July 31, 2019

Traxon Technologies, an Osram business, is brightening the skyline in San Francisco as the exclusive lighting provider for an art installation at San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) long-term parking garage.

The art installation by Johanna Grawunder, titled Coding, uses a range of Traxon lighting technologies to create a subtle light show that is visible throughout the day and night, and uses the building’s existing steel beams and mirrored windows to suggest dots and dashes, ultimately spelling “San Francisco” in Morse code.

“We are in the age of coding,” Grawunder said. “San Francisco is a city of layers that can be discovered slowly in neighborhoods and microclimates, or breathtakingly all at once, such as from the Golden Gate Bridge. Each layer has its own complexities and ‘codes’ to be cracked. Coding is an immersive environment installation defined through layers of codes — decorative elements that each express a specific quality and experience of the elevator tower at the long-term parking garage. These code-layers are dynamic day and night through the use of materials that respond to reflection, luminosity and programmed color-changing light.”

The artistic lighting installation at SFO, commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission, uses dynamic lighting solutions from Osram’s Traxon Technologies, including Dot XL-9 RGB and Washer Quattro RGBW as well as dynamic lighting controls by Osram’s e:cue. In the elevator cabins and shafts, Traxon’s Washer Quattro RGBW and Dot XL-9 RGB create an immersive experience through coordinated light shows which change throughout the day and night. Additionally, customized light boxes internally lit with Traxon Dot XL-9 RGB create a soft-glow of color-changing lighting that adds to the dynamic installation. A centrally located control system operating e:cue SYMPHOLIGHT lighting control software coordinates the lighting between the light boxes and elevator shafts and cars to execute Grawunder’s artistic vision.

“San Francisco International Airport has established a reputation as not just a place where one catches a plane, but as a destination for some of the country’s most ambitious public art installations,” said Tom DeCaigny, Director of Cultural Affairs, San Francisco Arts Commission. “With each new capital project, the San Francisco Arts Commission has the opportunity to innovate and stretch the imagination of what public art at an airport can be. We are incredibly grateful to the airport for partnering with us as we continue to push artistic boundaries.”

Grawunder’s Coding art installation will be on permanent display at SFO’s new long-term parking facility as one of the many art installations at the airport.

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