By Lucy Wang, Source: Inhabitat

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An ethereal, glowing geodesic half-dome entitled ‘Rising Moon’ surfaced on Hong Kong’s Victoria Park for Lantern Wonderland 2013. Composed of thousands of recycled water bottles and LED lights, this art installation brings out the best of Hong Kong: its dedication to sustainability and its vibrant nightlife. Though it might not be the first recycled plastic bottle sculpture, Rising Moon’s killer light show definitely puts it in the running for one of the coolest. Hit the jump for a video of the amazing show!
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Hong Kong-based firm Daydreamers Design created ‘Rising Moon’ in celebration of last month’s Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, a tradition that celebrates the point at which the full moon is at its brightest and fullest. To bring the Moon even closer, they created a massive ‘synthetic’ moon; the lake’s reflection completes the glowing half-dome’s spherical illusion. Since ‘Rising Moon’ is meant as a temporary pavilion, the designers used the opportunity to call attention to sustainability by using thousands of plastic bottles that were recycled after deconstruction.

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A 65-foot-diameter steel geodesic dome with pre-fabricated triangular modules forms the base of the pavilion. The outer surface is covered with 4,800, five-gallon polycarbonate transparent water bottles, each hooked up to a computer-controlled LED light to create different lighting effects on the dome’s surface, such as the various moon phases.

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Inside the dome, 2,300 plastic bottles hang from the ceiling in an undulating pattern arranged to mimic hanging paper lanterns. Moonlight streams through an opening at the half-sphere’s crown, creating an ethereal glow to the inside of the pavilion. Visitors were invited inside the pavilion to witness the sea of plastic bottles up close.

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