London Calls On Designers to Illuminate the Thames’ Many Bridges

A competition launched last week by London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan will bring a striking nocturnal makeover to the city’s River Thames. Called the Illuminated River, the contest will see 17 of Central London’s bridges enhanced by a creative lighting design from the winner, turning what is often a hidden, lugubrious space at night into a string of pearls that could attract more nighttime visitors to the riverbank.

The competition, which its planners claim will create the world’s longest "free outdoor river gallery", is welcome for several reasons. With a £20 million ($29 million) budget for 17 bridges, it isn’t unusually expensive. Still, it will dramatically enhance the riverfront by favoring “elegant and charismatic” installations over merely functional ones. The project will highlight some of the most striking—but least known—historic structures in London. Vitally, it could also help reverse a tide which has turned London’s river into a hapless sponge for splashy but architecturally feeble ideas.