Blue Brakes & Light Spin

The Helsinki–Lahti motorway was opened to traffic in 1999. Several works of art were installed along the route to enliven the new road and the traffic environment. At Renkomäki, the road ends in a ramp designed by the National Board of Public Roads, for which architect Kari Lindström designed an environmental installation that glows blue, the signature colour of the city of Lahti.

Visible in the dark, the kinetic work consists of two parts: a light work entitled Blue Brakes and a 30-metre-high vertical column, Light Spin, also known as Light Needle. Blue Brakes consists of approach lights placed in the middle of the lanes along a three-kilometre stretch of the motorway. The distance between the lights decreases as one nears the off-ramp, until the lights eventually merge into a blue line along the guardrail.

Artwork on the map

On the railing of the ramp and in the area next to the ramp. –
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