Roadways and walks are lighted with gigantic lanterns. Varying in height to as much as 86 feet, cylindrical lanterns, five feet in diameter, are made of heavy canvas treated with glyptol, giving a parchment glow. Each light standard weighs approximately 2400 pounds and requires as much as 180 square yards of fabric. Other lanterns, from 30 to 50 feet high, are patterned after Siamese ceremonial umbrellas, lyres, and other designs. Light is graded in intensity from the base of buildings to the top to maintain the depths of arcades and accentuate architectural set-backs.
Primary colors are mixed together to obtain new colors.
Pink fluorescent tubes crossed by blue floodlights produce mauve, Trees lighted green stand out against the background of pale tinted walls. Fountains are lighted with their own colors. In the Court of Pacifica, a thyratrone behind the scintillating Persian Prayer Curtain produces a rotation of colors varying from dark blue to pale apricot. Switches and buttons on an electrical control board in each building are set permanently wherever the color scheme is static. Fountain lights are controlled from the bases of nearby statues.