Euro-hopping in December

Our end-of-year travels have been short, sweet and fairly local.

Starting as guests of the Danish Lighting Society, we attended Guerrilla Lighting Copenhagen.

Although bitterly cold (we guess they are used to the weather!) and held on the same night as a national football game, hundreds of people turned out to see three sites transformed in the locale of the university and Jean Nouvels Concert Hall. Each site was designed by a different lighting practise and one site went out live on National TV.

It was also the first time that both of us joined in as Guerrillas. We can now appreciate how hard it is to hold a torch steady for any period of time in sub-zero temperatures.

We need to commend site three for their bold use of props and light drawing – check here to see the images.

The next day we did a talk on urban intervention for the annual Danish Lighting Day as part of a diverse and varied line up which included our pal: Keith Bradshaw of Speirs + Major.

Our second destination was Ghent in Belgium. The road trip took 3.5 hours from London on one straight road - we left behind the thick fog of London only to drive through one patch of sunshine and spend another freezing evening in a city shrouded by the same fog! The landmarks (mostly large cathedrals and castles) were invisible and we had to take our hosts word for it that they even existed. But the fog did amazing things to the street lighting. 

Visiting as part of a preparation trip for the Ghent Festival of Light in January, we walked miles looking for sites but compensated by eating moules and drinking beer. The downside of the trip was the hotel faux pas - we definitely don’t recommend staying at the monastry! 

After Belgium, we headed for icy Frankfurt and another foggy night.

A weird enough place at the best of times, it wasn’t quite right knowing you wouldn’t bump into anyone from the UK and the Irish pub was strangely empty with no Light and Building to fuel it. We visited lots of interesting venues including an old car showroom and a green house and met with some highly creative German caterers in order to prepare for the party we are planning for the fair in April. BTW - you really want to be on the guest list!

Finally, last week we went to Lyon. After building the Xicato stand for the LED forum, we wandered the streets in freezing rain, a day ahead of the big event: Fete des Lumieres and were lucky enough to see a couple of installations on test. We loved the green balloons on the river - dead simple but with maximum impact. 

Roll on 2012 and some trips to hot countries…

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