Light-up Sidewalk Brick

Craft & Design

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This weekend while walking down Mill Avenue in Tempe, AZ, I saw an interesting sight. The sidewalk is made of bricks, but one of them was glowing. Upon closer inspection, it appeared one brick had been removed and replaced with an acrylic box containing a light source, which was backlighting a drawing on the inside of the transparent acrylic. My curiosity got the better of me, and I pried the top off (which was caulked to the bricks around it) with my multi-tool. What I found was pretty neat: a thick top layer of clear acrylic protecting a vellum drawing, lighted with a single 5mm LED hooked up to a battery pack. The initials “BRT” and the date “10/07” were written on the inside of the box. Having opened the box and accidentally torn the drawing, I felt I should add something to indicate I meant well. I happened to have some LEDs and coincell batteries with me, so I taped up an extra light (the one already in the box was not very bright or diffused), and stuck it inside, then pressed the lid back on as securely as I could. I have no idea who made it, but I have a Flickr set – Link.

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Becky Stern is a Content Creator at Autodesk/Instructables, and part time faculty at New York’s School of Visual Arts Products of Design grad program. Making and sharing are her two biggest passions, and she's created hundreds of free online DIY tutorials and videos, mostly about technology and its intersection with crafts. Find her @bekathwia on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram.

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