Fundación Proa started to work on the second edition of the project Iluminación del Puente which will be carried out in December. With this aim, the designer Jorge Pastorino, specialist in the lighting design of theatrical performances and architectural works, was invited to participate. Pastorino proposes an array of lights which will make the Nicolás Avellaneda bridge sparkle with rhythmical colours. The lights installation will aim at preserving the spirit and colours of the neighbourhood, providing new meanings and implications through the use of up-to-date technology. This event is organised by Fundación Proa with the support of the institutions of the La Boca neighbourhood, cooperating together to give the city of Buenos Aires a public artwork which will be shared and shown for several evenings at the end of the year. With this aim, the official organizations which gave their support to the first edition of Iluminación del Puente in 2006 will be called on, and the event will be sponsored by the Organización Techint. The bridge is a symbol of the city boundaries and, together with the Obelisco, is a landmark of Buenos Aires. Located in the neighbourhood of La Boca, it connects the city and the province. It was built with iron structures in 1908 to join the two riverbanks, both for pedestrians and traffic. It was inaugurated on March 30th, 1914. In 1939 it stopped working. In 1993, after being threatened with demolition, it was declared Sitio de Interés Cultural (Place of Cultural Interest) and Monumento Histórico Nacional (National Historic Monument). For several years, there have been attempts to put it back in operation and, nowadays, there is a great interest in declaring it World Heritage. The Puente Transbordador, which was floodlit last year to celebrate the ten years of activity of Fundación Proa, will become again a monumental medium for an artistic intervention. The lights show will present a new vision of the neighbourhood of La Boca, where colour and lights prevail, with the aim of merging art with the everyday life of the city dwellers.
Jorge Pastorino has a technical background. He studied Literature at the University of Buenos Aires and lighting design in France. From the 80’ he is engaged primarily in lighting design work for important plays and films, performances and architectural lighting projects in Argentina and abroad. Among his ongoing projects is the design of lighting for the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires and the Arakur Hotel in Ushuaia, Land of Fire; hotels Liberator of Puno in Peru and Urubamba and the plays The Persistence and ”Response Mr. Sloane and Face of Fire , which premiered at the Teatro San Martin Space and Cultural Konex Foundation during 2007.
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