Lighting the Way at Freedom Plaza

New York City’s dazzling “Field of Light” exhibition at Freedom Plaza, made possible by the Soloviev Foundation and designed by world-renowned British artist Bruce Munro, has captivated visitors and residents within a carefully crafted path of illumination.

Experts from WSP helped light the way for the Field of Light at Freedom Plaza, which opened to the public free of charge this past winter. The installation spans across six acres of Manhattan’s Freedom Plaza and features more than 18,000 lowlight, LED/fiber-optic stemmed spheres. The exhibit, which will be open for one year, is located between East 38th Street and East 41st Street, and First Avenue and the FDR Drive.

These spheres illuminate with a subtle change in hue as guests walk the exhibit’s winding path and are immersed in not only the lighting’s landscape of colors, but also the sights of New York’s iconic skyline and the East River waterfront.

WSP provided lighting and electrical services for the Field of Light at Freedom Plaza, specifically for the entranceway, walking path and exit. The team used two types of lighting fixtures, including an LED path light for soft illumination along the exhibition’s walkway, and another pole-mounted fixture for both the entrance and exit.

These specific lighting installations were calibrated to be bright enough to guide guests throughout the exhibition safely but dim enough to not disturb the lighting art itself.

“With our role on this project, we are not the main character on the stage. We are behind the scenes,” said Yosuke Hiraiwa, vice president within the lighting practice at WSP in the U.S. “To remain unintrusive with our lighting, we had to be conscious of the shape and height of the LED luminaire so that the light source is completely concealed for guest’s eyes. Light beam optic was carefully examined so that it only illuminates the walkway minimizing light spill to lighting art installation, which augments the art experience.”

The project posed several other notable challenges for WSP’s lighting and electrical experts. Emergency lighting was installed in case of power outages, and because this was a free exhibition open for a limited time, manual dimming and power control was used to help reduce overall cost.

The team also pursued the most cost-effective lighting products that would still perform to specification.

“The project’s longevity was considered when we were evaluating different lighting products,” Hiraiwa said. “The fixtures that we used are designed for residential outdoor spaces and are both significantly more economical relative to other fixtures and were easily acquired with very little lead time.”

The successful collaboration between WSP’s lighting and electrical experts and the Field of Light project team has led to an exciting experience for visitors, and for the exhibition’s duration, every night in Manhattan offers a warmly lit stroll through the wonderful glow at Freedom Plaza.

“It’s an absolutely beautiful scene, and we are very proud to support it,” Hiraiwa said.

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