Dave Da Costa Enes from i2C Architects teamed up with Empire 3D Co-Owner Julian Pereira for a light hearted take on the traditional pedestrian crossing for Vivid Sydney, encouraging people to either dance, hold hands or kiss at the installation titled ‘Crosswalk This Way’.
The work reimagines the ‘don’t walk/walk’ directives of a pedestrian crosswalks and substitutes them for hold hands/kiss and different symbolic actions.
i2C’s Project Coordinator David Da Costa Enes says the installation is a direct response to the festival's brief of welcoming people back to the city.
"After two years of Covid, we wanted to bring some fun back into everyone's lives, so we ‘hacked' crosswalk lights - something so banal and familiar to us. We thought, why not dance across the road? That's way more exciting!"
"At the beginning of the process, we refined our initial concept to make it more people focused, but a lot of our initial ideas for our symbol sets felt a little too abstract.”
"We instead worked on making them relatable to people on a human level. After the concept was refined, we then focused on how best we could use the existing hardware in the pedestrian buttons, trying to figure out what we had to rework and what we could keep."
Da Costa Enes and Empire 3D Co-Owner Julian Pereira rewired the LEDs to gain more control over colours and timings. Through hacking the push button transducer, the device is able to play music and generate different beats.
The blue disk with the arrow has been replaced by custom faced plates with the ‘action' icon embossed into it, which enables those who may be vision and hearing impaired to utilise the installation.
"To have our work showcased amongst the many other talented artists, and to have our installation become part of the city for a short time, is a huge honour and privilege," says Da Costa Enes.
Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres says the crosswalk is one of many installations the NSW Government hopes will build Sydney’s reputation as the major events capital of the Asia Pacific.
"This crosswalk installation offers an engaging and light-hearted stop on the light walk that people of all ages can enjoy and interact with. It is a great way to further enjoy the Vivid Sydney experience," he says.
For more information regarding the festival, visit www.vividsydney.com.
