Luminous Passage by Hadrian Predock + John Frane
By Bustler Editors|
Friday, Oct 1, 2010
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/7k/7kje60uzvaqi6qs9.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=1200)
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Santa Monica-based partnership Predock_Frane Architects have shared with us their built work for the 2010 GLOW festival.
Hadrian Predock + John Frane’s project for the 2010 GLOW festival in Santa Monica titled “Luminous Passage” links the City to the Ocean as a porous and luminous land bridge.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/l0/l00nbtp723id6fjr.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Connecting the existing Bay Street boardwalk to the ocean’s edge, the passage makes visible the connection across the sand to the edge of the Pacific.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/vi/vityhj1wa9ltogdl.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
This is a physical tensile structure that supports light and connects the urban landscape of Santa Monica to the edge of the water, but also forms a conceptual leap that transitions from the “logics” that define the city to the those of the ocean.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/p3/p3m0u0l1fexr9efr.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Taking the vertical nature of the city and merging it with the horizontal impulses of the pacific, a visceral and intense space twists and emerges.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/wv/wvdg3vvv6nrgsaiz.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Composed of luminous lines of color (Electroluminescent wire - EL wire), the ambitous scale of the project is a relatively simple construction with only six fixed paper struts as primary support.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/ui/ui1ybnw6ji8sg0zp.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
From the boardwalk, the piece begins with serial vertical lines and gradually transitions and twists toward the horizontal.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/vv/vvs9b461e4rady0f.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Emerging from the tunnel of glowing lines at the edge of the water, a space is defined akin to the classic California beach campfire - a gathering spot - where the wildness of the ocean is made present in sound and smell.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/sb/sbqk46g4xc2o6hdc.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Instead of a literal fire, a glowing orb defines the center of this space, slowly transitioning in color and pattern over the course of the night.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/4o/4oempkxhbatn802q.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
The overall piece is interactive at several levels.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/7x/7xg4dkmjn37sgm46.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
As a spatial contstruct, movement through the piece is transformational and sensate.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/eq/eq0kolrizda6563s.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Along the edge of the water the EL wires hang more loosely which naturally act as a field of motion in the wind.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/vj/vjlu0796blicuh15.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
As a funnel and gathering space the piece encourages social grouping and interaction.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/dh/dhoy8h423ep2lm77.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
Lastly, from discreet angles the piece is perceived in different ways, from the North and South appearing as a bridge-like element that filters movement up and down the beach, while from the East and West a tube of space linking boardwalk to water’s edge.
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/ue/ueary8krjv3nzxh5.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/lr/lrn1kg0sx84favfi.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/3o/3odcxch4lb6ftnbw.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
![](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/09/091gk4kjb3q8z4iy.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=800)
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