Lots of streets and houses are brightly lit and festively decorated in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year, and many cities and public places are thronged with visitors who have come specially to see their Christmas lights. The illuminations on Vienna’s Graben, a famous street not far from St Stephen’s Cathedral in the centre of the city, have also become a popular backdrop for photographs, but after 19 years’ service, they had to be replaced this year.
The commission was awarded to lighting specialists MK Illumination, an Austrian firm that has designed lighting experiences throughout the world, from New York to Shanghai. Whether for an annual fair, a cultural festival, a shopping street or an airport, the lighting design has always been adapted to suit local circumstances, and MK Illumination take care of planning, design and delivery in-house. They are also at the cutting edge of technology: low-carbon aluminium could be used for the first time for the chandeliers in Vienna, promising 75% lower CO2 emissions.
Chandeliers never seem to go out of fashion. The largest example in Europe is to be found hanging in Zurich station, and this too was designed by MK Illumination. No less than 7 metres high, with a diameter of 6 metres and weighing about 1,800 kilos, it features 25,000 patented LEDs on around 600 light ropes, and every single one can be individually controlled and programmed. The repertoire of pre-programmed effects runs the gamut from the classic rain of light to colourful lighting displays, and a particularly magical feature of this installation is that station visitors can control the light show themselves via a touch screen.
