Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
Arup was tasked with making The Park a novel visual destination on a stretch already well known for its brightness, sparkle, and bold lighting.
On April 4, the Las Vegas Strip opened its first-ever park, a spectacular public space designed by !melk. Arup’s lighting approach for the project included illuminating 16 unique shade structures — built by Rotterdam’s IHC Studio Metalix — to double as art installations. Each structure weighs between 26,000 and 44,000 pounds, and range in height from 55 to 75 feet tall. The faceted forms are compound curves with custom perforations.
Brightness was a challenge given the context of the Las Vegas Strip’s cacophony of lighted, animated signs. The dynamic colour options were strictly defined to differentiate from the usual lights of the Strip. As the sun sets, the shade structures emit LED-illuminated sequences from within the fluted structural forms, captivating guests in the park.
The light-colour palette is based on the desert horticultural selections of the landscape design. Just as each shade structure is unique, each tone is unique to that shade structure’s perforation. Two colour sequences are saturated, while the other two are gold and white neutrals to bookend the more active and colourful sequences. The neutrals are slower and more static, allowing viewers’ eyes to rest.
To build anticipation and incentivise visits to The Park, the coloured light echoes a monumental cactus blossom every 15 minutes on the hour — with warm magentas, deep oranges, and vibrant pink suffusing the surfaces — a visual chime. The colours are visible through the leaves of the park’s trees all the way to the Strip, creating a social gathering space that offers a novel experience in Las Vegas.
Architectural Lighting Magazine has awarded the project “Best Use of Color,” out of 143 applicants.