Christmas starts in Madrid with a 4D show projected on the façade of the Cibeles Palace

An unprecedented technological deployment and the most cutting-edge 4D video mapping technology flooded Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles with magic to turn the façade of the capital's City Hall into a large toy factory. with the show The three stars of Christmas, The Madrid City Council wanted to congratulate locals and visitors with a three-dimensional Christmas accompanied by light, sound and pyrotechnic effects that have filled the heart of the city with excitement.

Twenty minutes of lights and sound fired with a burst of fireworks. These three have been the main elements of the show The three stars of Christmas with which the city of Madrid has celebrated the start of the Christmas holidays. The particular congratulations from the capital's City Council have been a commitment to modernity and new technologies that have allowed writing with light projections, music and pyrotechnic effects, a large postcard projected with the aforementioned effects on an exceptional canvas: the façade of the Cibeles Palace.

With the participation of Samsung as a technological collaborator, The three stars of Christmas has been produced by New Media, company specialized in the creation of events through the application of high technology and projections in 3D format that, besides, on this occasion, has had the collaboration of the artist Bruce Ferguson. He is one of the most prestigious creators in the world in mapping techniques and has worked alongside artists such as Takashi Murakami and Chiho Aoshima., in high-impact projects, such as the Rugby World Cup or the launch of the television series 'Game of Thrones'.

Together with New Media, The Darkroom has been in charge of the creative and content part, Spyglass from the technical part, and the music has been composed by a London studio.

An unprecedented experience
Plus Bruce Ferguson, The other people responsible for the project have been Diego de Anna and Emma Wolf. Between the three of them they have developed the first “christmas story” based on video mapping techniques, which is considered one of the greatest exponents of visual communication. The story has been projected onto the Cibeles Palace using a scale 3D model, in this case the headquarters of the Madrid City Council, for which an original video piece has been created that, for moments, defied the laws of physics.

So, The capital has witnessed a spectacle that, according to the City Council, For the first time in Spain, it has used a new technique to generate spectacular effects thanks to the multiple planes and edges of the Palace's façade., and to the spaces between the towers, that allowed “generate images that go beyond 3D”, producing 4D effects thanks to the use that technology has made of the special characteristics of the building's architecture.

The three stars of Christmas It started with a Cibeles Palace collapsing – which left everyone present with their mouths open – to make way for a Toy Factory that would later transform into a gigantic candy palace., or an imaginative representation of the Three Wise Men, o, finally, a huge Christmas Tree full of congratulations in different languages ​​on which a fireworks display would start to the rhythm of the music that accompanied the show.

A real challenge
To explain it better, Diego de Anna has commented that “mapping is a technique with which a 3D volumetric image of a surface is captured and a model is made.; this is how it is achieved, through video projection, modify its structure, create optical illusions that change reality, in this case, of a building.

De Anna has indicated that “it is the first time she has told a story with this technique.”. Normally impressive image designs are made but in this case we have been able to enjoy a Christmas story. It is something unprecedented, “a story about the relationship between a girl and a robot with all the magic of Christmas”.

For those responsible for the project, The Cibeles Palace has been quite a challenge. “The normal thing is to do mappings on surfaces without much volume, rather flat; the Cibeles Palace, instead, it's full of holes, of volumes, and it's not easy at all. Without going into technical matters, There are few projectors capable of doing a job like this. we have moved 20 tons of equipment for this”, De Anna pointed out.

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