erco lichtbericht 88...sheikh zayed mosque, abu dhabi the vision of a modern islamic ruler has...

E Lichtbericht 88

Published in July 2009

Sheikh Zayed MosqueOutstanding achievements by artists, craftsmen and technicians from around the world, combined in a majestic act to provide an over - all view of fascinating opulence: the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the ultimate in religious buildings. Speirs and Major Associ-ates, the lighting designers, opted for vertical illuminance and con-cealed light sources – a concept that seems made for ERCO light - ing tools.

ERCO Lichtbericht 88 1

Over the past 75 years, ERCO has advanced from a supplier of individual luminaires for private use to a leading manufacturer of pro-fessional lighting systems for architectural applications. Based on our ongoing concept of “Light, not luminaires”, we continue to occupy a strong position that will actively enable us to help shape the changes taking place in the luminaire industry. Energy efficiency innova-tions for lighting installations introduced by combining lighting control systems and LED light systems lead us to believe that there is still a great deal more potential for us to continue to make a relevant contribution to architectural lighting in the future.

Barely 75 years young, we are thus at the beginning of an exciting development that is once again set to change the company over the next few years. At ERCO, we are all the more delighted that we can present numerous new products and technologies relating to LEDs and other major lighting control developments in the year of our anniversary. Under the motto of “efficient visual comfort”, these developments excellently complement each other in provid-ing a modern lighting system; both efficient in its use of energy and effective in ensuring visual comfort and all based on cutting-edge lighting technology.

Our products are developed within the conflicting nature of culture and tech nology. It gets exciting whenever we are involved in technical solutions to cultural challenges of a specific nature. One such example is the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Even to experi-enced lighting professionals, the mosque must appear like a dream from the ‘Thousand and One Nights’. Speirs and Major Associates have made this dream become a lighting design real-ity. We were privileged to be involved in both indoor and outdoor aspects of this project.

One of the success secrets of ERCO’s founder, Arnold Reininghaus, was his boundless trust in the younger generation. Well trust is good, but education is better. In addition to our own in-house training and further education measures, ERCO has also offered lighting seminars for stu-dents and architects in the past few years. One such student workshop of a very special nature was held within the scope of the great Annie Leibovitz Retrospective exhibition in Berlin. Guided by curator Felix Hoffmann and aided by ERCO staff, students here had the opportunity to apply themselves and arrange the lighting for the exhibition. No doubt, an intensive and enriching experience for all those involved. ERCO Lichtbericht

ImprintPublisher: Tim H. MaackEditor in Chief: Martin KrautterDesign/Layout: Simone Heinze, Christoph SteinkePrinting: Mohn Media Mohndruck GmbH, Gütersloh

1028732000© 2009 ERCO

Tim Henrik Maack

Background

Background: Light follows the curator – not the reverseby Werner Lippert

Curatorial lightAn object study

Lighting LeibovitzWithin the setting of an ERCO Lighting Workshop, students place the great Annie Leibovitz Retrospective in Berlin in the right light.

Projects

History

26

28

30

31

In addition to many exciting projects, our anni-versary Lichtbericht also features an article on ERCO itself. “75 light years” describes the history of change at ERCO: from the basic idea of the industrial production of luminaires to the trans-formation into an architectural lighting pro-vider and onto a specialist in lighting software and hardware. In the change from the analogue to the digital world of lighting, the chronicles of ERCO present a piece of retrospective industrial history, reflecting the culture of innovation at the company. We have already progressed some distance along this exciting path and we can-not wait to see what is still ahead of us. At this point, I particularly want to thank our custom-ers without whom this development would not have been possible; and a big thank you also to all our staff, who have dedicated themselves to our development with amazing creativity.

New Products 2009LED technology spotlights

Efficient visual comfort

FocusLighting design using lumen categories:Technology

Double focusLighting design using lumen categories:Design

Introduction

Report

16

20

22

48

52

56

58

32

Museo Superior de Bellas Artes Palacio Ferreyra, CórdobaThe redesigned Palacio Ferreyra features a Light System DALI installation to pro-vide optimal lighting conditions.

L'Almoina Archaeological Centre, ValenciaThe redesigned Archaeological Centre sets the scene most effectively for a walk into the past.

Museo de Bellas Artes, GranadaNew light for the art collection in the building complex of the famous Alhambra of Granada

Igreja da Santíssima Trindade, FátimaThe sanctuary of this contemporary reli-gious building at the Portuguese place of pilgrimage has some 8800 seats, making it one of the largest churches in the world.

