Villareal's Bay Lights Project ignites San Francisco Bay Bridge - FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather & Sports

Bay Lights Project turns San Francisco bridge into breathtaking work of art

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By Tom Ensey - email
Artist Leo Villareal works on his computer with the Bay Bridge lit up in the background. (Source: Lucas Saugen) Artist Leo Villareal works on his computer with the Bay Bridge lit up in the background. (Source: Lucas Saugen)

SAN FRANCISCO (RNN) - The Bay Bridge in San Francisco became the world's biggest light sculpture at dusk on March 5, 2013, when 25,000 individually programmed LEDs ignited for the first time.

The display was created by artist Leo Villareal, who developed a computer software algorithm that will fire the lights in rippling patterns that will never repeat for the two-year duration of the artwork.

The light nodes are spaced a foot apart on cables across the entire west side of the span and the mesmerizing display, called The Bay Lights, will emulate the flow of wind, water and traffic across the bridge. It will light from dusk until 2 a.m. every night for the next two years.

Here is a link to a live webcast of the bridge and here is a link to pictures viewers have taken of the bridge.

The project was conceived to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Bay Bridge.The Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco with Oakland, has long been overshadowed by the Golden Gate Bridge, but it, too, is an engineering and architectural marvel.

The bridge carries more than 102 million vehicles a year.

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