adjaye & DS+R propose designs for london's illuminated river

UPDATE: on december 7, 2016, it was announced that team 4, led by american light artist leo villareal, had won the illuminated river competition. the winning team will now start to develop the design concepts in collaboration with stakeholders and partners along the river, and in consultation with the public. this will take place in 2017. see the work of the shortlisted offices in full below.

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proposals by six international teams — including adjaye associates, AL_A, and diller scofidio + renfro — have been unveiled for the ‘illuminated river’ design competition, a program conceived to light central london’s bridges along the river thames. each group has created a concept scheme for the lighting of four individual bridges — chelsea, london, waterloo and westminster — as well as an overarching masterplan for the main road, rail and pedestrian bridges between albert and tower.

organized by malcolm reading consultants, the competition’s proposed schemes are exhibited for three weeks at london’s royal festival hall until november 29, 2016. the shortlist has been selected by an independent panel, with the winning team set to be announced on december 8, 2016. see the six proposed schemes in the words of the designers below.

team 1: blurring boundaries (adjaye associates)

team 1: blurring boundaries (adjaye associates)
image © malcolm reading consultants and adjaye associates (also main image)

team 1 — blurring boundaries: adjaye associates with cai guo-qiang, chris ofili, larry bell, jeremy deller, philippe parreno, richard woods, mariko mori, lorna simpson, teresita fernández, joana vasconcelos, angela bulloch, thukral & tagra, katharina grosse, glenn ligon, doug aitken, tomás saraceno, onedotzero digital consultants, plan A consultants, DHA, hurley palmer flatt, AKT II, AECOM, arup, sir robert mcalpine, tavernor consultancy, DP9, four communications, hayes davidson digital visualisers, bosch and iGuzzini

adjaye associates’ proposal seeks, through a series of distinctive installations that unfold and spotlight the unique histories and qualities of the 17 bridges, to reimagine the bridges not as connectors, but as the heart of london itself. we have assembled a diverse team of international artists, each of whom has been charged with bringing to life the unique qualities of a single bridge. individually, each bespoke installation reveals a distinctive nuance about its host.

when considered holistically, they join to form a cohesive stitching for london’s heart, a vibrant new epicenter anchoring the two banks. the installations are supplemented by a series of urban pavilions – including lookout towers, loggias and a new auditorium – running alongside both banks. these pavilions increase cohesion and clarify adjaye associates’ broad curatorial vision, while providing new infrastructure capable of supporting a new pedestrian-accessible cultural hub.

team 1: blurring boundaries (adjaye associates)
video courtesy of malcolm reading consultants

team 2: the eternal story of the river thames (AL_A)

team 2: the eternal story of the river thames (AL_A)
image © malcolm reading consultants and AL_A

team 2 — the eternal story of the river thames: AL_A, asif kapadia, simon stephens, SEAM design, arup, GROSS. MAX., mark filip, soundings and DP9

the tides of the thames, its depths and its currents, are a direct force of nature. they have been this way for hundreds of thousands of years. ever since the construction of the city, london has been an attempt to move away from the natural forces that have defined the place. we want to reveal the river as a breathing, pulsing organism and so illuminate the age and the tides of this ancient estuary.

team 2: the eternal story of the river thames (AL_A)
image © malcolm reading consultants and AL_A

we want to illuminate the river walls as a constant thread of light through the city that gently illumines the expanses of foreshore exposed at low tide. when the tide is low, the underbellies of the bridges are revealed by lighting. at high tide, the lighting shifts to illuminate the elevations of the bridges. the river and its tidal changes remind us that our lives play out, not in the urgent context of minutes or hours but in the slower deeper context of thousands of centuries. it feels a good time to illuminate exactly that.

team 2: the eternal story of the river thames (AL_A)
video courtesy of malcolm reading consultants

team 3: synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms (diller scofidio + renfro)

team 3: synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms (diller scofidio + renfro)
image © malcolm reading consultants and diller scofidio + renfro

team 3 — synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms: diller scofidio + renfro with oliver beer, arup, copper consultancy, l’observatoire international, penoyre & prasad, jennifer tipton and transsolar

as urban dwellers in a 24/7 global economy, we are desensitized to natural cycles, like the setting of the sun and the ebb and flow of the tides. synchronizing the city aims to align the metabolism of the city and its inhabitants with the lost pulses of nature at a time of day that nature and culture intertwine and daylight submits to electric light.

