Artistry: Here Now, Light-Up Architecture Made From Millions of Bulbs

Friday, November 9, 2012, by Amy Schellenbaum

Photo via Hideyuki Kamon

This spectacular display of what looks like a city made made on a giant Lite-Brite is actually the illuminated architecture of an annual memorial in Kobe, Japan. Seventeen years ago, Kobe was ravaged by an earthquake that left the city in darkness. In December of that year, to honor those who died and enliven the devastated city, the Italian government donated enough lights to build a cityscape sparkling with millions of tiny, hand-painted bulbs. The Kobe Luminarienow an annual event that draws in as many as 5M people a yearwas designed by Italian art director Valerio Festi and Kobe native Hirokazu Imaoka to be a show-stopping display of light-up archways, gazebos, and tunnels. Above is the "Citadel of Peace," an illuminated fortress that shames even the most elaborately lit up homes seen in the U.S. While it all looks like a belabored Christmas display, the tribute to the lives lost in 1995 really has nothing to do with the December holiday. Find a few more images below.

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Artistry: Here Now, Light-Up Architecture Made From Millions of Bulbs