Vietnam's Cau Rong (Dragon Bridge) earned a Special Citation award atthe 31st Annual International Lighting Design Awards last month.
Theworld's largest dragon-shaped steel bridge beat out more than 200entries from ten countries to become one of 16 award winners. A majorlandmark of central Da Nang city, it has recently been featured on CNNas "Da Nang's fiery new success symbol".
The mastermind behindthe bridge is designer Tran Van Thanh, director of ASA Lighting DesignStudios, who earned a Master's and a PhD in lighting design in Germanyand the UK, respectively. He spoke to Vietnam News.
*How do you view the significance of the award?
Theaward is of great significance. It's universally heralded as the tophonour in the lighting design industry. The project was recognised by aprofessional panel of judges working independently.
It was thefirst time that a lighting project designed by a Vietnamese companyreceived such a prestigious award. This means Vietnam has successfullymade a name for itself in the world of lighting design.
Nevertheless, the award is not surprising at all to me. I was always convinced that our project was unique and one-of-a-kind.
*How is the Dragon Bridge unique?
Thename Cau Rong tells it all: a bridge and a dragon. It functions as bothtraffic infrastructure and an attractive sight. While the dragon bears aspiritual and sacred meaning, the project is also eye-catching, with adramatic curving shape and dynamic colour-changing lighting.
*What challenges did you and your associates encounter when working on the project?
Ittook us between two and three years to complete the project. This wasour first lighting project. We had to create a unique structure, whilealso ensuring that it would not affect traffic.
The dragon is arespected animal according to eastern belief, so we avoided caricaturingit. But if we made it too solemn, it would not be attractive.
Wedrew out various schemes. At one point, we even thought of colouring itblue or red. But a red dragon would look extremely cruel. The animalshould look friendly and peaceful.
Lighting design is still inits early years in Vietnam, where there is no full-time lighting designeducation. My colleagues came from different fields and fell short ofprofessionalism. The lack of guidelines and standards also made thingsdifficult for us.
*From the perspective of an ordinary person, how do you see the effect of the Dragon Bridge?
It'sno secret that people are attracted to well-lit public facilities. Ihave seen radical changes in the life of many local residents. In thepast, on the way back home from work, I found the area around the DragonBridge dark and deserted, although it was barely 8pm.
The areais completely different now. It is crammed with locals and touristsevery night, especially during the weekends, when the beautifully litbridge breathes fire and sprays water. In addition, many people haveseen their incomes considerably rise from selling sugar-cane juice orother types of services for visitors.
*How is the lighting design field developing in Vietnam?
Thelighting design industry in the world is rather new, and has been inform for about 30 years. Therefore, it is particularly new in Vietnam,where it is mostly concentrated in hotels and restaurants andentertainment venues. However, more and more people express interest inlighting design because they see that it adds value to venues.
WhenI established my business two years ago, most of my customers wereforeigners who already understood the role of lighting in architecture.Through initial projects, we tried to help clients (particularlyVietnamese) understand the role of lighting designers and the value oflighting, boost energy efficiency and reduce lighting costs. Now, I havemany Vietnamese clients who have returned for other projects.-VNA
Theworld's largest dragon-shaped steel bridge beat out more than 200entries from ten countries to become one of 16 award winners. A majorlandmark of central Da Nang city, it has recently been featured on CNNas "Da Nang's fiery new success symbol".
The mastermind behindthe bridge is designer Tran Van Thanh, director of ASA Lighting DesignStudios, who earned a Master's and a PhD in lighting design in Germanyand the UK, respectively. He spoke to Vietnam News.
*How do you view the significance of the award?
Theaward is of great significance. It's universally heralded as the tophonour in the lighting design industry. The project was recognised by aprofessional panel of judges working independently.
It was thefirst time that a lighting project designed by a Vietnamese companyreceived such a prestigious award. This means Vietnam has successfullymade a name for itself in the world of lighting design.
Nevertheless, the award is not surprising at all to me. I was always convinced that our project was unique and one-of-a-kind.
*How is the Dragon Bridge unique?
Thename Cau Rong tells it all: a bridge and a dragon. It functions as bothtraffic infrastructure and an attractive sight. While the dragon bears aspiritual and sacred meaning, the project is also eye-catching, with adramatic curving shape and dynamic colour-changing lighting.
*What challenges did you and your associates encounter when working on the project?
Ittook us between two and three years to complete the project. This wasour first lighting project. We had to create a unique structure, whilealso ensuring that it would not affect traffic.
The dragon is arespected animal according to eastern belief, so we avoided caricaturingit. But if we made it too solemn, it would not be attractive.
Wedrew out various schemes. At one point, we even thought of colouring itblue or red. But a red dragon would look extremely cruel. The animalshould look friendly and peaceful.
Lighting design is still inits early years in Vietnam, where there is no full-time lighting designeducation. My colleagues came from different fields and fell short ofprofessionalism. The lack of guidelines and standards also made thingsdifficult for us.
*From the perspective of an ordinary person, how do you see the effect of the Dragon Bridge?
It'sno secret that people are attracted to well-lit public facilities. Ihave seen radical changes in the life of many local residents. In thepast, on the way back home from work, I found the area around the DragonBridge dark and deserted, although it was barely 8pm.
The areais completely different now. It is crammed with locals and touristsevery night, especially during the weekends, when the beautifully litbridge breathes fire and sprays water. In addition, many people haveseen their incomes considerably rise from selling sugar-cane juice orother types of services for visitors.
*How is the lighting design field developing in Vietnam?
Thelighting design industry in the world is rather new, and has been inform for about 30 years. Therefore, it is particularly new in Vietnam,where it is mostly concentrated in hotels and restaurants andentertainment venues. However, more and more people express interest inlighting design because they see that it adds value to venues.
WhenI established my business two years ago, most of my customers wereforeigners who already understood the role of lighting in architecture.Through initial projects, we tried to help clients (particularlyVietnamese) understand the role of lighting designers and the value oflighting, boost energy efficiency and reduce lighting costs. Now, I havemany Vietnamese clients who have returned for other projects.-VNA
