Location, year: İstanbul, 2009
Client: Armada Otel
Scope: Event Lighting Design
Nature's revival every spring is celebrated by the communities living all over the world in ways that are appropriate for their own culture. People are delighted to get rid of the pessimism that they brought in the winter & they hope for the revived nature every spring and celebrate their dreams and wishes to come true.
"Hıdrellez Festivities in Ahırkapı" started by Armada Hotel in the Historic Peninsula of Istanbul in the 2000s, is an increasingly traditional event. The festival was organized for the 10th time this year with the support of Istanbul Governorship, İ.B.B., İ. Turizm Atölyesi, Kültür A.Ş., Ahırkapı Association, and many universities, has now turned into a collective civilian event. The evening that connects May 5 to May 6 every year repeated as a festival attended by thousands of people. The festival is used for the first time this year and in a much more spacious area; It held in Ahırkapı Park due to the dense crowd.
In the feast supported by various companies and organizations, professional assistance received and the lighting created under the control of the architectural lighting design office for the first time. The main purpose of the lighting design project created by Nergiz Arifoğlu Lightstyle was to reflect the enthusiasm of spring in parallel with the spirit of the festival.
To make Hıdrellez more enthusiastic, the current state of the park examined, and structures suitable for the concept were determined. Aiming to make the relics of the historical Bukaleon Palace opposite the park and the city wall into a visual feast to meet the visitors coming to the festivities. The palace should also have created different views for the first time at night by creating a background for the Sultan Ahmet Mosque in the silhouette. The Radar Tower, an icon that defines the borders of the feast area, would also be part of this concept.
A concept created for a festival that has all the themes of Hıdrellez. Accordingly, the two themes included in the old Turkish traditions emphasized and the themes of "fire" symbolizing the removal of evil by jumping over & "water" symbolizing abundance, and pureness used. For this, the old Byzantine Palace with a large surface considered. To emphasize the existence of the 1000-year-old Bukaleon Palace, fire-red colored floodlights placed on the outer walls of the building, window niches, arches and recesses on the city wall. The entire fortification wall painted in blue with the help of wide-angle projectors. The bastion, located at the end of the ruins of the palace, was painted in red with wide-angle projectors to emphasize the point where the festive area begins. On the advancing hours with the increase of the music enthusiasm of Hıdrellez, color transitions were made throughout the fortification walls. Thus, the enthusiasm of thousands of people who celebrated the arrival of spring and refreshed their hopes was reflected on the fortification wall with the revel of color.
The Wish Tree, one of the most important symbols of Hıdrellez, was created in the park in front of the ruins of Bukaleon Palace. Covered with colorful silvery fabrics with the efforts of Mimar Sinan students, the tree announced different wishes to its surroundings in the light of any color reflected. By shooting Par lamp spot shots from different points, a the giddy-paced image created on the fabrics.
The Radar Tower, located at the southeast end of Ahırkapı Park, has a structure that can be seen from every point of the park and rises vertically to contrast with the horizontal type of the park. Based on the concept of the "feast torch" it was intended to appear as an icon that marks the location of the festive area from afar. For this purpose, the body of the tower was illuminated using blue projectors. Red-colored luminaires were placed on the top of the tower, considering it to represent a bonfire.
It was worth seeing to join the enthusiasm of Hıdrellez, which is a cultural tradition that symbolizes the communication and hope between human-nature.