The Glowing Stones Of Eindhoven

CRYSTAL Interactive crystals of light by Daan Roosegaarde from Daan Roosegaarde

It seems that Daan Roosegaarde's Crystals have finally found a permanent home. Previously we had covered the project's launch, and this past weekend the city of Eindhoven, NL, the birthplace of Phillips Lighting, became the final destination for Roosegaarde's luminous interactive playground Crystal.

Below, check out a few of the photos from the recent opening:

In Crystal, the stones are composed of geometric shapes made of LEDs, able to charge via a magnetic field installed in the floor.

Once visitors shift the Crystals, the basic "breathing" of the stones changes. The lighting of the Crystals then shifts from "excited" to "bored" depending on certain factors.

Roosegaarde hopes the installation will be a place where “people can play and share their stories of light.”

All images courtedy of [Daan Roosegaarde](http:// www.studioroosegaarde.net).

Marking the beginning of Dutch Design Week,this ongoing exhibit comes as part of the Eindhoven public works program Light-S, that seeks to "create new experiences between people and space," and that in the past has led to a wealth of innovation in lighting design throughout the city. Also known as the "City of Light" due to its longstanding relationship with Phillips, in 2011 Eindhoven was named the world's most intelligent community by Intelligent Community Forum.

One of Europe's most under-rated design capitals, Eindhoven's local Design Academy has produced several major Dutch artists including Maarten Baas, Marcel Wanders, Richard Hutten, and Jurgen Bey, and in 2003 was named by Time Magazine as the "The School of Cool." The university also produced artist Marije Vogelzang of Teardrops fame.

Curious about Eindhoven's relationship to major public light installations and Light-S, we decided to dig a little deeper into Lampegat ("Hamlet of Light") and find some of our favorite projects:

Meeting Point Porter's Lodge by Henk Lamers

As part of a re-vamp of one of the city's most iconic buildings, the structure's facade was covered with a semi-transparent plastic skin, covering a range of embedded, colored LED lights. During the day the building is mostly static, but at night lights up and provides a range of animations. Designed by Henk Lamers, these animations change with the season, gradiating between warm and cool colors. The LED lighting can also send messages and create signs in and outside of the building, You can visit Loftmatic for more information on Lamers' design.

Photo courtesy of Lorna Goulden

Backbone

The City of Eindhoven is powered partially by a system of complex hardware and software that controls street lighting, making it one of the few truly "smart cities." Through Light-S, the Backbone system provides an advanced network, connecting new projects and applications through a system consisting of glass fiber for higher bandwidth data communication, a range of sensors to moniter environmental fluctuations, and an internet connection to enable highly sophisticated information to penetrate the system. Backbone's futuristic and highly efficient properties help power the city's Living Lab project.

Photo courtesy of Lorna Goulden and Ramon Van De Ven

Einhoven's LED Infused Public Transportation System

Created by Philips Lighting and Paleco LED Applications, the above bus lane contains LED lights installed in a pergola structure, and flashes a dynamic color scheme (and animations) that show when, and from which direction, the next bus will arrive. In addition, the city's crosswalks have been rigged with colorful LED lights to simplify and innovate daily life. Though this may sound pretty straightforward, check out the video below to see why we think this is so cool:

Strijp-S Pedestrian Crossing from Lorna Goulden

Glowing crystals and light-up streets? Consider our plane ticket bought.

Light-S