The Onassis Foundation lights up Vasilissis Sofias

Colourful and festive, the installation—which consists of 612 illuminations of varying sizes suspended above the full length of Vasilissis Sofias Avenue from the “Dromeas” statue opposite the Hilton to Akadimias street near Syntagma Square—is ready to start telling its stories through programmable sequences of multi-coloured lights.

Light with the freedom to change shape, colour and movement, light which creates an ever-changing colour-scape, a living work of art within a living city, the installations were handed over to the people of Athens in their final form on December 10, 2019, in tandem with the official lighting of the City of Athens Christmas tree in Syntagma square. The Onassis Foundation wants to treat passers-by to stories in coloured light and give Athenians the opportunity to pass under a different coloured arch every time they walk or drive down the ever-changing avenue, creating a world of joy and celebration in the capital's most emblematic street—a world that wants to include them all. Many, better.

Photo: Dionisis Koutsis

The illuminations themselves are the work of the international Greek lighting designer, Giorgos Tellos, who has created a wide range of public and private artistic works and architectural lighting both in Greece and abroad (Germany, Russia, Poland, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UK, Switzerland, China). He also designed the lighting for the Olympic Medals Plaza at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and has taken part in international public lighting festivals including the Frankfurt Luminale, where his work “Reflections Breakups” won an award in 2016.

Concept, design and implementation: YARD
Lighting design: Lighting Art (designer: George Tellos)
Illumination construction and programming: ELECTRON
An Onassis Foundation production in cooperation with the City of Athens

The Onassis Foundation supports contemporary culture and showcases the work of Greek artists. The Vasilissis Sofias installation is accompanied by an outdoor exhibition of photography displayed at the bus stops along the avenue. The photographs depict moments of joy and include work by the contemporary Greek photographers Tassos Vrettos, Pinelopi Gerasimou, Panos Kefalos, Cristos Sarris, and Andreas Simopoulos.