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Walk around the place du Molard in Geneva, Switzerland, and you’ll be walking on stars. Two thousand LED light sources equipped with 10 000 white Power TOPLEDs have been set into the paving stones. As the sun begins to set, the LEDs begin to shine, giving the square a magical aura.

When the Place du Molard was renovated, it was paved with cobble stones, identical to those which one already finds in the city center. Two thousand resin paving stones have been set in between, covering half a percent of the surface of the place. At nightfall the LED illuminated paving stones begin to shine, reproducing the shine and the silver-colored reflections of the Lake Geneva. The illuminated paving stones accumulate when approaching the lake and remind at the twinkling water, which penetrated up to this place in former times.

The two thousand resin paving stones are lucent during daytime, but become luminescent at nightfall. On each of the cobble stones simple words of everyday life are engraved, for example "hello", "good night" or "welcome", written in nine languages and symbolizing the multi-cultural character of Geneva. This installation underlines the pedestrian character and the history of the Place du Molard. Moreover the place takes account of the needs of the various users, such as pedestrians, tradesmen, florists, café owners and their guests.

Power TOPLEDs from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors were chosen for the illumination of the place due to their long lifetime, which is estimated at thirty-five years when operated only during nighttime. LEDs were right for the job due to their small size, facilitating the integration into the resin paving stones. Their high resistance to vibrations leads to low maintenance. Moreover energy consumption is very low and can be compared with that of a micro-computer.