Art and design collective Flint Collective used neon lights to transform eight empty storefronts in New York for the Open installation, which is shortlisted in the architectural lighting design category of Dezeen Awards 2021.
Named Open, the temporary project was a creative response to the coronavirus pandemic. It was designed to re-inject colour and light into the East Village neighbourhood in Manhattan, which went dark as the city shut down.
The Open lighting installation by Flint Collective NYC took over empty storefronts in Manhattan's East Village
Flint Collective NYC created eight site-specific light installations inside vacant storefronts, turning the neighbourhood into an illuminated, lively area once again.
The designers chose saturated lights in shapes such as the moon, the horizon and the ocean in the belief that these are the "universally understood language of nature". Deep reds, calming purples and hot pinks ? colours associated with sunsets ? were also used. The collective launched the project in response to the coronavirus pandemic
"After months of covid conditions and confronting social justice realities, we were able to transform our experience of the street from a place of threat and protest to one of discovery, conversation and positive projection," Flint Collective NYC director Christina Wang.
"There was an attitude we felt compelled to share of Open potential; an antidote to the sense of life closing in."
The designers use...