Luminaries, the fascinating light installation designed by David Rockwell’s LAB at Rockwell Group, returns to the Brookfield Place Winter Garden in New York for its second holiday season with an interactive canopy of light to enchant visitors to the world-class destination. All details on Luminaries follows below.  Hi-res images, a video of the project and interviews are available. 

Luminaries is a holiday ritual based on the season’s traditions of sharing, giving, community, and light. Over the festive period, visitors that come to enjoy the luxury shops and restaurants at Brookfield Place can pause, reflect, and connect with each other through the interactive and collaborative light installation in the iconic festive setting.

This is the second installation of an annual partnership between Arts Brookfield, Brookfield’s cultural arm and the producer of events at Brookfield Place New York, and David Rockwell’s LAB, an innovation studio merging interactive technology with architectural experiences.

Design concept

David Rockwell’s expertise in storytelling, narrative, and spectacle makes him the perfect partner for Arts Brookfield’s goal of animating public spaces. Specifically, the LAB at Rockwell Group was uniquely positioned to design a surprising, memorable installation for the Winter Garden – a programme sitting within Brookfield’s mission to commission and present works of art in the group’s buildings around the world.

Working with Brookfield’s cultural arm, Arts Brookfield, the LAB have designed an interactive lighting display for the iconic Winter Garden in Lower Manhattan, running from 2 December until 29 January 2017.

Design details

For the 2016 holiday season, The LAB at Rockwell Group was invited to reinvent Luminaries with three new holiday-inspired three-dimensional animated shows. Each show has two new aspects. First, the shows are three dimensional, utilising the height of each cube, as well as its relative location in the grid. Second, each show will be choreographed to a classical or contemporary piece of holiday music.

The LAB at Rockwell Group have created a dramatic canopy comprised of 647 suspended custom-made cubic LED lanterns. The flow of the structure follows the glass-enclosed topography of the Winter Garden, visually drawing visitors through the space, from the stairs to the Hudson River waterfront.

The hallmark of Luminaries is its interactivity. Each of the 647 LEDs within the cubic lanterns are capable of changing colour and intensity. Visitors are invited to send wishes into the world through the act of touching one of the three “wishing stations.” Each wishing station is located within the Winter Garden’s palm trees. These glowing, touch-sensitive stations invite visitors to make a wish, pulsing in response to their touch.

When touched, each station cycles through a palette of festive colours, and upon release, each wish materialises as a burst of colour traveling through the canopy of lanterns. The interactive and collective act of wishing creates a communal and celebratory tradition. In addition, spectacular, choreographed light shows will be scheduled throughout the day and night. 

For a second year, Brookfield has partnered with the GRAMMY Museum to support their music education programme. For every wish sent by the public, Brookfield will donate $1 up to $25,000. In 2015, nearly 1 million visitors experienced Luminaries and cast over 80,000 wishes.

Luminaries shows

From 2 December through 8 January 2017, Luminaries will exhibit three shows synced to the sound of beloved seasonal songs including; Winter Wonderland by Michael Bublé, Silver Bells by Tony Bennett, and Carol of the Bells by The Bird and The Bee. Shows will be presented every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour starting at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 10:00 p.m. daily.

After the holidays, Luminaries will transition to its winter schedule, featuring daily winter-themed shows accompanied by instrumental music. The shows, entitled Snowfall, Firecrackers, Northern Lights, Ribbons, and Skater’s Waltz, are presented every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour starting at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 10:00 p.m. daily. Between shows, the installation will cycle through a beautiful sequence of colours. The winter schedule will be active Monday, January 9 through Sunday, January 29, 2017.

Luminaries is a public installation that can be enjoyed in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, located at 230 Vesey Street, New York, NY, 10281. For more information, please visit Brookfield Place NY (www.brookfieldplaceny.com).

About Rockwell Group and The LAB
Rockwell Group is a 250-person architecture and design firm based in New York with offices in Madrid and Shanghai. Inspired by theatre, technology, and high-end craft, the firm creates a unique narrative for each project, ranging from restaurants, hotels, airport terminals, and hospitals, to festivals, museum exhibitions, and Broadway sets.

A strong commitment to explore and experiment resulted in the formation of the LAB at Rockwell Group, a design innovation studio that blends interactive technology, architecture, strategy, and storytelling. Collaborations between the LAB and the firm’s architecture and interior design practice include the Hudson Yards Experience Center (New York); 605 Third Avenue (New York); Luminaries at Brookfield Place (New York); TAO Downtown (New York); The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Brightline (Miami); The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; and JetBlue’s T5 Marketplace at JFK International Airport.

About Brookfield Place
Brookfield Place New York is the apotheosis of luxury shopping, dining and cultural arts in downtown Manhattan. The complex is uniquely positioned just south of Tribeca along the Hudson River waterfront Brookfield Place IS Downtown Manhattan’s most sought-after shopping destination.  Complemented by the renowned cultural programming of Arts Brookfield, Brookfield Place NY is leading the transformation of the area as the premier destination for residents and visitors alike.  For more information, please visit: http://brookfieldplaceny.com/

About the GRAMMY Museum
The GRAMMY Museum is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created as a partnership between The Recording Academy and AEG. Paying tribute to music’s rich cultural history, the one-of-a-kind, 21st century Museum explores and celebrates the enduring legacies of all forms of music, the creative process, the art and technology of the recording process, and the history of the premier recognition of excellence in recorded music. The GRAMMY Museum features 30,000 square feet of interactive permanent and traveling exhibits, with four floors of dynamic and engaging multimedia presentations, and is located within L.A. LIVE, the downtown Los Angeles sports, entertainment and residential district. Through thought-provoking and dynamic public and educational programs and exhibits, guests will experience music from a never-before-seen insider perspective that only the GRAMMY Museum can deliver. For more information, please call 213-765-6800 or visit www.grammymuseum.org.