Lightboxes in the Asian urban landscape:
After spending a year in Seoul, I couldn’t help but notice how different the Asian urban landscape and the Asian signage system are compared to Australia.


Illuminated signs are a huge part of the urban landscape in Asia. Lightboxes and sky signs are everywhere: there is not a single street in Seoul where there are not at least 10 lightboxes or any other kind of illuminated signage.
There is a simple explanation: cities like Seoul, Tokyo or Shanghai are over populated and there is no space anymore. They have to build huge sky buildings in order to house their millions of inhabitants. Restaurants, shopping centres and offices get the same treatment. Without these lightboxes , it will be almost impossible for a customer to find a store or for a pick-up and delivery company to do their job! Therefore, illuminated signs are crucial for the Asian economy.
It seems like Asia is an interesting market for Australian signage companies so…what are they waiting for!
Restaurants and stores in the Myeongdong shopping district. one of the busiest commercial districts in Seoul:


Glass disks to replace traditional lightboxes?:
However, illuminated signs and light boxes are not enough sometimes! Have a look at the Galleria West shopping Centre in Seoul:

The exterior facade is made of 4330 glass disks, applied on a metal substructure that is directly attached to the existing facade. These glass discs are made of sandblasted laminated glass and are treated with a special iridescent foil, which causes constant changes in the perception of the facade.
During the day the atmospheric and weather changes influence the degree of reflection and absorption of light and color on the glass circles, so that from different viewing points the appearance of each disc and the total surface changes constantly according to those external conditions that are beyond human control.
During the night, a special lighting scheme, designed cooperatively by UN Studio and ArupLighting, illuminates the discs by reflecting the dynamics of the weather conditions that happened during the day. Recording day-to-day weather conditions and processing the data with the computer before projecting them onto the glass skin is just one out of many possibilities of the technology used.
Sources: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/korea/galleria_department_store_seoul.htm