Each holiday season, Cartier's Fifth Avenue Mansion in New York City becomes a festive landmark, renowned for its elegant and imaginative decorations. This year, the iconic building is adorned with a stunning temporary installation, featuring illuminated decor across its 5th Avenue and 52nd Street facades. To bring this vision to life, the producing company American Christmas—renowned for orchestrating hundreds of Manhattan’s holiday displays each November—brought in the team at Chris Werner Design for Cartier's NYC holiday magic.
Unwrapping Cartier's NYC Holiday Magic w/ Chris Werner Design
The installation lights up daily from 8 AM to 1 AM, featuring a continuous 5-minute loop of dynamic visuals. Between 5 PM and 10 PM, the display steps it up with a 3-minute, 30-second synchronized light-and-music show, adding an extra layer of energy to Fifth Avenue. Installed in October and November, the display officially debuted on November 19, 2024, and will continue to captivate through the New Year.
Fun fact: Cartier’s Fifth Avenue Mansion sits right between two iconic churches—St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Thomas Church. With their bells ringing at various times, the show schedule was offset by five minutes to avoid overlap, ensuring the lights and music take center stage without missing a beat.
Crew List, Gear List, & more images ⬇️
Crew List //
Production Company: American Christmas
Producer: Kent Fritzel
Designer: Kate Bezhevets
Project Manager: Robert Madson
Shop Lead: Julio Lopez
CEO: Dan Casteralla
Lighting & Video Design: Chris Werner Design
Designer: Chris Werner
Animator: Kevan Loney
Programmer: Alex Stevens
Assistant: Eva Hu
System Integrator and Lighting /Video provider: 4Wall
Account Executive: Brent Pritchett
Systems Lead: Dan Snyder Systems Support: Gregg Carter, Shaun Ballew, Dustin Warner Production Lead: Jeff Collier Production Electrician: Tim Neggie
Fabrication & Installation by AMA Electric Sign Co. Led by Joe Calvano and Jim Taggert
Music was composed/arranged/licensed by 5Alarm Music
Photography: Elliott Lopes Photography
Pulling off a project of this scale came with its fair share of challenges. With a tight timeline for concept development, drawings, and fabrication, every phase had to move quickly and efficiently. As a temporary installation, the decor needed to attach to the facade with minimal physical impact. Rigging and control infrastructure also had to remain as invisible as possible, reflecting Cartier's reputation as a sophisticated and elegant brand.
Working on a bustling New York street added another layer of complexity. The team operated on an entirely overnight schedule—closing two lanes of Fifth Avenue to allow for cranes and bucket lifts. And while this November wasn’t the coldest on record, spending long nights outdoors meant hot coffee and heated vests became essentials for the crew, and they swear by Ororo.
Gear List ⬇️
Gear List //
Approx. 20,000 pixels from Minleon controlled by Advatek PixLite Mk3 as well as LED Modules and DMX Decoders from Environmental Lights.
G40 lamps dimmed by ETC Sensor Dimmers.
Custom outdoor, round LED screen by Design LED Show Control and playback scheduling by QLab from Figure53.
Device control by GrandMA2.
Pixel Mapping and Media Playback from PRG Mbox v5.
Chris Werner Design
Chris Werner Design (CWD) is known for delivering innovative lighting and media concepts that transform spaces into memorable experiences. Led by principal designer Chris Werner, the team combines creative vision with meticulous planning to produce designs that are not only stunning but also reliable and efficient. With a portfolio that spans entertainment and architectural projects across the globe—from Meow Wolf installations to Saks Fifth Avenue displays—CWD’s work reflects a perfect balance of artistry and technical expertise. Their dedication to responsible design makes them a go-to team for projects of all scales.
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