VANDAL uses plant DNA to power landmark New Year’s Eve projections

The City of Sydney has engaged leading creative studio VANDAL to deliver the creative direction and innovative large-scale projections for Sydney New Year’s Eve 2025, transforming the Sydney Harbour Bridge into a vibrant, living celebration of the natural world.

This year’s creative theme will be brought to life through a striking concept developed by VANDAL – one that imagines native plants reclaiming the city for a night of colour, movement and light. The pylons will shift from solid stone to living surface – blooming, breathing, and alive with the forms and energy of Australia’s botanical life.

“This year, we imagined what it would feel like if the city gave way to nature,” says Chris Scott, Creative Director at VANDAL. “Our streets, footpaths and foreshore are already teeming with extraordinary plant life – but it’s so often overlooked. The projections imagine these species reclaiming the built environment – climbing up the granite pylons, and taking over the Harbour Bridge with movement, colour and life. It’s a rewilding of Sydney in the most joyful, celebratory sense.”

To bring this creative vision to life in a scientifically grounded way, VANDAL partnered with the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, incorporating real DNA data from Australian native plants directly into the animation process. Each species’ unique genetic sequence was translated into visual instructions – influencing how a plant grows, moves and behaves in the projections. These natural data patterns were integrated into VANDAL’s proprietary AI workflows, enabling a unique synthesis of organic form and digital animation.

“This isn’t just a creative flourish – it’s nature helping to shape its own representation,” says VANDAL producer Alice Robinson. “We’re combining art, science and technology to let the plants speak in their own visual language.”

As midnight approaches, the projections build into a full-scale celebration – with bursts of blooming animation, spiralling climbers and waves of colour synchronised to Sydney’s world-renowned fireworks display. The result is a joyful and immersive moment of connection between the city, its people, and the natural world. Commissioned by the City of Sydney and broadcast globally, it promises to be one of the most visually striking and emotionally uplifting New Year’s Eve celebrations to date – and VANDAL is proud to help bring it to life.

VANDAL
Creative Director: Chris Scott
Executive Producer: Melody Ha
Creative: Phillip Muzzall
Producer: Alice Robinson
AI Animation Lead: Joseph Pole
AI Software Engineer: Nicholas Tsaoucis

City of Sydney
Stephen Gilby: Program Manager, Events
Jamie Dawson: Head of Programming, Creative City
Liza Bahamondes: Program Manager, Major Events and Festivals

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