STATUS
COMPLETED
CLIENT
Times Square Alliance
TYPOLOGY
Culture
SIZE M2/FT2
9 / 100
SHARE
From 2008 to 2012, the Times Square Alliance hosted an annual public art sculpture to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In 2012, BIG’s sculpture, BIG ♥ NYC utilized the flow of people, air, and touch to bring the sculpture to life.
The 10-foot tall glowing heart consisted of 400 transparent, LED-lit, acrylic tubes. A hovering heart suspended within a glowing grove of glass-like poles, reflected and bent the light from the flashing billboards of Times Square.
A heart-shaped sensor in front of the installation would glow brighter and beat faster upon people’s hands touching the pad – converting human energy into more light.
BIG ♥ NYC was a reflection of what Times Square is made of: people and light. The more people, the stronger the light. Like a daisy chain of human contact, the more people who held hands or made contact with others while touching the heart, the brighter and faster the heart would pulse.
"The heart was one of the main characters in the human stories taking place in Times Square that month, and it was also the stage for many marriage proposals and hundreds of renewed wedding vows. As locals and tourists began interacting with the heart, the cold of that February in New York was warmed by the visible outpouring of love and affection."
BIG’s entire NYC team decided to test the sculpture with their own hands, showing how BIG ♥ NYC indicated human energy in one of the most energized places on earth.
Bjarke Ingels Sören Grünert Jeremy Alain Siegel Chris Falla Daniel Kidd Marcella Martinez Ho Kyung Lee Julian Liang
COLLABORATORS
Flatcut
Local Projects
Zumtobel Lighting
Robert Silman Associates
