From the designer

The Eurovision Song Contest pendant was designed by Juan Sanchez-Castano. Juan has worked at the Royal Dutch Mint for 11 years as a designer and was inspired by the water management in the Netherlands when working on the Eurovision Song Contest necklace.

Water
“Water shapes the landscape of the Netherlands. It is a part of daily life for most Dutch people: we cross canals and rivers every day and live among polders and dikes that control the water. For this design, water waves are mixed with sound waves.

All winning songs from Eurovision have been mixed together by Dutch music producer Eric van Tijn, which resulted in a chaotic sound. A special installation was developed to play the mix. The water we used was taken from the Maas, a river in Rotterdam. By using water from Rotterdam, the issue has become a representation of the 65^th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place at Rotterdam Ahoy.”

Did you know water management did not only inspire this pendant, but also served as inspiration for the stage design in Rotterdam Ahoy? The design is based on the theme “Open Up” and the typical, flat Dutch landscape. The floor plan of the stage is inspired by the canals and bridges that connect land and water in the Netherlands

A special installation
To create the design, Juan used a 3D scanner to build a special installation. In this installation he used an amplifier, a speaker to play the mix by Eric van Tijn, and a bowl of water to create the image. When the music starts playing, the frequencies of the sound create patterns on the water. A high speed camera took pictures of the different patterns, after which special software was used to make a 3D image of the relief. This led to a three dimensional model of the sound. On the pendant, you can clearly see the relief created by the frequencies at a specific moment; a solid snapshot fixed in a tangible product.

Symbolic design
The pendant has many levels of interpretation. It started out as a simple idea that has ultimately become much more. First of all, it is a representation of Dutch water management. Furthermore, because we used water from the Maas and a mix of all winning songs, the design is also a representation of all the previous Eurovision editions. It truly captures history.