The public space along the highway in the direction of Ingolstadt is enhanced during the day by the garden show area. The “Piussteg” forms the main entrance to the grounds. At night, when the planted spaces and landscaped beds are less perceptible, the new landscaping is at risk for being lost in the shadows, once again dominated by industry and agriculture. The aim of the bridge lighting was to counteract this effect with a varied concept to emphasize the garden show area by day and night.
For the illumination of the elegant columns, an integrated lighting concept with color variable RGB luminaires was developed. The aim was to use colored light in a striking and targeted manner. For this purpose, RGB luminaires with the corresponding control units were integrated into the column heads. Thanks to the arrangement between the fan-shaped steel plates of the columns, six independent color spaces are created per column head, i.e. backlighting of the supporting structure. The color mixture is visible on the underside of the bridge deck and runs the entire bridge length of 150m.
This arrangement offers special potential for a display that charmingly alludes to the cycle of a garden show: On weekends, when a lot of events will take place, four short sequences of 4-5 minutes each are displayed every night. They depict the rhythm and color of the four seasons. Spring is gracefully dancing, exhilarating; summer is lush, warm, and humid; autumn is stormy, and winter is slow and cool. Between the four seasons the bridge deck is gently modeled in varying shades of blue creating calm neutral phases. In order to maintain the special nature of the seasonal sequences over the year, only the calm basic mood is played during weeknights in slightly varying blue tones.
The white mini lights, which are integrated in the handrail, complement the staged bridge lighting by creating reflections that form a calm horizontal band. This effect provides the user of the bridge with a glare-free view of the terrain and ensures safe use, even for many users simultaneously.
At the end of 2021, after the end of the State Garden Show, a summary is to be drawn up together with the citizens: The citizens of Ingolstadt can decide whether the short seasonal sequences are to be maintained, or whether this accent is to remain reserved for that one special year.
