29th November 2008
Wembley
I have often noticed the landscaping at Wembley, but never seem to have my camera on me. What i find so fascinating is the way the space is used; it can go from being completely empty to completely crowded and still people use the space in the same way. Also really interesting is the way lighting is used. In the design it seems to have been acknowledged that alot of the use of the arena and the stadium will be at night or in the evening, so lighting is an integral aspect. As you leave the underground station, the huge stadium is directly in front of you, but to the right is a square with paving lighting similar to the lighting in the pavement of Peninsula Square in the East of London. There are strips and grids of small lines of illuminous colour amidst the grey paving, reminiscent of laser beams. the effect this has is quite transfixing. However there are many other lighting techniques used; below, the fountain display outside Wembley arena, the jets of the fountain are uplit, in these photos the first shows the fountain when the ater isn't shooting up and the lighting is green in the second the water is shooting up and the lighting is purple, but the colours change which creates and interesting feature, the combination of the movement of the water and the movement between colours as well really animates the space.
The most obvious use of lighting in the whole of wembley is the halo of light which hovers over the staduim, it is such an iconic image, and creates such a strong identity for wembley that i think use of lighting around wembley almost has to be used as a feature, And is, quite successfully.
The image above is of some glass paving at Wembley very similar to the paving i saw on south bank, with glass paving lit from underneath with blue lights. And above that the iconic halo surrounding the stadium.
