For the City of Varese, we realized designed the Garden of Wonders, the centerpiece of the city’s Christmas festivities.

First we studied morphology and historical value of the Este Palace and Gardens then proposed an emotional scenic setting.

The interior facade of the Estense Palace was thus transformed, through videomapping, into a three-dimensional work of art.

Technology and Storytelling

Six video projectors aimed at the facade of the Palace created a “big screen” more than 90 meters long. Seeing the Palace all lit up and decorated, alive and animated was an engaging sight for adults and children alike.

After the countdown, the projection began with the disappearance of the Palace, which was then recreated with lighting effects to populate itself with wreaths, Christmas balls, enchanted landscapes, gift wrapping, elves, reindeer, sleighs, Santas and many other figures from the Christmas repertoire.

These figures interacted perfectly with the Palace’s geometries, peeking out of windows, traveling on walls, and jumping on frames.

The soundtrack, consisting of sound effects and music, contributed to an unforgettable multi-sensory experience.

The emotional video was followed by a cheerful sequence of 2D and 3D animations, again with a Christmas theme.

The schedule was repeated for 5 hours every night during the period December 8, 2023 / January 7, 2024.

The Gardens

We also took care of the scenic lighting of the Gardens and the park. We mainly used red lights to enhance the geometries of the gardens and nymphaeum. The cool lights, on the other hand, installed in the hornbeam grove and park created a dramatic effect of depth.

The undisputed star of the Gardens was the 8-meter diameter transparent sphere that visually recalled a large snowball. Inside, groups of families, friends, or individuals could pose in front of a photo set to take a 180-degree animated photo, a gif, which they received immediately via e-mail.

Gift packages, Christmas headbands hats and snowballs were available to guests. The interaction with these objects was intended to personalize the shot as much as possible and make it animated.