[COM] Rundle Lantern

[PlanThis]

yeah i've spotted them adding some brackets too this week
Howie - any response from Damien?

are they still aiming for Sept you think?
we just ticked over into august so that isnt far away - cant wait for this one!!

[Howie]

I've emailed Damien just waiting on a response.

Here's a pic I took last week.

[Howie]

Weather permitting i'm told Sunday lunchtime will be the first day of installing the sub-frames onto the carpark. Bring your cameras guys !

Also.. i might do a run through the new port river expressway which should be open to traffic on sunday, hope to see some of you there.

[Omicron]

Good to see it's coming to fruition. I shall start selecting celebratory cocktails at the Richmond right now.

[Howie]

Rundle Lantern Q&A with Damien Mair - Fusion's Principal & Creative Director
Written by Howie
Friday, 01 August 2008
Rundle Lantern

Principal and Creative Directory Damien Mair has been a great sport in helping answer some of the top questions as asked by our forum go'ers here on Sensational-Adelaide.

What is the purpose of the Rundle Lantern?

The purpose of the Rundle Lantern is to invigorate and enliven the intersection of Pulteney Street and Rundle Mall. This is achieved through the delivery of an arresting and unusual architectural form in the daylight hours, which transforms into an illuminated cultural canvas from dusk until midnight. The project was initiated as a response to a recommendation within Adelaide City’s urban master plan to create a convergence point at the described intersection. The vision for the Rundle Lantern was to create an urban design solution that ‘Adds Beauty to People’s Lives’.

What is the Technical Specification of the Rundle Lantern?

The Rundle Lantern is located at the eastern junction of Rundle Mall and faces two of Adelaide’s premier street frontages - Rundle and Pulteney. The Rundle Lantern will operate each night, from dusk to midnight, and for special events the hours will be extended. Illumination of the Rundle Lantern is through 17,952 light emitting diodes (LED) configured as 5.984 of each colour – red, green and blue through 1496 units that contain 12 clusters of red, green and blue LED’s each.

The LED’s can create any configuration of 16 million colours that are reflected upwards onto 748 aluminium panels of 1.1 m X 1 m. The total size of the Lantern is 1,066 square metres, transforming the fascia of the Upark carpark on Rundle Street into a light and colour extravaganza.

The Rundle Lantern’s resolution of 34 X 21 is similar to the early ‘Pac Man’ computer games. It can be programmed to display simple numbers, letters and geometric shapes as well as an infinite array of lights, colours and morphing designs, patterns and scheduled light shows.

Why was this location chosen for the Rundle Lantern?

This location was identified as a potential convergence point in the Adelaide City Council’s urban design Masterplan, to improve and activate connection between the Rundle Mall retail precinct and the entertainment precinct of lower Rundle Street.

What the latest on this project?

Installation for the first sub-frames onto the building is planned to commence early August (weather permitting). From then on the physical

Is September still the best estimate for completion?

Cannot comment on this, as all building projects need to have contingency in them for bad weather etc.

What would be the most challenging/innovative feature of Rundle Lantern in your opinion?

One of the most exciting aspect of the Rundle Lantern it is a dynamic canvas that due to its digital nature has the potential to be used in an infinite amount of ways. The Rundle Lantern is more of a platform for expression, than a fixed expression of an idea which is frozen at the time of completion. The innovation will be evident through the content that is created for display on the Rundle Lantern, how its used for events/activities and what interface methods are provided in the future.

What hours will the lantern be illuminated?

The Rundle Lantern will be illuminated from dusk until midnight, year round. For special events in the City this may be extended to 3am.

What is the annual cost of lighting the lantern? and who pays?

The Rundle Lantern maintenance costs are a combination of electricity consumption, content management, upkeep of hardware and software, administration and marketing costs. This has an approximate combined value of $75,000 per year. The Adelaide City Council will be responsible for all maintenance of the Rundle Lantern.

Will green energy be used?

