GATES OF LIGHT
Reflective buildings lit by passing car headlights.
GATES OF LIGHT is a permanent installation that illuminates 60 monumental floodgates from 1932 through retroreflection, using the headlamps of passing cars. As you drive through, the floodgates light up, creating a futuristic landscape without using electricity. Every day, more than 20,000 cars pass by this entrance to the Afsluitdijk.
The buildings, originally designed by Dutch architect Dirk Roosenburg, grandfather of Rem Koolhaas, have been fully renovated and augmented with a retro-reflective layer. In the dark, their architecture is illuminated by car headlamps, which reflect light through tiny prisms. Without cars, the structures remain unlit. This technique requires zero energy and does not contribute to light pollution.
GATES OF LIGHT is part of the design innovation programme ICOON AFSLUITDIJK, commissioned by the Dutch government. It enhances the innovative character of the legendary 32-kilometre dike, highlighting its key functions: water protection, heritage, energy, and mobility—serving as a model of a smart landscape for today and tomorrow.
GATES of LIGHT is the winner of the Global Future Design Awards 2020, the International Architecture Transportation Award 2019, the Europe 40 Under 40 Awards, and the A' Design Awards Platinum 2018.
Permanent 60 renovated floodgates with reflective layers of micro prisms and concrete on both sides of the Afsluitdijk. Experience GATES OF LIGHT every night from your own car. Location 53° 0′ NB, 5° 10′ OL, Afsluitdijk the Netherlands.
Made in collaboration with Daan Roosegaarde and Studio Roosegaarde, The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, De Nieuwe Afsluitdijk, Province of Friesland, and Province of North Holland. Development Partners: KitePower, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), TTB, Eurocarbon, Versalume.
The Afsluitdijk is the 32-kilometre long dike that protects the Netherlands against water and flooding. Built mostly by hand and realised in 1932, it is an engineering highlight of the Netherlands and a unique global site. After 85 years, the Afsluitdijk was in need of a thorough renovation. Therefore the Dutch state, and local municipalities and provinces joined forces to lead an ambitious programme to protect the future of the dike. The three designs developed by Daan Roosegaarde and his team of designers and engineers entitled GATES OF LIGHT, WINDVOGEL and GLOWING NATURE form a model of a green landscape.
The documentary 32KM follows Daan Roosegaarde and his team in the making of GATES OF LIGHT.
Press Release
Fact Sheet
Select Exhibitions
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GATES OF LIGHT Afsluitdijk NL
November 17, 2017
WINDVOGEL Afsluitdijk NL
November 17, 2017
GLOWING NATURE Afsluitdijk
November 17, 2017
Publications
October 1, 2022
Movie 32KM: The Creation of Icoon Afsluitdijk
Follow Daan Roosegaarde and his team in the creation of their largest work to date, Icoon Afsluitdijk in the film 32KM.
Publications
August 28, 2021
Fortune Magazine Singapore
Fresh from Fortune Magazine: 'Let’s be curious! Design must be inspired by nature.' Daan Roosegaarde speaks alongside design leaders Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn in Singapore.
Studio
December 28, 2020
Winner International Architecture Awards
The International Architecture Awards, organized by the Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre, recognized GATES OF LIGHT for its poetic excellence in transportation architecture.