hadimassa Brand Support teamed up with lighting designer Sander den Otter from T-MINUS Design and stage designer Bart van Rooy of BigVis and technical producers Neoc to create and direct a jaw-droppingly spectacular light sculpture, _CONNECTIONS_. This celebrated the key strategic move by VodafoneZiggo to the aorta of the Amsterdam Maastricht corridor
Sander utilised 91 x Robe MegaPointe multi-purpose moving lights to realise this light sculpture artwork.
The team surveyed the proposed site, a square connecting the Central Station to the Hoog Catharijne – and the historic heart of the city a short walk beyond – which is a constantly busy, bustling thoroughfare filled with commuters, shoppers and visitors.
A large permanent sculptural piece resides there, occupying much of the space, and the team felt that integrating this existing environment with _CONNECTIONS_ as a temporary artwork, would represent a perfect harmonisation between the extensively revamped Hoog Catharijne and the adjacent Central Station.
They also felt the style of the light art would emphasise the importance of the new VodafoneZiggo HQ as a place dedicated to innovation, connectivity and the future enhancement of the city’s business activities and communities.
Sander knew immediately that he wanted to use a small compact lightsource with high output and a good narrow beam to have maximum effect in this high ambient light space … and MegaPointes were his first choice.
He has used the fixtures extensively in his show and festival lighting designs.
Thirteen MegaPointes were positioned on each of the towers which were each 20 meters distance apart from one another … and the fixtures threw light and dancing beams all over the space.
The fixtures were fitted on to custom hanging bracketry – designed and fabricated by Neoc, together with bespoke rain covers to protect the fixtures from the elements. All these special accessories were spray-painted white, and even the cable trays were specially fashioned to ensure that the installation was neat and in keeping with the style of the original structure … so much so that it almost looked like a fixed installation!
The biggest challenge in realising the work was in dealing with the day-to-day public functionality and freneticism of the location which had to be worked around. Sander commented that “Nic Zinnemers from Neoc and his team did a great job on this front”.
While the site presented the greatest challenges, Sander also enjoyed the fact that it was in a galvanising and unusual location in which to work, and that once completed and up-and-running, so many people passing through took time to stop, appreciate and comment on the lightshow.
Sander programmed the lightshow on a Hog 4 console, and it ran to timecode three times every hour from 6 and 10 p.m., for seven days in total. A special music track was written and produced for _CONNECTIONS_ by leading DJ Fedde Le Grand, who was also present and performed live on the opening night.
The MegaPointes were supplied by RentAll.
Photos : BigVix & NicoAlsemgeest
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