2026: The Facade is yours -Light Up Illutron – A Shared Canvas of Light

Interactive facade installation | illutron | 2026

The facade is yours. A little colour. A different night.

Light Up Illutron is an interactive lighting installation that transforms the facade of illutron's floating art laboratory into a shared canvas of light. Anyone can change the colours, patterns and movement of the lights using their smartphone, turning the barge into a continuously evolving artwork shaped by public participation.

The interaction is deliberately simple. By scanning a QR code, visitors can access a webpage where they can choose colours, adjust brightness and speed, and experiment with different animated light patterns. No app, account or special equipment is needed. The installation can also be controlled remotely from anywhere with an internet connection.

Everyone shares the same lights. Each new interaction changes the scene for everyone watching.

Made together, moment by moment.

Concept – Opening up the facade

The project explores how interactive technology can give people creative control over the visual expression of shared public spaces.

Rather than presenting a fixed lighting composition created by a single artist, Light Up Illutron invites the public to become active participants. The facade becomes a shared canvas where colours, rhythms and patterns are continuously negotiated through people's interactions.

The installation creates a connection between a simple digital interface and a large physical environment. A small gesture on a smartphone can change the appearance of an entire building, visible to people walking along the quay.

By removing technical barriers to participation, the project experiments with shared authorship, playful encounters and the possibilities of making public art something people actively shape rather than simply observe.

Technical implementation

The installation uses DMX-controlled RGB lighting mounted along the facade of illutron. The lights are connected to a compact Art-Net controller running custom-developed firmware, allowing the entire lighting system to operate through a single embedded device.

The original controller firmware was replaced with a custom implementation that handles the lighting effects and communication with the web interface. Each individually controllable light element is treated as a pixel in a larger virtual LED strip, making it possible to create animations and patterns across the facade.

A browser-based interface provides controls for colour selection, brightness, animation speed and a collection of lighting effects such as waves, chases, pulses, rainbows and moving gradients.

The system uses MQTT communication to connect the web interface to the physical installation. When someone changes a setting, the updated light pattern is shared with everyone viewing the facade. After ten minutes without interaction, the lights gradually fade out.

The intention is to create a compact, accessible and relatively simple system that can operate as a permanent interactive installation while remaining open to further experimentation.

History – From floating Christmas trees to interactive public spaces

Light Up Illutron revives an idea that has been explored by illutron crew members through several projects over the years.

Christian Liljedahl and other crew members originally experimented with illuminating illutron and creating light installations that could be controlled through digital interfaces.

These experiments are closely connected to Christian's earlier Floating Yule Tree projects, which explored how large-scale light installations could transform Copenhagen's harbour.

In 2015, illutron created the Sailing Yule Tree, a 10-metre-tall floating Christmas tree with approximately 2,000 individually controlled LEDs.

The same year, illutron and FabLab RUC developed Navigate at Roskilde Festival, where festival visitors could control the colours of large illuminated entrance markers directly from their smartphones.

The floating Christmas tree concept continued in 2019 and evolved into a publicly controlled interactive installation in 2020, developed by Christian Liljedahl and Max Tobiassen. During just 15 days, more than 2,500 unique visitors changed the tree's colours over 17,000 times. The project demonstrated how a simple web interface could invite large numbers of people to actively engage with an artwork in public space. The concept continued with new floating Christmas trees in 2021.

Light Up Illutron brings these experiences back to the barge, reimagining the facade itself as an interactive artwork.

Building the installation – 2026

The new installation is developed as part of illutron's ongoing renovation and the Light Up Illutron initiative, which aims to bring light and artistic activity back to the barge and its surroundings.

During autumn 2026, illutron crew members and volunteers are mounting new DMX lighting fixtures, developing the control system and experimenting with how the facade can become an interactive surface.

The project also forms part of illutron's open Build & Meet activities, where interested participants can contribute to building the installation and learn about lighting technology, DMX, programming and interactive art.

An open workshop on 24 October 2026 introduces the technical principles behind interactive lighting through practical demonstrations of the system under development.

The project builds on the original concepts developed by Christian Liljedahl, Schack Lindemann and other illutron crew members. The 2026 revival includes new lighting hardware, custom controller firmware and a browser-based interface developed by Mads Høbye in collaboration with the illutron crew.

Light Up Illutron reflects an ongoing approach at illutron: exploring technology through hands-on experimentation, collective making and creative participation.

The result is not simply a facade that lights up, but an invitation for the public to take part in shaping the atmosphere of the harbour.

The facade is yours.