At Nabana No Sato park on Japan's Nagashima island, the four seasons change nightly to reveal flowers, fireflies, rain, and snow. This happens not by magic, but by means of seven million LED lights.
At a residential project in Singapore, a swimming pool twinkles like a starry sky, thanks to the wonders of fibre optics. Moonlight dapples a driveway, courtesy of concealed spotlights in the trees.
Advancements in outdoor lighting have made such surreal scenes possible. It might not be magic, but technology certainly has endowed lighting designers with a handy bag of tricks.
In fact, says Simon Berry, partner at Singapore company Illuminate Lighting Design, which was behind the starlight pool, external lighting plans are the most fun, because of the layers and texture at the designer's disposal.
"We think of the outdoors as a stage - all sorts of things can be done. Exterior lighting isn't just functional; it can add many elements to the space."
But just because the technology's there, doesn't mean you have to use it. In fact, says lighting designer Andrew Jaques, a partner at Australian firm The Flaming Beacon, "Using technology for technology's sake? That's when design falls apart."