This is a picture of an installation I did at the Stata Bioswale area for the World of Night: Lighting Design class, MAS.961. The prompt was to design a lighting installation for an urban environment that highlighted some normally unnoticed aspect of the cityscape. I chose the Stata Bioswale as it performs an important function filtering grey water for the Stata Center. It also is quite striking during the day because it's a large green space in an otherwise industrial area. However, at night the bioswale is not well lit, and remains mostly unseen.

For this piece, I installed sheets of blue mylar across the bioswale, supported approximately a foot off of the ground. The reflection of the ambient light off of the mylar as well as the motion from the wind gave the illusion of water filling the bioswale. This "river" experience was augmented by small speakers I installed which played ambient noises recorded from a real river environment. The sound loop was timed to accentuate different animals and insects depending on the time of night.