Eventide
Animating the skyline with dynamic architectural lighting that celebrates the sights and culture of San Diego.
San Diego County wanted to transform their downtown buildings into an iconic part of the city skyline. Sosolimited worked with the County to design a dynamic architectural lighting system that brings the buildings to life and celebrates the sights and culture of the region.
The lighting draws inspiration from the area’s natural beauty, scientific research, and city life. With animations of crashing waves, swaying kelp, radio communication, and creatures in a petri dish, the building facade reflects the dynamic mix of local environments and institutions.
The animations were designed with Phosphor, our custom architectural lighting software. Phosphor allows us to import and illuminate 3D models of the buildings and surrounding city. Our advanced shader techniques simulate actual lighting conditions for thousands of light fixtures in real time, running at high framerates even on low-power computers.
The system includes a user-friendly interface for scheduling content on the lights. Cloud based and integrated into San Diego County's control infrastructure, it has robust security and reliability features. The scheduling system allows County staff to easily change the animations on the buildings for holidays and events.
Eventide has been featured in Lost at E Minor and mondo*arc and was honored by Architect's Newspaper in the Best of Design Awards.
