Prague’s glowing Beacon installation gets an extended stay through October

Beacon, the illuminated installation by British designer Lee Broom and Czech lighting company Brokis, will remain on Prague’s Jan Palach Square through the end of October, Broom announced on social media.

The sculpture was unveiled Oct. 6 as part of Designblok and had originally been scheduled to stay until Oct. 11. Broom attributed the extension to its reception in Prague, describing the response as “extraordinary.”

For residents who cannot catch it during the festival, the announcement provides several additional weeks to see the work outside the Rudolfinum. The extension applies to Beacon, rather than the wider Designblok program.

Resembling a monumental chandelier, Beacon consists of 292 segments of Brokisglass, a material produced from recycled glass shards from Janštejn Glassworks.

According to Designblok’s installation description, a process of fusing and shaping the glass creates a distinctive texture resembling wood grain. The repeated vertical elements combine lighting, sculpture and architectural form.

Broom drew inspiration from the architecture of London’s South Bank, including its brutalist buildings. At the Prague unveiling, he also described the influence of postmodern architecture and streetlights along the Thames, according to the ČTK report supplied by Deník.

The work brings those references into a different setting in Prague, where it stands before the Rudolfinum amid the historic buildings of Jan Palach Square.

“When I designed it for London, I was inspired by the surrounding buildings,” Broom said at the unveiling, explaining that he also felt the installation belonged in its Prague location.

Beacon debuted at the London Design Festival in 2025 outside the Royal Festival Hall. It subsequently appeared at Piazza San Babila during Milan Design Week in April 2026 before traveling to Czechia.

Its arrival in Prague therefore represents a return to the country where its glass components were made. Brokis describes the project as an exploration of public art, recycled materials and the relationship between contemporary design and its surroundings.

The Oct. 6 unveiling brought together Broom, Designblok director Jana Zielinski and Brokis owner Jan Rabell. A low-brass ensemble from the Czech Philharmonic accompanied the ceremony, opening with George Gershwin’s Summertime, ČTK reported.

The sculpture also fits the theme of this year’s Designblok festival, “Light.” The festival’s 28th edition runs Oct. 7–11 across major venues and individual galleries and showrooms around Prague.

Visitors can find Beacon on Jan Palach Square in front of the Rudolfinum, a short walk from Staroměstská station on metro line A. Its outdoor location makes it an easy stop during a walk through the Old Town or along the Vltava; the newly announced stay lasts through the end of October.