Daily, the Lantern will use 111.8 kilowatts of power which will cost $26 in electricity including a $4.50 green power premium to offset the 109.6 kg of CO2-e carbon emissions - the equivalent of 38 Plasma TV's.

Who decides what images are displayed on the Lantern?

The Adelaide City Council is in the process of preparing content guidelines that will be available to the public online at http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com from December 2008. These guidelines will convey what is appropriate content, how the community can be involved with the Rundle Lantern, and the content decision making process. To ensure content is vibrant and evolving, the Adelaide City Council has developed a program of content for the first 12 months which will be a variety of self generating and special event content.

Can the lantern display "moving images" similar to a large TV screen?

The pixilation does not support movie and TV type broadcasts. This was an intentional aspect of the design.

Any hints on what could be the inaugural video to be displayed?

You'll have to come to the Launch to view the inaugural content. All will be revealed on the night

What involvement will Fusion have with Rundle Lantern once this is up and running?

Fusion will be working collaboratively with the Adelaide City Council and community groups to create an ongoing program of curated content for the Rundle Lantern. We will also be looking at how other interactive services can be integrated into the Rundle Lantern experience.

Any talk of a web-interface to Lantern?

Yes we see this as a logical extension of the project and it is being seriously considered and will offer an exciting platform for consumer generated content.

Any more exciting projects currently or in the foreseeable future for Fusion?

For an agency with its feet firmly planted in the digital-age the majority of Fusion's engagements are what we deem as exciting. We are always working on new and innovative projects that will always have an aspect of "we haven't done this before!'. Thats what gets us out of bed in the morning. Until these projects become public, we respect our clients confidentiality.

Big thanks from all of us Damien, and thanks to the ACC for showing the initiative in this exciting project for all of us.

For more discussion check out our forum thread here.

[PlanThis]

Great work getting that Howie - lets hope for fine weather for a quick finish!

[crawf]

Fantastic!, thanks Howie & Damien

Would be good to see this extended to at least 2am on Fridays & Saturdays.

Starting to get excited about this project

[Brando]

Great work Howie and a massive thank you to Damien from Fusion for taking the time to reply to those questions with such detail and articulation. I'm sure he is a busy man and we all appreciate the time taken out for us.

[Wayno]

The Adelaide City Council is in the process of preparing content guidelines that will be available to the public online at http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com from December 2008. These guidelines will convey what is appropriate content, how the community can be involved with the Rundle Lantern, and the content decision making process. To ensure content is vibrant and evolving, the Adelaide City Council has developed a program of content for the first 12 months which will be a variety of self generating and special event content.

it's good news that the general public will help decide on the displayed content!

[jk1237]

Weather permitting i'm told Sunday lunchtime will be the first day of installing the sub-frames onto the carpark. Bring your cameras guys !

Also.. i might do a run through the new port river expressway which should be open to traffic on sunday, hope to see some of you there.

ooh like everyone, Im getting very excited about this project

Will ride in with my camera around Sunday lunchtime.

[frank1]

Fantastic!, thanks Howie & Damien

Would be good to see this extended to at least 2am on Fridays & Saturdays.

Starting to get excited about this project

Iagree 100%. On Friday-Saturday night it should be 2-3am, after all isn't the idea to attract youth to the city.

[monotonehell]

Fantastic!, thanks Howie & Damien

Would be good to see this extended to at least 2am on Fridays & Saturdays.

Starting to get excited about this project

Iagree 100%. On Friday-Saturday night it should be 2-3am, after all isn't the idea to attract youth to the city.

I guess their concern is that it's diagonally opposite two residential buildings - UniSA (fmr State Bank) and Mansions.

[turnip]

They're installing the first panels / lights today. I reckon by the end of the day about 1/5 of them will be installed.
Due to traffic I think they 'll only put them up on the weekends. So I'd say they'll be finished in about a month.

[PlanThis]

has anyone got a photo of what they did today?

[Howie]

Got heaps of photos and pics and info from the the ACC

Will post it all when i've edited tonight.