75 light yearsA review of ERCO’s company history on the 75th anniversary of its foundation.

About this issue

Keylights

Bright prospects

1

2

4

Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu DhabiThe vision of a modern Islamic ruler has become a reality – with outstanding artistic and technical achievements from all over the world.

6

60 Backlights

Contents About this issue

Light & Technology

Photographs (Page):Andreu Adrover (61), Frieder Blickle (3), Charles Crowell (U1, 6-15), ERCO image archive (32-47), Andreas J. Focke (2, 3), Bernd Hoff (2, 58-59), Aksel Karcher (28), David Kuntzsch (22-25), Joshua Lieberman (3), Thomas Mayer (3, 52-55, 56-57), Rudi Meisel (2, 4-5), Thomas Pflaum (3), Rogerio Reis (49-51), Alexander Ring (20-21, 26-27), Rupert Steiner (2), Kay-Chin Tay (61), Dirk Vogel (1, 60), Sabine Wenzel (U4).

Translation: Lanzillotta Translations, Düsseldorf

2 ERCO Lichtbericht 88 ERCO Lichtbericht 88 3

Keylights

BarcelonaThe “Círculo de Lectores” book club foundation is an institution in Spain and boasts famous honor-ary members such as King Juan Carlos and Günter Grass. Its cul-tural centre is a fitting testimony to functional elegance. Black mar-ble flooring and columns dictate the appearance of the multifunc-tional rooms which are divided into a library, exhibition gallery and auditorium. The premises are illu-minated by ERCO. Optec spotlights add accents to the exhibits and downlights provide the ambient lighting.

Centro Cultural Fundación Círculo de Lectores, BarcelonaArchitect and lighting design: Jordi Garcès, Barcelona

DüsseldorfThe face of the E.ON energy con-cern is given a prestigious and modern expression in the form of the new Corporate Centre. New kinds of high-quality materials and a lighting system with glare-free downlights and wallwashers creat-ing an elegant unity between light and the clean architectural lines.

E.ON Corporate Centre, Düsseldorf Architect: bsp archtitekten, Bochum

KarlsruheIn the modern, indoor water park, beneath the two roof halves that span the baths like giant wings, Parscoop wallwashers, Paratec recessed spotlights and Cylinder downlights, all rated to IP65 pro-tection, provide safe and variable lighting for the various pool areas and spatial zones.

Europabad, KarlsruheArchitect: Geier & Geier, Stuttgart www.europabad-karlsruhe.de

MeranTrauttmansdorff Castle near Meran is home to the South Tirol Museum of Tourism. Pollux and Jilly spot-lights and Starpoint pendant lumi - naires are used in the rooms. Prob-ably the most famous former guest, the Empress Elisabeth or “Sissi”, is honoured with a sculpture in the entrance foyer, which is scenically illuminated with Beamer projec-tors.

Touriseum, MeranArchitect: Tacus & Didonè, Bozenwww.touriseum.it

StuttgartThe lighting concept for the new cafeteria at WGV insurers won an IALD Award of Merit in May 2009. The interplay of direct and diffuse light is produced by the interaction of Skim downlights, the ceiling shape and suspended reflective elements.

WGV Cafeteria, StuttgartInterior design: ippolito fleitz group, StuttgartLighting design: Gerd Pfarré, Pfarré Lighting Design, Munich

Esch-sur-AlzetteThe lighting of the town-hall square in Luxembourg’s second largest city concentrates purely on what is essential. Tesis in-ground luminaires illuminate the trees, while Beamer spotlights provide accent lighting on the square. They are mounted on three obelisks that also serve as flagpoles.

Place de l’hôtel de ville, Esch-sur-AlzetteArchitect: cba Christian Bauer & Associés Architectures, LuxemburgLighting design: Gerd Pfarré, Pfarré Lighting Design, Munich

ViennaOlafur Eliasson’s installation provides a fascinating spectacle along the facade of the “Verbund" building. With the onset of dark-ness, artificial fog, illuminated with yellow light by concealed vary-chrome Focalflood floodlights, rises from the ground in an installation intended to symbolise the change of the diurnal rhythm, the transi-tion from day to night.

