World’s largest light sculpture will permanently illuminate San Francisco Bay Bridge with 25,000 LEDs

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Although the iconic <a href="http://inhabitat.com/lamps-and-tables-crafted-from-steel-repurposed-off-san-franciscos-golden-gate-bridge/">Golden Gate Bridge</a> draws <a href="http://goldengatebridge.org/visitors/">over 10 million</a> visitors each year, the <a href="http://baybridgeinfo.org/">San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge</a> serves more than double the daily traffic - and it's finally getting its share of the spotlight. In 2013, San Francisco originally installed 25,000 LEDs on the bridge as part of a two year installation, effectively transforming it into the world's largest light sculpture. This week the installation returns as a permanent fixture. Designed by artist <a href="http://www.villareal.net/">Leo Villareal</a>, <a href="http://thebaylights.org/about/">The Bay Lights</a> ignites the bridge with glowing forms that fall like rain, rise like fizzing champagne bubbles, and swoop across the bay like passing clouds. Hit the jump for a firsthand look at this amazing installation!

The lighting project uses approximately 4.5 miles of cable and 25,000 LEDs with Leo Villareal’s extraordinary algorithms and patterns. When combined, the historic bridge is transformed into a dazzling work of art.

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The last time we checked in with <a href="http://www.villareal.net/">Leo Villareal</a>, he had just installed a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/leo-villareal-to-create-giant-glowing-led-buckyball-for-madison-square-park/">gigantic glowing LED Buckyball</a> in NYC's Madison Square Park.

For <a href="http://thebaylights.org/about/">The Bay Lights</a>, <a href="http://wordspicturesideas.com/">Words Pictures Ideas</a> founder Ben Davis called upon the acclaimed artist to create a monumental, first-of-its-kind light sculpture.

A team of specially-trained riggers hand-wired 25,000 <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/led/">LED</a> nodes on 300 vertical cables that run the length of the Bay Bridge's 1.8-mile-long western span. The cables rise over 500 feet high, and the nodes are spaced at one foot increments.

In designing the Bay Lights, Villareal was inspired by the site of the Bay Bridge.

It will cost just $15 per night to light up the bay from dusk until 2am (for a total cost of about $11,000 over two years), and the energy used will be offset through the purchase of solar credits.

The project's $8 million price tag was largely financed by donations, and <a href="http://thebaylights.org/about">according to the website</a> it is expected bring $97 million tourist dollars to the local economy.

If you won't be in the Bay Area to check out the installation, fear not - The Bay Lights is hosting a <a href="http://thebaylights.org/view#view-info">live webcast</a>.

<big><a href="http://thebaylights.org/about/">+ The Bay Lights</a></big>

An estimated 50 million people will view the installation over the course of its 2 year run, and the patterns won't be repeated a single time.

The patterns that race across the span call to mind passing traffic and boats, cascading waves, and shifting weather conditions.

The Bay Lights shined through rain and fog at their unveiling on March 5th.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Artist Leo Villareal