THE42

 

Light is silent. But with its iridescent glow, it does send out a loud message! This Independence Day, we wanted the city of Kolkata to feel the pride of being an Indian by giving them something to look up to – literally! We decided to let The 42 do all the talking, by incorporating architectural lights in a unique way. The 42 is the new and upcoming project in Chowringhee, which is also the tallest project in Eastern India. For Independence Day, it was initially decided that tricoloured lights would be placed on the top 9 floors of the tower, facing upwards. But, considering the rampant smog that day, we installed the lights inside instead, facing outwards. With the misty quality of the smog, it created a surreal aura in the darkness of the night. “Lighting design is pretty human centric, because they can communicate so much so effortlessly. Hence, for this Independence Day, we chose lights to be our spokesperson – and the experience was ethereal – to say the least!” said TEJAS DOSHI It took 360 lights and 960 man hours to make this feat of creating a glowing tri-coloured wonder, 850 ft above ground level, a reality. In the dusk of 14th August, the vibrant halo of tri-coloured lights high up in the sky was spotted from different parts of the city. It was nothing like anything the city had experienced before! “We wanted the Independence Day celebrations to be different – something that lives up to the stature of The 42 and also makes the entire city celebrate the spirit of freedom – together. Often, it’s indeed the simplest ideas and intentions, that leave a glowing mark!” said Bibhor Singhania, CEO at Be The Bee, the creative agency that ideated this feat. And with that, Kolkata paid a fitting tribute to India’s 71st year of Independence, with all our eyes up on the tricoloured horizon!