BIG ❤ NYC

Designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) Architects in honor of Valentine’s Day, this 10-foot-tall public art/light installation consists of 400 transparent acrylic tubes lit by LEDs that form a cube around a suspended red heart whose beat and color intensity directly correlate to how many people touch the “Touch Me” heart pad on a circular stand nearby. These transparent tubes also refract the lights of Times Square, creating a cluster of condensed city lights around the heart. Now on till Feb 29.

Transparent object of art at Borgloon, Limburg in Belgium.

I love the concept. During different times of the day, the church interior changes according to the position of the sun and the direction of the sunlight. The play of light and shadows creates a feeling of something both supernatural and spiritual, perhaps fitting religious emotionalism for whomever stands inside the structure to look at the surrounding hillside.

This see-through church, a 10-meter structure made of 100 stacked layers and 2000 columns of steel plates, was constructed by Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh as part of the Z-OUT project for Z33 House for Contemporary Art, which will realize long-term, public space art installations in different locations in Limburg and the Netherlands over the next five years.

(photos courtesy of Z33)