Media Facade Research

"LED lighting project designer LightWild has just completed two software-controlled architectural projects on the newly opened, 17,000-seat, O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany. The arena is located on 50 acres along the Spree River near the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery.

On the exterior, a massive LED installation stretches across the building’s curved glass facade and inside, two lobbies glisten with thousands of controlled fluorescent and LED fixtures behind frosted acrylic lenses. Visitors to the arena are greeted by the colorful moving graphics and video effects that are driven across the installations on event nights. LightWild provided the engineering piece and the physical supplies. Installation was done by a German construction firm." (NAIT.5)

"The O2 World Arena's location presents an opportunity for re-creating a part of the city lost for years behind the Iron Curtain. Remnants of the Berlin Wall still stand adjacent to the site. The site, which accommodated a railway yard, is the location for one of Berlin's foremost development programs.

In response to the Government's multifaceted planning proposals, Populous proposed a design solution, which introduced landscape as a unifying element to create a cohesive district comprising of commercial, retail and entertainment programs at the focus of which is the new arena. The composition connects a series of public open spaces by acknowledging the pedestrian domain as the focal element of the public realm. The significance of the arena is accentuated by positioning it on the primary focal axis with the main plaza. Undulating grass berms, built-in seats and large video boards create an ambience of playfulness and excitement along the main plaza." (Populous

"LED façade

The LED façade is 380 feet (116 m) long by 40 feet (12 m) tall and is built on a 104-degree curve with an average radius of 213 feet (65 m). There are 117 vertical mullions spaced slightly more than 3 feet (1 m) horizontally across the façade. In all, there are 7020 LightWild Pixels installed in the vertical mullions on the façade of the arena. With 40 LEDs/Pixel, 280,800 LEDs are in use on the façade.

“The curved façade presented an optical challenge more than a physical challenge. Physically, each section of glass on the facade is flat but there is a slight angle (<1°) between each section so that collectively the façade is curved. Therefore, the horizontal light from our LEDs tends to separate more than it would from a flat surface,” said Jones." (NAIT.5)


Location: Berlin, Germany
Architect: Populous (HOK Sport)
Opened: 2008
Owner & operator: AEG
Opening on September 10, 2008

O2 World Arena
O2 WOrld Arena - NAIT.5