The façade of TELUS Sky integrates over 2.2km / 89,000 pixels of LED lighting which wraps each window module in an inverted L and forms the canvas for Doug Coupland’s Northern Lights. Coupland has created a series of animation sequences depicting the Aurora borealis in full motion and colour. Whether up close or from a distance, the soothing organic motion of the LED’s will bathe viewers in the sensation of being in Canada’s north.

“For me, it was a chance to create something very analog on a system that is very digital. Like the building itself, there is an inherent contradiction, in that technology can be both a form of art as well as a tool for its creation.”

Douglas Coupland

The organic curves of the building help to amplify the motion of the façades’ light sequencing, creating a fully integrated experience. At the same time, Coupland also acknowledges that Calgary is an important national and international hub by inserting multicoloured sequences that exploit TELUS Sky’s geometry in a different way between the Aurora borealis light sequences. Northern Lights aims to generate moods and emotions that are geometric, bold and entirely metropolitan.