The latest project from the Burning Man artist turned public-art guru Leo Villareal is called "Illuminated River," and it features different lighting schemes on each of the 15 bridges that cross the Thames in London.
Much as San Franciscans have been captivated by the shimmering Bay Lights installation on the Bay Bridge ever since it was first installed in 2013, Londoners are already in love with Villareal's project there — which so far only involves four bridges, as Laughing Squid tells us. London Bridge, Cannon Street Railway Bridge, Southwark Bridge, and Millennium Bridge all have different LED installations shining down on the river, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan says that the project means that the "wasted resource" of the Thames at night "will now be used," and he says, "When it's dark, we don't get the best out of the Thames. So I'm really excited."
Says Villareal, "The most important thing to me is that we're making a monumental piece of public art that's free and available to everyone to look at and have some response to."
As one of the local trustees of the project, Hannah Rothschild, says in the video below, "The river is not just our liquid history. It's not just the artery that unites north, south, east, and west. But actually it's the thing I think that glues everything together."
The next phase of the project, which includes five bridges, is set to be completed by Fall 2020.
Speaking of the Bay Lights, the San Francisco org behind that project announced back in 2014 that it was working on a cool new project called Lightrail that involved strings of lights up Market Street that would mimic train movements below ground. There's no update on whether that project is still happening.
A few images of the London installations, below.
And below you can watch the hypnotic, animated renderings of what each of the 15 LED installations will look like up close, once they're complete.