PASSING LIGHT

tender submission for public art lighting

in collaboration with Light Application Pty Ltd
2020, PUBLIC ART LIGHTING – BELLEVUE DEPOT

The idea Passing Light takes cue from numerous contextual influences of the site. First, the history of previous grain silo building that is demolished prior in anticipation of the upcoming assembly building. The new building shares a few similarities to the old building, one the really long elongated elevation of the building, two both having a striking curvilinear form of the roof and three the regular intermediates of the previous buttresses and the new intermediates of the translucent roof.

The broader site also marks the rich history of the railway assembly in Midland, and the symbolic terminus of the Midland line. The Midland Railway Workshops nearby and the new assembly building undoubtedly demonstrate this.

On the other hand, the junction of Roe Highway and the railway reserve offers a unique vantage point of the rail terminus towards west, setting a romantic scene of the setting sun. It should also be noted that the yellow themed artworks that comes about the interchange of the Roe Highway.

With these aspects, it is logical that the southern façade of the roof presents the biggest visual opportunity, highlighting the elongation of the building, the terminus of the railway from both the reserve as well as Roe Highway.

Repetitive light strips are proposed to be installed across the whole projected southern elevation of the roof, parallel to the roof sheet on every intermediate corrugation of the roof, highlighting the same orientation of the roof of the new assembly building and the demolished grain silo. At every translucent roof sheet, the brightness is amplified by doubling the light strips, pointing to the bays of the warehouse structure and reminding one of the buttresses of the previous building. Whilst also highlight both the curvilinear nature of both the old and new roof, the brightness of each strip peaks at the tangent of the roof, almost like a crescent.

 The animating light is intended to be gradual across each strips, suggesting the gracious changing wave of the light spectrum, rather than rapid moving images. The colour tones are suggested to be of yellow, orange and red gradient, referencing the red Midland, the yellow wildflowers and of Roe Highway Interchange, the sandy soil, and last but not least, the setting of the western sun.

Hereby, like a melancholic scene, the light phases through the setting sun, celebrating the old good days, the rail terminus of Midland, the passing of the grain silo building for the future, hence the name Passing Light.