Paris Cultural Olympiad: Taiwan Pavilion

Overview

I served as the Lighting Designer and Lighting Director for the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad — a cultural celebration held alongside the Paris Olympics at Parc de la Villette (July 27 – August 10, 2024). The project encompassed 27 performing groups delivering over 100 performances across 15 days, with 3–5 shows daily — spanning DJ sets, traditional opera, live bands, and circus acts.

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Design Concept

The stage design drew inspiration from Taiwan’s iconic “Transformer” electronic flower trucks — a vivid symbol of temple festivals and street celebrations. The structure features four upward-pointing corners evoking traditional Taiwanese temple architecture, with beam fixtures mounted at the peaks to extend the form skyward.

The electronic flower truck and traditional temple architecture — dual inspirations for the stage design

The lighting design followed two distinct modes based on time of day:

Daytime — The two LED matrix walls flanking the stage (42 × LED PAR COB200) served as the primary visual expression, breathing and flowing in rhythm with the music performances.

Nighttime — Beam fixtures opened up into the sky, extending the visual dynamics far beyond the stage. The four temple-inspired corners were accentuated with light, symbolically projecting the temple silhouette into the Parisian night.

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The Challenge

Executing over 100 performances by 27 different groups within a highly compressed on-site schedule — all while coordinating between Taiwanese creative teams and French technicians across language and cultural barriers.

The outdoor park venue and budget constraints made it difficult to add extensive rigging structures. In particular, no rigging points were available in the FOH (front-of-house) area, limiting traditional front lighting options.

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Solution

Red Lantern FOH

I chose a soft structure solution — suspending red lanterns fitted with LED lights as house lights, all controlled via grandMA2 Light. Traditional front lighting was replaced with side light and high side light angles. This not only solved the rigging limitation but also brought the authentic essence of Taiwan to Paris — the red lanterns becoming both a functional lighting element and a cultural symbol.

Unreal Engine Previz Workflow

To manage 100+ shows, I developed a high-fidelity previsualization workflow using Unreal Engine, enabling me to pre-program and refine every show before arriving on site. The Unreal-based simulations also served as the primary communication tool between Taiwanese creative teams and French technicians — ensuring visual alignment across language barriers and drastically reducing on-site adjustment time.

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Previz

Previsualization built in Unreal Engine 5, utilizing the DMX component connected with grandMA2 onPC for real-time lighting control. Used for technical pre-programming, cross-team communication with French technicians, and as official media assets prior to the event.

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Light Plot

Created with Wysiwyg R40

The front elevation reveals the stage’s temple-inspired silhouette — four pointed corners reaching upward, with beam fixtures (Claypaky Ripper 1L Beam) mounted at the peaks to extend the form into the sky. The two flanking LED matrix walls (42 × PAR LED COB200) are clearly visible on either side of the stage.

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Technical Specs

Item	Detail
Console	grandMA2 Light
Claypaky Ripper 1L Beam	× 24
Martin ERA300 Profile	× 16
Martin Quantum Wash	× 12
Martin ERA100	× 12
Archi Kolor Zoom	× 8
PAR LED COB200	× 42 (matrix walls) + 8 (environment)
Starway Solar 1050	× 8
Starway Flexiflite 650	× 10
PC LED 300W zoom 20/40	× 12
PC LED 400W	× 8
Special	Red lanterns with LED (FOH)
Software	Unreal Engine 5, Wysiwyg R40

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Production Photos

Photo Credit: 劉千鈺 Chien-yu, Liu

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