team 3: synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms (diller scofidio + renfro)
image © malcolm reading consultants and diller scofidio + renfro

to mark the magic hour when the sun has crossed the horizon and the sky starts to dim, the bridges along the thames will slowly fill with light like a vessel with liquid until they are full at the end of ‘civil twilight’, which will be punctuated by a night kiss – a beam of light momentarily directed to the sky. the precise timing of each bridge will mark its geographical position and render the rotation of the earth visible while drawing the meandering form of the river virtually in the sky. as the chiming of church bells once served to gather villagers, the civic-scale lighting ceremony will celebrate a new form of urban collectivity.

team 3: synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms (diller scofidio + renfro)
image © malcolm reading consultants and diller scofidio + renfro

team 3: synchronizing the city: its natural and urban rhythms (diller scofidio + renfro)
video courtesy of malcolm reading consultants

team 4: current (leo villareal with lifschutz davidson sandilands and future\pace)

team 4: current (leo villareal with lifschutz davidson sandilands and future\pace)
image © malcolm reading consultants and leo villareal and lifschutz davidson sandilandso

team 4 — current: leo villareal with lifschutz davidson sandilands and future\pace, atelier ten, beckett rankine, bradley hemmings, core five, futurecity, greenwich+docklands international festival, MBNA thames clippers, montagu evans, pentagram, price & myers

leo villareal, the artist who created the bay lights (a monumental public art installation on san francisco’s bay bridge), architects lifschutz davidson sandilands and curators future\pace present a transformational artwork, in three stages, designed to enliven the thames using dynamic light. first, villareal’s ambitious composition integrates light and colour on the 17 bridges, from tower bridge to albert bridge, creating a sensitive, interactive and site-specific interplay with the river.

team 4: current (leo villareal with lifschutz davidson sandilands and future\pace)
image © malcolm reading consultants and leo villareal and lifschutz davidson sandilands

second, a strategic scheme along both banks will control commercial lighting and introduce the setting for future cultural projects. third, additional proposals include a ground-breaking partnership between the MBNA thames clippers and artists random international, immersive installations by japanese technologists teamlab and other opportunities that foster community and diversity. this project applies contemporary artist-created software to provide a kinetic programme harnessing the universal power of light and inviting meaningful and accessible public engagement at the heart of london.

team 4: current (leo villareal with lifschutz davidson sandilands and future\pace)
video courtesy of malcolm reading consultants

team 5: a river ain’t too much to light (les éclairagistes associés, ecqi ltd. and federico pietrella)

team 5: a river ain’t too much to light (les éclairagistes associés, ecqi ltd. and federico pietrella)
image © malcolm reading consultants and les éclairagistes associés

team 5 — a river ain’t too much to light: les éclairagistes associés (L.E.A.), ecqi ltd. and federico pietrella in association with GVA lighting europe limited and ewo srl

why will the bridges be illuminated progressively?
the switching on of the lights on the bridges is regulated to follow the ideal line of demarcation between light and shadow (twilight).

why will there be lampposts ‘planted’ in the waters of the thames?
the lampposts are the symbol of artificial lighting designed for the great cities of the world. their reproductions create a second pathway that plots the course of the river.

team 5: a river ain’t too much to light (les éclairagistes associés, ecqi ltd. and federico pietrella)
image © malcolm reading consultants and les éclairagistes associés

why do the lampposts ‘emerge’ from the water?
the river is a mass of living water whose depth varies according to the tides. this vertical mobility of water sees the lampposts visible to a greater or lesser degree.

why are the lampposts all different?
because each lamppost is a faithful reproduction of original lampposts from around the world. this collection of lampposts realises a project which characterises the city of london as the capital of exchanges between different cultures.

team 5: a river ain’t too much to light (les éclairagistes associés, ecqi ltd. and federico pietrella)
video courtesy of malcolm reading consultants

team 6: thames nocturne (sam jacob studio and simon heijdens)

team 6: thames nocturne (sam jacob studio and simon heijdens)
image © malcolm reading consultants and sam jacob studio and simon heijdens

team 6 — thames nocturne: sam jacob studio and simon heijdens with studio dekka, daisy froud, elliott wood, jackson coles and professor john tyrer

the thames nocturne forms a ribbon of light connecting chelsea to wapping. light itself is used as a medium to create weaves of light forming a volume in space. this volume is choreographed by live data read from the thames itself creating an ethereal display that ebbs and flows in register with the river. within the river’s dark space, the nocturne’s purity of light and geometry contrasts with the city’s endless variation.

team 6: thames nocturne (sam jacob studio and simon heijdens)
image © malcolm reading consultants and sam jacob studio and simon heijdens

the nocturne is a simple gesture showing us the richness and complexity of london’s relationship to the river thames. the nocturne registers the natural and manmade flows that have been the constant characteristic of london and the thames since its first settlement. the bridges are revealed as diverse figures in the urban landscape, their individual character revealed though monochromatic light that subtly shifts, their architectural form seeming to wax and wane as the tide rises and falls.