Would you agree that you can be a concrete jungle dweller and still appreciate the simple pleasure of strolling around floral gardens? I think that no matter what your background is -- city or country lover -- the experience of ambling amid clusters of blooms at your local botanical display (or even in your own backyard) is a guaranteed feast for the senses. Part of the pleasure is drawing in the different scents and lingering on the spectacular diversity of shapes and colors.
Do you think that you would become as easily swept away, however, if the garden of flowers were sythetic, visible only at night and entirely powered with solar LED lights?
Residents of Gan Habonim (Migdal David, Jerusalem Citadel) were treated to precisely that experience when they attended last month's first ever “Light in Jerusalem Festival.”
The Israel Electric Corporation worked in conjunction with O*GE Architects and InteractiveGallery to create a stunningly beautiful and enchanting display of light, sound and aroma thanks to 24 grand floral structures that charged during the day, allowing them to glow with transcendent beauty throughout the evening.
Architect Gaston Tsahar explained, "The idea is to make a garden, a garden which works only at night. Usually a garden is important for all cultures, for all times, histories and so on. We wanted to create a garden which is different from all the others and which enables people to use nature, so called nature, also at night.”
Created out of steel wire, metal mesh, laser-cut panels and Hebron glass spheres, assorted varieties of color changing flowers like massive lotus, dewdrop and tulips illuminated from within, varying in intensity and tone as the moments passed.
Utilizing 1W to 3W power LEDs via a 24V system, the sythetic blooms were powered via four solar panels measuring 80×160 cm that generated 720W electricity each hour. Battery harnessed solar energy was then used to power the opening mechanisms of the flowers along with their nighttime illumination. The live soundtrack wafting through the garden was provided by the musical artists Hang.
The overall goal of this sensory experience was to prove that innovative technology coupled with alternative energy sources can yield a phenomenal cultural experience that also contributes to resource preservation.
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