[MEDIA ARTIST INTERVIEW]
Painting the City with Light : Wauhaus and the Narrative of Illumination
by LED.ART EDITORIAL
WAUHAUS is a media art studio that reinterprets urban space and time through the medium of light. Through internationally renowned city-scale projects and festivals such as Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, Seoul Light DDP, and VIVID Sydney, the studio has gained recognition for creating immersive narratives that connect cities and their inhabitants through light.
Rather than simply producing visual spectacles, WAUHAUS explores the memories, contexts, and emotions embedded within architectural and urban environments. Drawing inspiration from fleeting moments of reflected and refracted light found in everyday cityscapes, the studio transforms these observations into new sensory experiences through digital technology.
In this interview, we speak with WAUHAUS about translating the language of light into public art, creating meaningful experiences through large-scale media installations, and their ongoing pursuit of making technology feel profoundly human.
The Gwangwhamun Heachi Madang exhibition by Wauhaus
Q1. Could you briefly introduce your studio?
A1. we are WAUHAUS, a media art studio dedicated to reinterpreting urban space and time through light. For the past decade, our multidisciplinary team—comprising members with backgrounds in architecture, aerospace engineering, visual media, and technology—has explored the possibilities of large-scale public media art at the intersection of space and innovation. We have engaged audiences through iconic urban festivals and projects such as Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, Seoul Light DDP, and VIVID Sydney. Most recently, our work TIMESCAPE: Texture of Light, presented at DDP, received the iF Design Award 2026, recognizing both its artistic excellence and public impact.
The Gran Seoul Media art exhibition by Wauhaus
Q2. What inspired you to become media artists?
A2. The archetype of our studio originated from a scene in the film Blade Runner. We were fascinated by the image of enormous skyscrapers wrapped in moving visual media—something very similar to what we now call media facades. The idea that cold architectural structures could communicate emotionally with a city and its people through moving images left a profound impression on us. Driven by the desire to bring that vision into real-world spaces, we naturally found our path into media art.
Q3. Where do you usually find inspiration for your work?
A3. Our inspiration is always rooted in the everyday city. We pay attention to fleeting moments when light scatters across building facades, refracts through glass surfaces, or creates unexpected visual expressions in urban environments. The unique hues of a city at dusk and the reflections of streetlights on rain-soaked pavement often become the starting points of our work. The pieces featured on LED.ART stem from these observations as well. Using AI-assisted processes, we transformed the luminous reflections of Venice's canals and the crystalline waters of Hawaiian beaches into painterly digital textures. We wanted to preserve the emotional resonance of these real landscapes as if applying rich brushstrokes onto a digital canvas.
‘SUMMER BREEZE‘ by Wauhaus
Q4. Do you have role models or artists/artworks that have left a deep impression on you? What is the reason?
A4. We have closely followed Olafur Eliasson for a long time. We are deeply inspired by his method of bringing natural elements like light, fog, and water into indoor environments, effectively turning the viewer's perception itself into a phenomenological material. Additionally, James Turrell's fundamental exploration, which treats light as a physical substance to offer meditative experiences, forms the aesthetic foundation of our work. From a public media art perspective, we are constantly learning about the intersection where technology meets humanity through the working methods of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, who induces public interaction through technology.
Q5. Could you introduce the primary tools or programs you use during your process?
A5. To implement high-end 3D visuals, we primarily use Unreal Engine and Cinema 4D (C4D). When real-time data linking or interactive content is required, we utilize TouchDesigner and Unity. Unreal Engine guarantees overwhelming real-time rendering quality, while C4D is highly intuitive for sculptural and sensory motion graphics work. TouchDesigner excels at organically connecting various sensors and data with visuals. By maximizing the strengths of each tool, we aim to create visual experiences that transcend the physical limitations of a media wall.
Q6. Is there a specific message or emotion you wish to convey through your work?
A6. We constantly ponder the question: "How can we make warm human sensibility breathe upon the cold technical surface of a media wall?" In fact, as the director of WAUHAUS, I personally paint with oils on the side—a process where I depict internal imagery through urban light and reflection. The works showcased on LED.ART are a digital expansion of that painterly exploration. Instead of the typical slickness associated with 3D technology, we wanted to experiment with new possibilities of "digital painting" by making the rough brushstrokes and material textures of a physical canvas come alive on a digital medium.
