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Home / Design  / Thousands of glowing ‘stones’ light up bicycle path, inspired by van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’

Thousands of glowing ‘stones’ light up bicycle path, inspired by van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’

A new night-friendly pathway in the Netherlands has opened to cyclists, illuminated by a pattern inspired by Vincent van Gogh painting, Starry Night.

Thousands of LED lights along the Van Gogh-Roosegarde Bicycle Path are coated with special solar-powered paint which gathers energy during the day, and light the way for cyclists when the sun goes down. 

The effect is as if the stars and sky have fallen from the famous painting, and imprinted themselves into swirls of twinkling lights along the way.

Roosegaarde says he chose to reference the painting in the design, as it’s the most characteristic of the Dutch artist. The path forms the cycle route through the Noord Brabant province, where Vincent van Gogh was born.

It’s the second concept by the designer, in collaboration with Dutch infrastructure firm Heijmans, as part of the Smart Highway project. The goal of the project is to create roads that are sustainable and smart, using innovative and energy-efficient technologies.

First glowing Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path in the world from Studio Roosegaarde on Vimeo.


Video and pictures are owned by Studio Roosegaarde.

Surf, design, travel – these are the things that gets Leigh out of bed every morning (those, and a piping hot cup of milky tea). She holds qualifications in both fashion design and communications, and has written a bunch of fashion, beauty, food, travel and design stories.

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