Yellow Fog, Verbund AG, ViennaArtist: Olafur Eliasson, Berlin

BerlinFollowing an intensive makeover, a former 1950’s petrol station has been transformed into one of central Berlin’s most exclusive gal-leries. Optec spotlights, downlights and Tesis in-ground luminaires illuminate this unusual combina-tion of apartment, reception area and gallery.

Galerie Jürg Judin, BerlinArchitect: bfs d architekten, Berlin

OsloThe museum’s inaugural exhibi-tion was dedicated to Sverre Fehn, who passed away in February 2009. Fehn was the architect who added this glazed pavilion to the historical building of the former Norwegian Bank. The rooms are illuminated by Parscan spotlights mounted on Hi-trac track.

The National Museum – Architecture, OsloArchitect: Prof. Arch. Sverre Fehnwww.nationalmuseum.no

TokyoThe NAC, one of Japan’s most important museums, has a total area of 48,000m2 extending over several, spacious floors. The 600 or so exhibits, predominantly from the 20th century, are highlighted by Eclipse spotlights, while the floor areas are diffusely lit by a luminous ceiling.

The National Art Center, TokyoArchitect: Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates, Tokyo; Nihhon Sekkei, Tokyowww.nact.jp

LisbonJorge Welsh and Luisà Vinhais are internationally renowned experts on antique porcelain from Asia and Africa who run their own gal-leries in England and Portugal. In their Lisbon branch exclusive use is made of ERCO Pollux spotlights to add accent lighting to the priceless, unique artworks.

Jorge Welsh Gallery, Lisbonwww.jorgewelsh.com

LisbonIn the redesigned premises of the museum for Fado, the traditional melancholy singing of the Portu-guese, the lighting design relies on the intensive use of vertical illu-minance. The concept was imple-mented using Quadra wallwashers, providing efficient visual comfort.

Museu do Fado, Lisbonwww.museudofado.egeac.pt

LondonThe Kings Place building complex not only accommodates offices such as the Guardian’s editorial HQ but also cultural facilities, including galleries, concert halls and restaurants. Illuminated by a combination of ERCO downlights, spotlights and natural daylight, these venues provide an attrac-tive, uncluttered atmosphere that invites visitors to linger.

Kings Place, LondonArchitect: Dixon Jones, Londonwww.kingsplace.co.uk


Bright prospects Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, LondonArchitect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, LondonPhoto: Rudi Meisel, Berlin

www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk


The massive Sheikh Zayed Mosque is located between Abu Dhabi Airport and Abu Dhabi city at the east end of the island in the Persian Gulf that forms the centre of the Abu Dhabi emirate. This house of God, named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi and founder of the United Arab Emirates, is a building of massive proportions. The complex, clad entirely in white marble, is the biggest mosque in the whole of the United Arab Emir-ates and the third-biggest one worldwide. At 70m in height, it has the largest cupola of any mosque and features a total of 82 cupolas. Four 107m-high minarets flank the 17,000sqm inner courtyard, which is also designed in marble with floral decorations. The main prayer room houses the largest hand-woven carpet in the world, measuring over 5,500sqm; 200 Iranian weavers used 25 different natural colours of New Zea-land and Iranian wool to create a product weigh-ing a total of 47 tons. The mosque has room for over 40,000 believers. In 2004, the initiator of this ambitious project, Sheikh Zayed, was laid

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, Abu Dhabi

The vision of a modern Islamic ruler has become a reality – with outstanding artistic and technical achievements from all over the world: the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi fascinates with a cleverly thought-out dramatury of daylight and artificial light.

Play of brilliants: A gigan-tic chandelier produced by Munich-based firm Faustig and measuring 10m in diameter, shines at a height of 15.5m and is fitted with 15,500 LEDs. Gold-plated stainless steel, gold-plated brass, coloured glass elements and Swarovski crystals adorn this luminaire that

Architects: Yusef Abdelki; Halcrow (Executive Architects); Spatium Architects, Milan (Interior Design)Lighting design: Speirs and Major Associates, EdinburghPhotographs: Charles Crowell, Black Star

to rest in a small mausoleum right next to the entrance of the mosque.