The emotion we wished to convey is "the profound comfort offered by an unfamiliar landscape." There is a moment when looking at the light of an exotic space—like the shimmering ripples of Venice or a Hawaiian afternoon—where your mind naturally unwinds. Through the warm, hand-painted texture of light flickering on a cold downtown media wall and the slowly flowing scenery, we hope viewers can pause their steps and experience a warm emotional rest, as if appreciating a moving masterpiece. Moving beyond technical achievement to create a moment that serves as a destination for the heart—that is the ultimate goal of WAUHAUS.
‘SUMMER BREEZE‘ by Wauhaus
Q7. Which of your pieces are you most attached to, and could you introduce it to us?
A7. It is our recent iF Design Award-winning project, TIMESCAPE: Texture of Light. This is because the experience on-site remains far more vivid than the honor of the award itself. Even amidst a record-breaking midsummer night heatwave, I will never forget the sight of countless visitors gathering and lingering within the flow of light we created, genuinely enjoying the moment. It was a spectacular instant where the design and technology we fiercely contemplated for months in the studio came to life through the play and gasps of people in a real urban space. From the initial planning to the massive installation and the unpredictable variables of an outdoor site, it was a project that demonstrated the very essence of the public media art WAUHAUS aims for.
‘TIMESAPCE : Texture of Light’ by Wauhaus
Q8. What was the biggest challenge you faced as a studio, and how did you overcome it?
A8. Public media art, especially outdoor installation work, is always a fierce battle between an "artistic vision" and "cold reality." Maintaining the essence of a piece within a limited budget, technical constraints, complex administrative procedures, and the uncontrollable variable of weather is the ultimate challenge. There was no royal road to overcoming this. The know-how of on-site response and technical judgment accumulated over dozens of large-scale projects over the past 10 years, combined with our team's stubborn determination never to compromise on aesthetic quality under any circumstance, ultimately provided the answers.
Q9. Looking back at your career so far, what are some of your most memorable experiences regarding exhibitions, collaborations, or awards?
A9. The Seoul Light Gwangwhamun and Seoul Light DDP projects were deeply honorable experiences where we clothed the historical context of Seoul and its global landmarks in a narrative of light. Light Singapore served as an opportunity to prove the capabilities of Korean media art on a global stage. Furthermore, winning the iF Design Award 2026 became a highly meaningful milestone, proving that the work of WAUHAUS has formed an international consensus at the border of design and art.
‘Light Singapore’ by Wauhaus
Q10. What kind of shifts or interesting trends are you currently noticing in the digital art scene?
A10. Without a doubt, it is the revolutionary shift in the production pipeline brought on by the integration of Generative AI. However, rather than focusing on the technology itself, we pay close attention to the "rediscovery of the value of curation and art direction." In an era where anyone can generate high-definition imagery, the artist's "eye" and "interpretive power"—the capacity to select content that matches the context and narrative of a specific space and design the overall experience—will paradoxically become more crucial than ever. We believe the emergence of specialized platforms like LED.ART represents this exact trend.
Q11. Is there anything you hope for or expect from LED.ART in the future?
A11. As media art breaks out of the white cube or temporary festivals to permeate everyday spaces, we hope LED.ART becomes a trusted bridge connecting an artist's artistic value with spatial demand. We look forward to it providing a healthy ecosystem where an artist's work does not end as a one-off exhibition but is continuously consumed, and furthermore, growing as a media platform that deeply illuminates each artist's unique creative world.
Q12. Could you share your future plans or artistic goals?
A12. WAUHAUS will continue to redefine physical space through light via large-scale public projects. In particular, we aim to deepen our focus on "site-specific media art," moving beyond simple video mapping to a point where the architectural structure and its context themselves become the narrative of the content. At the same time, through platforms that broaden the accessibility of media art—such as our collaboration with LED.ART—we will not cease our aesthetic experiments across various scales and formats, including our "Moving Masterpiece" series that maximizes painterly sensibilities. We want to remain a studio that translates technology into the most human language possible.
