Projection Mapping · 2021–2024 · Kathmandu

Dharahara
Projections

Public-awareness campaigns on a national landmark

Project overview

Night projections on Dharahara supported public-health and awareness campaigns, plus one concert promotion. Each run had a different message: getting vaccinated against COVID-19, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, Orange the World, World Children's Day, International Day of Yoga, World Epilepsy Awareness Day, World NTD Day, End Polio Now and Sonu Nigam Live in Nepal. Text ran in Nepali and English, and several runs added laser beams and coloured lighting on the tower's base and crown.

10
Campaigns and events shown on this page
6
Video clips from the runs
2021–24
Years covered by the photographs
See the campaigns See the setup

The campaigns

One tower, many messages

The tower at night with white laser beams and the words Get Vaccinated in large letters down the shaft, above a COVID-19 vaccine bottle.
Get vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccine campaign.
The tower in blue light with a large COVID-19 vaccine bottle projected on its shaft.
COVID-19 vaccine.
The tower in blue light with the Nepali title of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021, the Nepali flag and a capsule graphic projected down the shaft.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021.
The tower lit in orange with an Orange the World logo and a Nepali line about ending violence against women projected on its shaft.
Orange the World.
The tower in blue light with photographs of children projected in bands down the shaft.
Children. Photographs in bands down the tower.
The tower in blue light with World Children's Day and Nepali cartoon panels about caring for your mind projected down the shaft.
World Children's Day. Nepali cartoon panels.
Orange the World. Orange light and a Nepali message.
Antimicrobial awareness. With lasers and the USAID logo.
From a distance. Blue light and lasers.
Mask campaign. A Nepali line about being a responsible citizen.
Animated bands. Colour shapes moving down the shaft.
The tower at dusk with a green hashtag and a circular graphic projected on its shaft under a blue and pink sky.
Dusk test. A Nepali hashtag projected before dark.

More runs

Health days, yoga and a concert

The tower in white with laser beams fanning out, showing the WAAW 2022 title, a crossed-out germ graphic and the USAID logo at the base.
WAAW 2022. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, with the USAID logo.
The tower in blue with the International Day of Yoga 2022 emblem and title projected down the shaft, seen between projector cages.
International Day of Yoga 2022.
The tower in blue with a red base, the yoga emblem near the top and the hashtag YogaForHumanity down the shaft.
#YogaForHumanity.
The tower lit purple with the title World Epilepsy Awareness Day 2022, 26th March, the Epilepsy Foundation Nepal logo and the National Neuro Center emblem.
World Epilepsy Awareness Day 2022.
The tower lit purple with logos for Epilepsy Foundation Nepal, National Neuro Center and the Government of Nepal emblem.
Partner logos. Epilepsy Foundation Nepal and National Neuro Center.
The tower lit pink and blue with the text World NTD Day, Neglected Tropical Diseases, 30 January 2022 and a sun emblem near the top.
World NTD Day 2022. 30 January.
The tower in blue with a COVID-19 vaccine bottle and a Nepali line about pregnant women getting their first vaccine dose.
COVID-19 vaccine. A message for pregnant women, in Nepali.
The tower lit red with the words End Polio Now and Rotary International District 3292 running up the shaft.
End Polio Now. Rotary International District 3292.
Low view of the red tower with the Rotary logo, the End Polio Now title and the hashtag publicimage24/25 on the shaft.
End Polio Now, from below.
The tower at night with a photograph of the singer and the words Sonu Nigam Live in Nepal, 25th December 2024.
Sonu Nigam Live in Nepal. 25 December 2024.
The tower at night with Sonu Nigam in vertical blue lettering and the date 25 December 2024.
Concert promotion. Second layout.
The bare tower with a fine grid of cyan lines projected over its shaft.
Alignment grid. Lines checked against the tower before the content runs.

Behind the light

Four projectors, one tower

The show ran from a canvas tent at the tower’s foot. Four projectors hung in steel cages, tilted towards the shaft, with the playout PC and monitor below. Projection, lasers and coloured lighting were checked together before each run.

Four projectors hung in steel cages from a tent frame, with a table and a computer under them.
Four projectors in steel cages.
Four projectors seen from behind in steel cages inside the tent, cabled together, with a vaccine bottle graphic on the tower beyond.
Rigs from behind. Four cabled projectors.
A view between two projectors of the tower carrying rows of Nepali flags, with cables in the foreground.
Flag test. Seen between two projectors.
The inside of the projection tent: hung projector cages above a table with a computer and monitor, lit red.
The tent. Projectors above the operating table.
A monitor showing a timeline and clip grid in front of the tower, which carries the mask campaign in the background.
Operating desk. Timeline and clip grid, with the tower behind.
A widescreen monitor showing a clip timeline and a projector control window, with a projector on a steel rack and the tower in the background.
Control screen. Timeline and projector control, with a projector on its rack.
The rig at night. Beams rising from the tent.

Design & technical approach

Designed for a tall, curved surface

MessageOne campaign message per run, in Nepali
ContentGraphics laid out along the shaft
RigProjectors in cages aimed up at the tower
ShowLasers and coloured light with the projection

Content for the shaft

I designed the content in vertical bands to fit the tower’s narrow, curved shaft and ring mouldings: a title up the shaft, a graphic near the top and a logo or line lower down. The photographs show vertical Nepali lettering, campaign logos and bands of photographs.

Light around the projection

The tower crown and base were lit in a colour to match each campaign, blue for the health campaigns and orange for Orange the World, and laser beams fanned out from the top in several runs.

Files

What the page shows

Campaign projections
Ten campaigns and events on the tower, from COVID-19 vaccination in 2021 to a concert promotion in December 2024
Video
Six clips from the runs, in portrait and square formats
Setup photographs
The projector tent, four hung projectors and the operating desk
Projection mapping Architectural projection Campaign content Laser show Nepali typography Alignment grid