From his idea to build a mosque in 1989, it took 13 years to complete the building fabric in May 2002. Over the entire development phase, the project required of those involved the same virtues that constitute its symbolic value: tradi-tion, hospitality and openness were character-istic of the intensive cooperation between the committed designers, suppliers and craftsmen from all over the world. Architecture and details were based on a traditionally oriental use of forms, but it was the hi-tech materials, cutting-edge production techniques and logis tical effi - ciency that enabled a synthesis of the arts as brilliant as this. Underneath its marble skin, the building hides a reinforced concrete carcass produced using efficient, CAD-aided formwork technology. In excess of 1,000 columns were clad with over 20,000 hand-crafted marble slabs decorated by filigree inlays of gold and semipre-cious stones. The interior design was devised by the Italian firm Spatium, whose previous work

was primarily designing luxury villas, hotels and boutiques, for clients such as Versace. The exterior was designed just as meticulously: the mosque is surrounded by artificial lakes with dark tiling, which serve as reflection pools to create interesting effects throughout the day and at night. The vegetation of the whole grounds, spanning 550,000sqm with hundreds of palm trees, and promenades are due to be completed by the end of the year and will pro-vide a place of excursion for families, school classes and tourists from all over the world.

One of the key roles in this unusual project is played by the artificial and day light drama-turgy. As a creative link, its task is to interpret the complex outdoor and indoor continuum at any time of the day and to incorporate different uses ensuring an atmospherically compact and harmonious experience of space.

weighs 12 tons. Inside, the chandelier is accessed via stairs to facilitate mainte-nance work.

For the interior of the new mosque, the prin-cipal hired masters of their respective fields from all over the world. Visits to the mosque are open to non-Muslims outside the prayer times – subject to appropriate clothing. Information is available from the tour-ist office in Abu Dhabi (www.visitabudhabi.ae).

The lighting designers of British firm Speirs and Major Associates thus formulated a strin-gent concept based on vertical illuminance and accentuated lighting using spotlights, wall-washers and in-ground luminaires. The lighting tools themselves are concealed in niches, ceiling slots or behind lattice ornaments – in line with the design maxim of “light, not luminaires”. The lighting designers were recognised for their work with a range of awards, including the “Middle East Lighting Design Award 2008” as the best lighting project in the whole of the Middle East, and the “IALD Award of Merit 2009”.

The basic lighting in the transition zones from inside to outside is hidden in circumfer-ential ceiling offsets. The brilliant white light of the Lightcast directional luminaires for 35W metal halide lamps puts a sparkle on the valu-able marble surfaces. Sculpture lenses spread the beam of the directional luminaires to produce an effect similar to wallwashing. Pro-vided with protection rating IP65 for dust and moisture resistance, their light quality is equal to that found indoors. The illumination inside, for example in the main prayer hall, is based on the same principle, namely concealed Stella spotlights for 150W metal halide lamps and a narrow beam reflector characteristic. These are used in combination with Stella wallwashers with the same lamps providing dramatic light-ing effects composing accentuated lighting and uniform wallwashing. All lighting components share the same claim of precise glare control to ensure maximum visual comfort for all types of use.

The large number of lighting components and the many requirements of use, necessitated a careful conception of the control technology throughout the building. Speirs and Major pro-jected a solution that is as user-friendly as it is flexible. It integrates the different positions of both sun and moon, the totality of indoor and outdoor luminaires and, of course, the different types of application, such as prayer times, public visits or television recordings. To maintain the exact illuminance required in the main hall at 150lx, the lighting designers decided during the planning phase to set up a mock-up room on a scale of 1:1 in the theatre of their home town, Edinburgh.

Landscape designers and gardeners are currently working flat out to complete the grounds, which will be equal in every way to the magnificence of the building itself. Here too, an interesting and varied lighting scenario will contribute to a characteristic look at night: several hundreds of spotlights, in-ground lumi-naires and over one thousand stair lights with


modern, energy-saving LED technology have already been shipped to the Emirates and are waiting to be used. The mammoth project will shortly be officially opened; locals and visitors from all over the world, regardless of nationality and religion, are invited to admire the best in tradition and modern art in Abu Dhabi and to enter into a respectful dialogue with each other.

The design of the 23m- high and 50m-wide Qibla wall in the central hall is a veritable treat of skilled craftsmanship and lighting technology. The 99 names of Allah and traditional Islamic floral ornaments are lavishly incorporated into the marble facing. The backlighting is provided by a fibre-optic system pro-duced by Fiberstars EFO.

Vertical illuminance also dominates the transition zones between inside and outside. Lightcast directional luminaires IP65 with sculpture lenses have a light distribution similar to wallwashing. Fitted with metal halide lamps, the luminaires are concealed in a circumfer-ential ceiling offset.

