Six Questions With “Star Light Star Bright” Designers Hou de Sousa

If you don’t know Hou de Sousa by name, you know their work. The Brooklyn–based duo has been designing architectural installations and large scale sculptures for over a decade, including “Ziggy,” “Geo” and, now, “Star Light Star Bright” with the Downtown Alliance in Lower Manhattan. This season’s public artwork, on display from November 21 to January 9, invites locals and visitors alike to add their “wishes” for the new year to the brightly lit star structure on the plaza at 140 Broadway.  

We caught up with Nancy Hou and Josh de Sousa ahead of the launch of “Star Light Star Bright.” Condensed and edited for clarity.

Tell us about “Star Light Star Bright.”

Nancy Hou: We really liked the idea [of a wishing tree] because it would engage the public and get everybody in the neighborhood involved. Especially during this time of the year when it’s so cold and dark outside. We wanted to create something bright that attracted people.

Josh de Sousa: We wanted the pavilion itself to also be as interactive as possible. So rather than a literal wishing tree, which may be object-like and you’re looking at it from the outside, we wanted to create a set of spaces for people to be able to explore as well, in addition to all of the interactive components of altering the appearance by attaching wish ribbons onto it. But [there’s] also the mental interaction of thinking of something to put on there, reading other people’s wishes…

NH: I think we went from the idea of the wishing tree and it sort of became more of a wishing “star”… some of it was for practical reasons as well — structurally, having a free standing object, having something broader that made a perimeter made more sense — but also it created the opportunity to make some spaces on the interior of the pavilion, and the undulating walls create different pockets of space along it rather than a tree, which would also be difficult because we can’t anchor into the ground in the plaza. That was a practical strategy that also turned out to be a little different and more interesting, I think.

JDS: We liked that there could be a kind of semi-privacy, if people are spending time reading through multiple wishes, that they wouldn’t feel like they’re exposed. [It’s almost] Library-like.

Thinking about your past local installations, “Geo” and “Ziggy,” how has your work evolved downtown?

JDS: There’s a direct engagement from the public, and the public is actually actively doing something to the installation that makes it change over time. So it will be exciting for us to track the progress of how the installation transforms over the period of a few months. It’ll be this kind of dynamic growing thing, a bit like a Chia Pet or some kind of plant or something, or a fuzzy creature that’s growing its winter coat. 

But also all the projects — although they have some similarities to them — they’re very different from each other. With “Ziggy,” you’re interacting by creating frames and seating for people to engage with it that way, versus “Geo” was more mazelike and a meandering place to get lost in and kids would really love playing tag inside of it, for example. It wasn’t something we planned, but that was like the thing it lent itself to. So I think it’ll be its own thing. It will have character, also.

Have you ever done anything like this?

JDS: No. It’s encouraging looking at examples that you see of wishing trees in other countries and cultures. It does seem to be a thing that self-propagates the more it encourages people to interact with it. Hopefully New Yorkers are similar in that way.

What about the materials you used? Were there any special considerations you had to keep in mind?

NH: We’re using materials we haven’t used before. The choice came from the function. We were trying to think, “What can we use for people to write wishes on?” first, and then, “How do they get attached?” We came up with the glowing wristbands because they were one of the few things that actually made sense that were waterproof and you could write on. We also wanted to choose a material that had a lot of color choices because we wanted to create a vibrant presence in the daytime when the piece is not glowing. It will look a lot more solid, for example, compared to previous installations “Geo” and “Ziggy,” which used paracord. 

We’re planning to recycle all the plastic chains [and ribbons] after the use.

You’re based in Brooklyn, but what is it that you like about downtown? What draws you to this area?

JDS: It’s a few things. There’s a lot of people living there. So the opportunity to build something that a lot of people see and interact with is amazing. You feel really lucky to do stuff like that. And it’s a good site. The cityscape is quintessential New York and it looks good.

And, finally, what about you two? What is your wish this holiday season?

JDS: We hope the project brings some joy to folks. That’s our goal with any of these projects. We realize it’s not a hospital or a school or something…but I think it’s important that you also have these moments.

main photo: courtesy Hou de Sousa