‘DDP Seoul Light Show’ by Wauhaus
#media artist #media art #digital content #digital art #digiral screen #art video #curation #3D video #media art licensing service #premium space #art trend #nature media art #space experience #interior #digital canvas #immersive art
[MEDIA ARTIST INTERVIEW]
Painting the City with Light : Wauhaus and the Narrative of Illumination
by LED.ART EDITORIAL
WAUHAUS is a media art studio that reinterprets urban space and time through the medium of light. Through internationally renowned city-scale projects and festivals such as Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, Seoul Light DDP, and VIVID Sydney, the studio has gained recognition for creating immersive narratives that connect cities and their inhabitants through light.
Rather than simply producing visual spectacles, WAUHAUS explores the memories, contexts, and emotions embedded within architectural and urban environments. Drawing inspiration from fleeting moments of reflected and refracted light found in everyday cityscapes, the studio transforms these observations into new sensory experiences through digital technology.
In this interview, we speak with WAUHAUS about translating the language of light into public art, creating meaningful experiences through large-scale media installations, and their ongoing pursuit of making technology feel profoundly human.
The Gwangwhamun Heachi Madang exhibition by Wauhaus
Q1. Could you briefly introduce your studio?
A1. we are WAUHAUS, a media art studio dedicated to reinterpreting urban space and time through light. For the past decade, our multidisciplinary team—comprising members with backgrounds in architecture, aerospace engineering, visual media, and technology—has explored the possibilities of large-scale public media art at the intersection of space and innovation. We have engaged audiences through iconic urban festivals and projects such as Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, Seoul Light DDP, and VIVID Sydney. Most recently, our work TIMESCAPE: Texture of Light, presented at DDP, received the iF Design Award 2026, recognizing both its artistic excellence and public impact.
The Gran Seoul Media art exhibition by Wauhaus
Q2. What inspired you to become media artists?
A2. The archetype of our studio originated from a scene in the film Blade Runner. We were fascinated by the image of enormous skyscrapers wrapped in moving visual media—something very similar to what we now call media facades. The idea that cold architectural structures could communicate emotionally with a city and its people through moving images left a profound impression on us. Driven by the desire to bring that vision into real-world spaces, we naturally found our path into media art.
Q3. Where do you usually find inspiration for your work?
A3. Our inspiration is always rooted in the everyday city. We pay attention to fleeting moments when light scatters across building facades, refracts through glass surfaces, or creates unexpected visual expressions in urban environments. The unique hues of a city at dusk and the reflections of streetlights on rain-soaked pavement often become the starting points of our work. The pieces featured on LED.ART stem from these observations as well. Using AI-assisted processes, we transformed the luminous reflections of Venice's canals and the crystalline waters of Hawaiian beaches into painterly digital textures. We wanted to preserve the emotional resonance of these real landscapes as if applying rich brushstrokes onto a digital canvas.
‘SUMMER BREEZE‘ by Wauhaus
Q4. Do you have role models or artists/artworks that have left a deep impression on you? What is the reason?
A4. We have closely followed Olafur Eliasson for a long time. We are deeply inspired by his method of bringing natural elements like light, fog, and water into indoor environments, effectively turning the viewer's perception itself into a phenomenological material. Additionally, James Turrell's fundamental exploration, which treats light as a physical substance to offer meditative experiences, forms the aesthetic foundation of our work. From a public media art perspective, we are constantly learning about the intersection where technology meets humanity through the working methods of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, who induces public interaction through technology.
Q5. Could you introduce the primary tools or programs you use during your process?
A5. To implement high-end 3D visuals, we primarily use Unreal Engine and Cinema 4D (C4D). When real-time data linking or interactive content is required, we utilize TouchDesigner and Unity. Unreal Engine guarantees overwhelming real-time rendering quality, while C4D is highly intuitive for sculptural and sensory motion graphics work. TouchDesigner excels at organically connecting various sensors and data with visuals. By maximizing the strengths of each tool, we aim to create visual experiences that transcend the physical limitations of a media wall.
Q6. Is there a specific message or emotion you wish to convey through your work?
A6. We constantly ponder the question: "How can we make warm human sensibility breathe upon the cold technical surface of a media wall?" In fact, as the director of WAUHAUS, I personally paint with oils on the side—a process where I depict internal imagery through urban light and reflection. The works showcased on LED.ART are a digital expansion of that painterly exploration. Instead of the typical slickness associated with 3D technology, we wanted to experiment with new possibilities of "digital painting" by making the rough brushstrokes and material textures of a physical canvas come alive on a digital medium.
