December, although synonymous with the beginning of winter and cold days, is also a month of warmth, festive atmosphere and light. In the spirit of such a mood, we decided to show you the most beautifully lit cities in the world, those that live in their greatest luxury during the night hours.
LAS VEGAS
According to astronauts, the brightest city in the world is Las Vegas. The most famous street of this city, Strip Street, from space looks like a runway that is ready to welcome passengers at any moment. The procession of over 100 city casinos and many hotels is designed so that the splendour of this city will forever remain in our memory. As many as 12 million LED displays to make up Fermont’s street light show. At the same time, the Belaggio Hotel has almost 1km of luminous fountains, which create an incredible spectacle of colours, light and water acrobatics. Even though this city is best known for its casinos, in the context of light, the main actors are hotels that strive to attract and surprise their visitors, transforming their looks from glamorous and elegant to completely science fiction, such as the world’s most substantial light beam in Luxor Sky Beam. Of course, the position of this city in the black space of the Nevada desert also contributes to this atmosphere.
FRANKFURT
Every other spring, Frankfurt hosts a large and important fair for the lighting industry called Light + Building. In the evening, Luminale, a multidisciplinary festival dedicated to light and art, illuminates buildings, squares and monuments with its magnificent light installations. It creates a river of light that stretches between the city’s impressive business district and the exhibition centre itself. During the fair, over 200 different events transform Frankfurt into an international glamour of the world’s best light brands. The good news for all light lovers is that part of this magic continues to exist even after the end of the fair. Frankfurt is a city that invests a lot in its urban lighting and does so in a very thoughtful way, realizing that it is not the essence to amaze visitors with the intensity or amount of light. They are guided by the idea that light is a source of life, inspiration and entertainment, so this city abounds in incredible light installations and not dramatic spotlights. For this reason, during night walks in Frankfurt, look for the church of St. Catherine or the Mousonturm Theater and enjoy the magic of light.
SHANGHAI
You must have thought about what the cities of the future will look like. If we were to look for inspiration for our imagination, Shanghai would surely be one of the cities that would give us an idea of what our futuristic view would look like. This economic tiger is a light symbol of the nation and the epicentre of ambition. The city centre is the centre of nightlife, most hotels, pedestrian streets, flashy modern shopping malls and neon lounges. The bank of the Huangpu River is a real light spectacle. No colour is left out or neglected, and the laser show leaves no one indifferent. The Jin Mao Tower, which combines elements of western and oriental design, is one of the unavoidable destinations on a light tour through this city. What visitors to Shanghai always state is that the rest of the city does not lag behind the centre and the Huangpu River, neither in terms of development nor in terms of the light content it provides.
PARIS
How many epithets do we attribute to this city! We call it the most romantic, the most magical, the most mysterious. We consider it a tourist Mecca (with more than 30 million tourists a year), a city of dreams, a city of the fulfilment of desires and a city of light. The name “city of light” was added to this long list of epithets, both for symbolic reasons because Paris radiates beauty and art, and as a representation of night lighting that gives the city a specific charm. The lighting of the Eiffel Tower makes this grand structure the landmark and light epicentre of the city, while the bridges on the Seine, lined with lights, come to life at dusk and amaze with their beauty throughout the evening. If you are a fan of city panoramas at night, one of the highest points in the city, Montmartre, is an ideal place to see a flatteringly lit architectural gem, such as this city. After sunset, this city becomes a city of light.
NEW YORK
When we talk about light in cities, we can’t help but mention New York. If we say that Paris is a city of light, we could certainly characterize New York as a city of lighting. This city is a real gem for all lighting lovers. Although Las Vegas certainly represents a fierce competition to New York, the name “a city that never sleeps” was not given for no reason. Although Time Square is one of the central light spots of this city, what makes it so extraordinary is the breathtaking night view from the skyscrapers. On the border of fiction and reality, New York is a city of a thousand stories, each of which it keeps for one shining light.
Modern cities live 24 hours a day, so planning and designing lighting for urban tourist destinations is an extremely complex process. Night lighting shapes urban life, influences the way we perceive the city and enjoy it. It is that magical thread that makes unforgettable moments.
