I recently came acros an old article from Environmental Graffiti about the glow worm, a sophisticated cave-dwelling predator that creates an elegant, glowing landscape that lures in its prey. This reminded me of a a rather old project out of Athens, Greece that I thought to be quite lovely. The temporary, interactive urban installation was called White Noise White Light and was installed as one of nine installations during the 2004 Olympics and was sited at the base of the Acropolis which provided quite a stunning backdrop.

I don’t think the designers at Howeler + Yoon Architecture actually used the glow worm as their muse but nevertheless, there is a fascinating connection in form and somewhat in function as well. People are drawn in by points of light light like a moth to a flame but instead of being snared, the light brightens and moves as they pass through the sea of fiber-optic stalks. The movement produces a visual flow of light and at the same time activates a tiny hidden speaker.

From the designers, “Comprised of a 50′x50′ grid of fiber optics and speakers, ‘White Noise / White Light’ is an interactive sound and light field that responds to the movement of people as they walk through it. What appears at first to be a static, neutral and transparent grid of vertical markers dissolves into a luminous sound-scape by night. As pedestrians enter into the fiber optic field their presence and movement are traced by each stalk unit, transmitting white light from LED’s and white noise from speakers below. Just as white light is made of the full spectrum of color, white noise contains every frequency within the range of hearing in equal amounts. If motion is detected, the white LED illumination grows brighter while the white noise increases in volum. Once motion is no longer detected, the light and sound fade into dimness and silence.”

A movie of the installation is below:

images via Howeler + Yoon Architecture and Environmental Graffiti