New York City
Vortex Lighting

By William Weathersby, Jr.

Photo © Elliott Kaufman

A light show of pulsating color, designed by Anne Militello of Vortex Lighting, emanates from the facade of the 42nd Street Studios to create its own form of street theater in the heart of New York City's Broadway. One of the last legs in the redevelopment of 42nd Street, the 10-story structure houses rehearsal studios, office space, and a 199-seat black box theater to serve the professional Broadway theatrical community. Collaborating with Platt Byard Dovell Architects, Militello lit the facade of the building with DMX-controlled lighting that changes in a choreographed wash of lighting effects. The lighting fixtures are set within a steel-blade armature of perforated louvered fins on each of seven floors of the building. A 175-foot vertical light spire on the west side of the facade cross-fades smoothly through the entire color spectrum. Windows on the front of the building are partially covered in lightweight curtain material that act as a scrim inside; The curtains are frontlit from inside the studios to create a background glowing effect when viewed from the street. While nearby Times Square is famous for its spectacular array of neon-lit signage, rarely has an entire building come to life with such spectacular showmanship. To read the entire story see the November, 2000 issue of Architectural Record. Plus, see the people and products behind the making of this project.

Architecturalrecord.com presents two exclusive videos of the changing lighting patterns on the facade of the New 42nd Street Studios.

Video 1	Video 2	Plan
All video footage © Roger Shepherd

Please note you will need Real Player to view these videos. A free version can can easily be downloaded from the Real Player web site.