The emotion we wished to convey is "the profound comfort offered by an unfamiliar landscape." There is a moment when looking at the light of an exotic space—like the shimmering ripples of Venice or a Hawaiian afternoon—where your mind naturally unwinds. Through the warm, hand-painted texture of light flickering on a cold downtown media wall and the slowly flowing scenery, we hope viewers can pause their steps and experience a warm emotional rest, as if appreciating a moving masterpiece. Moving beyond technical achievement to create a moment that serves as a destination for the heart—that is the ultimate goal of WAUHAUS.
‘SUMMER BREEZE‘ by Wauhaus
Q7. Which of your pieces are you most attached to, and could you introduce it to us?
A7. It is our recent iF Design Award-winning project, TIMESCAPE: Texture of Light. This is because the experience on-site remains far more vivid than the honor of the award itself. Even amidst a record-breaking midsummer night heatwave, I will never forget the sight of countless visitors gathering and lingering within the flow of light we created, genuinely enjoying the moment. It was a spectacular instant where the design and technology we fiercely contemplated for months in the studio came to life through the play and gasps of people in a real urban space. From the initial planning to the massive installation and the unpredictable variables of an outdoor site, it was a project that demonstrated the very essence of the public media art WAUHAUS aims for.
‘TIMESAPCE : Texture of Light’ by Wauhaus
Q8. What was the biggest challenge you faced as a studio, and how did you overcome it?
A8. Public media art, especially outdoor installation work, is always a fierce battle between an "artistic vision" and "cold reality." Maintaining the essence of a piece within a limited budget, technical constraints, complex administrative procedures, and the uncontrollable variable of weather is the ultimate challenge. There was no royal road to overcoming this. The know-how of on-site response and technical judgment accumulated over dozens of large-scale projects over the past 10 years, combined with our team's stubborn determination never to compromise on aesthetic quality under any circumstance, ultimately provided the answers.
Q9. Looking back at your career so far, what are some of your most memorable experiences regarding exhibitions, collaborations, or awards?
A9. The Seoul Light Gwangwhamun and Seoul Light DDP projects were deeply honorable experiences where we clothed the historical context of Seoul and its global landmarks in a narrative of light. Light Singapore served as an opportunity to prove the capabilities of Korean media art on a global stage. Furthermore, winning the iF Design Award 2026 became a highly meaningful milestone, proving that the work of WAUHAUS has formed an international consensus at the border of design and art.
‘Light Singapore’ by Wauhaus
Q10. What kind of shifts or interesting trends are you currently noticing in the digital art scene?
A10. Without a doubt, it is the revolutionary shift in the production pipeline brought on by the integration of Generative AI. However, rather than focusing on the technology itself, we pay close attention to the "rediscovery of the value of curation and art direction." In an era where anyone can generate high-definition imagery, the artist's "eye" and "interpretive power"—the capacity to select content that matches the context and narrative of a specific space and design the overall experience—will paradoxically become more crucial than ever. We believe the emergence of specialized platforms like LED.ART represents this exact trend.
Q11. Is there anything you hope for or expect from LED.ART in the future?
A11. As media art breaks out of the white cube or temporary festivals to permeate everyday spaces, we hope LED.ART becomes a trusted bridge connecting an artist's artistic value with spatial demand. We look forward to it providing a healthy ecosystem where an artist's work does not end as a one-off exhibition but is continuously consumed, and furthermore, growing as a media platform that deeply illuminates each artist's unique creative world.
Q12. Could you share your future plans or artistic goals?
A12. WAUHAUS will continue to redefine physical space through light via large-scale public projects. In particular, we aim to deepen our focus on "site-specific media art," moving beyond simple video mapping to a point where the architectural structure and its context themselves become the narrative of the content. At the same time, through platforms that broaden the accessibility of media art—such as our collaboration with LED.ART—we will not cease our aesthetic experiments across various scales and formats, including our "Moving Masterpiece" series that maximizes painterly sensibilities. We want to remain a studio that translates technology into the most human language possible.
‘DDP Seoul Light Show’ by Wauhaus
#media artist #media art #digital content #digital art #digiral screen #art video #curation #3D video #media art licensing service #premium space #art trend #nature media art #space experience #interior #digital canvas #immersive art