We Heart New York
Just in time for Valentine's Day, an interactive LED sculpture by Danish architecture firm BIG is making hearts beat faster on Times Square.
<<Our hearts are beating faster because we'll be in New York June 7-9 for the 2012 SEGD Conference!>>
BIG♥NYC is a 10-ft.-tall cube-like structure composed of 400 transparent, LED-lit acrylic tubes (donated by the Austrian lighting company Zumtobel) enveloping a suspended red heart. The tubes refract the surrounding bright lights of Times Square and, as people touch a sensor in front of the sculpture, the heart glows brighter as the energy from their hands is converted into more light.
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group, Copenhagen/New York) was awarded the installation in the Times Square Alliance's fourth annual heart sculpture competition to celebrate Valentine's Day.
"The heart reflects what Times Square is made of: people and light--the more people, the stronger the light," explains Bjarke Ingels, founder and partner of BIG.
"The heart will burn brighter with human touch," adds Daniel Kidd, project leader with BIG. "Like a daisy chain of human contact, the more people who hold hands or make contact with others while touching the heart, the brighter and faster the heart will pulse. BIG♥NYC" is an indicator of human energy in one of the most energized places on earth."
Fabrication was by Brooklyn fabrication studio Flatcut and interaction design was by New York media design firm Local Projects. Structural engineering was by Robert Silman Associates, with lighting by Zumbtobel Lighting.
(Images: Courtesy of BIG)