Gold Event and Happening Design · 2023
Lantern Festival Events
- A' Design Award 2023 Gold Winner in Event and Happening Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: Kaohsiung City Government
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 901,820
- Verification code 650AB082A2 · Verify this award
About Lantern Festival Events
Lantern Festival is a public light exhibition held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The event covers two areas, Weiwuying and Love River Bay, with a total of about 100 hectares. Works by local and international art teams are placed among the forest, the national venues and the harbor. Three groups of main lights are presented on land, at sea and in the air. Drone shows, an immersive light and shadow theater and a new lighting system along the Love River are included. Many works are planned for long-term display, so the city keeps the artworks after the event.
The Lantern Festival Events by the organizing body represents a distinguished achievement in contemporary festival architecture and public celebration design, exemplifying how temporary installations can transform urban waterfront environments into sites of collective wonder and cultural gathering. This work emerges from rich traditions of festival illumination that span numerous cultural contexts, from ancient fire ceremonies to contemporary light festivals that have become hallmarks of urban cultural programming worldwide. The installation demonstrates remarkable technical sophistication in its integration of architectural structure and programmable illumination, with the central hexagonal tower employing modular geometric principles that reference both natural forms such as honeycomb and crystalline structures and contemporary digital aesthetics. The compositional intelligence of the design creates clear visual hierarchy while maintaining dynamic energy through the interplay of vertical monumentality and horizontal extension, with the sweeping illuminated canopy establishing dialogue between the tower and its surrounding landscape. The chromatic program reveals thoughtful consideration of color psychology and atmospheric effect, utilizing the cool blue-green spectrum to suggest technological innovation and future orientation while warm amber accents provide grounding connections to traditional festival fire imagery. The strategic positioning within the harbor context transforms the water surface into an active participant in the visual experience, its reflective properties effectively doubling the installation's luminous impact while creating fluid, ever-changing patterns that contrast with the geometric precision of the built elements. The searchlight beams extending into the night sky expand the installation's presence beyond its physical boundaries, claiming atmospheric territory and announcing the celebration's presence across the urban landscape. This work invites contemplation of how designed environments can foster collective experience, transforming ordinary urban spaces into extraordinary theaters of shared wonder and cultural celebration. How might such temporary transformations influence our ongoing relationship with public space?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The planning team combined two national venues, Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and Kaohsiung Music Center, and the landscape of Kaohsiung City, including the forest, national venues, and harbor, making it the largest lantern festival in history. In addition, it breaks the boundary of arts and creates three types of main lights, namely land, sea, and air, to introduce urban design into the lantern festival from urban night lighting aesthetics.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- There are two exhibition areas, Weiwuying and Love River Bay, totaling about 100 hectares, which is the largest in the 33 years of the Lantern Festival. The exhibition brings together local teams from Taiwan and foreign art teams. The content includes AIoT performances that combine technology, drone shows that use advanced technology, natural arts that integrate with the landscape, the first 360-degree immersive light and shadow theater, and even the transformation of the light environment of the Love River to make the city's river one of the main lights.
- Tags
- Kaohsiung, Love River, Weiwuying, Lantern Festival, Light Exhibition.
- Production Technology
- The planning team has been discussing with the relevant bureaus of the Kaohsiung City Government since February 2021. After hundreds of meetings and scenario planning, the work was tailored to the city's landscape and selected light artworks from various countries and localities in Taiwan. In the end, the fusion and collision of local and international artworks will result in a brilliant and diversified aesthetic.
The lantern festival incorporates local memories and histories and introduces the concept of reducing light, lowering light, and cherishing light to create an aesthetic feast of the city. - Design Challenge
- The exhibition was held for one month, during which the cumulative number of visitors was about 11.55 million, and the income was about NT17.5 billion.
The crowds boosted the local economy, but the planning team needed to focus on how to control the large crowds in a short period while preventing epidemics.
Therefore, the 'MeN Go 24hr QR code' was introduced to boost people to take public transportation and to strictly implement COVID restrictions in each exhibition zone. - Project Duration
- The project finished in February 2022 in Taiwan.
- Operation Flow
- The 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival presents the greatness of the city with light in Kaohsiung. The planning team planned the works, scale, and in-place creation according to the site. At the same time, the team considered whether the materials, nature, and cost of each work could be displayed earlier so that the exhibition period could be extended and people could have the opportunity to appreciate the artworks. In the planning process, the team incorporated the idea of a long-term and permanent installation of the works so that the artworks are not only one-time decorations in festivals but also can leave more beauty for the city.
- Research
- The mother of Kaohsiung, the Love River, is also the artery of the city. The waterfront light rail connects the sights along the route, and through the transformation of the lighting system, the world-class venue Kaohsiung Music Center is connected to build a new look of the city. In addition, this project introduces technology to show digital aesthetics, announcing Kaohsiung's determination to move toward a digital city. The river, harbor, mountains, and boats have created the unique Kaohsiung. The Lantern Festival continues this spirit, constructing a different Taiwan Lantern Festival with light as its medium.
- Inspiration
- The Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals and the most popular traditional festival in Taiwan. During the Lantern Festival, every family will participate in activities related to 'light.' The Taiwan Lantern Festival has been held for 33 years until 2022, and this year's venue is Kaohsiung, one of the six capitals of Taiwan. Vice Mayor and Chief Planner Shih Che proposed the theme of 'Lights Kaohsiung, illuminates Taiwan,' and this is also a grand event to be held in Kaohsiung after 20 years.
- Image Credits
- Kaohsiung City Government
Colors of Lantern Festival Events
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