Huge waterfalls of light cascade down from the top of an 18 metre high steel walkway into a pool of animated lights on the ground.
The 10 minute lighting display was choreographed to a bespoke musical soundtrack which looped continuously through the evening.
As night fell the addressable lights were programmed to animate, moving through altered states from a tranquil bubbling waterfall of blues and greens, through shimmering rain and sparkling patterns to swirling shapes, flickering fire and ice.
The animations travelled the entire length of the 20 metre light strings and then shot and swirled across the ground, connecting the verticals and ground lighting to create a huge, syncronised display.
The waterfalls were created from layered strings of Ithaca’s custom-made mirrored LED spheres, supported by netting interwoven with highly reflective foils which created a delightful daytime aesthetic as the sunlight touched them.
This outdoor installation broke new ground at Kew by using the framework of the existing 18 metre high Treetop Walkway structure to act as a support for the light installation, with the lights falling through the treetop branches, literally incorporating them into the spectacle. The waterfalls could be viewed from 360 degrees as the audience approached and walked around them, while a special viewing platform to the front allowed viewers to stand and become fully immersed in the installation.
Waterfall was designed for an outdoor show period of over 2 months, at the mercy of nature and the winter weather, all the while taking special care not to cause any damage to the metal structure, the trees and wildlife or the surrounding landscape.
Venue build-time restrictions meant that the installation had to be pre-formed in sections in advance and then assembled on site by dropping full length sections through the treescape and mapping the whole work on site.
The installation was designed to leave no trace on the landscape and all the components were designed to be recycled or reused.