The main cupola rises some 70m above the inner courtyard – the largest cupola of any mosque in the world. The whole of the yard, an area of 17,000sqm, is covered with floral marble orna-ments.

View into the main cupola of the mosque: An elaborate control system and the combina-tion of architectural and stage lighting elements allow light scenes to be recalled to suit the occa-sion. As coloured light components, the design-ers used shades of blue to which they ascribe a “spiritual character“. Beamer spotlights for 35W metal halide lamps hidden from view on the cornices and capitals accentuate the orna-mental art.

Concealed light sources bring the lighting effects inside to the fore and create a virtually magical atmosphere. Hundreds of Stella spotlights and washlights are mounted in ceiling offsets, niches and behind ornamental lattices in the main prayer room.

Speirs and Major AssociatesSpeirs and Major Associates is a UK-based design practice that uses light to enhance the experience of the visual environment. Their work is wide-ranging in terms of type and scale and includes architecture, strategic projects and innovative product design. Projects include Barajas Interna-tional Airport, the Sackler Crossing at Kew, Copenhagen Opera House and the interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. They have also developed strategic lighting master plans for several cities and developments including Cambridge, Coventry, Durham, Al Raha, Abu Dhabi and Burj Dubai. The practice has been credited with helping to raise awareness of the lighting design profession in the UK. Today it employs 30 people drawn from disciplines including

architecture, art, lighting, interior, graphics and theatre. Its offices are based in London and Edinburgh, UK.

www.lightarch.com

From left to right: Keith Bradshaw, Mark Major and Jonathan Speirs, the executive trio at Speirs and Major Associates.


Light in an exhibition: today, what we often consider purely the result of architectural and technical possibilities of lighting is in reality based primarily on a curatorial decision. That decision takes shape by exploring and ana-lysing the artwork and thus becomes an aes-thetic rather than an architectural decision. At least that is how it should be!

The aesthetics of contemplation is based on the trends and developments of our cul-tural life and is partly determined by the extent of that which we are prepared to sub-sume under an ever broader concept of cul-ture. After all, the museum itself is no longer dedicated merely to art, but, now that the line between high and low has been drawn, has added a range of other artefacts to its exhibitions (and collections). In addition to paintings and sculptures, we now also exhibit everyday items, automobiles, fashion, videos, light sculptures and much more. This adds to the demands made on lighting. A further contributing factor are modern concepts of presentation; after all, we use terms such as dramaturgy, scenography or even mythical space when talking about exhibitions.

Interestingly enough, light has always had “curatorial" significance, the “lighting" being seen as part of the picture! This even applied to frescos in the Renaissance period where the “constant lighting of the empty wall needed to be transferred onto the pic-ture”. A law devised by the painter Cennino Cennini, which later was also applied by Gio - vanni Paolo Lomazzo to paintings. Lomazzo stipulated that light in the exhibition room should continue in the picture.

This example alone shows that the light -ing of artwork is also a product of the respec-tive era. Until the early 19th century, artificial light meant light from candles or oil lamps with poor luminous efficacy. Painters, as well as exhibitors, therefore, were forced to rely on daylight and swore by the unchang-ing light of the north. It was not until the 19th century that a technology developed which produced light from gas or petroleum, by using an incandescent mantle or through electricity.

Only much later however, was artificial light accepted as lighting for artworks. In the first half of the 19th century, public muse-ums still worked exclusively with daylight. Even some time later, every new building continued to be a daylight museum despite the available artificial light. Even at the Paris Salon exhibition in 1879, the artists pro-tested when their works were subjected to glaring arc light. It was not until the 50s

Light follows the curator – not the reverse

by Werner Lippert

and 60s of the 20th century that museum architecture focussed primarily on window-less galleries.

The White Cube and the consequencesIt was at this time that Irish-American art critic Brian O'Doherty produced an eman-cipated fable of the picture in his legendary “White Cube" essays in the magazine Art-forum, based on the Exhibition Salon of the 19th century as the first public gallery space. In his essays, he pointed to the correlation between the history of modern art and that of the gallery space.

His “Inside the White Cube – The Origin and Development of the White Cell" is proba-bly the most influential writing on the devel-opment of the museum. His fourth essay, “The Gallery as a Gesture" (which was pub-lished much later than the first three essays) finally deals with the question as to whether it is not the empty gallery space as such that is the actual accomplishment of modern-ism. In terms of its function, O’Doherty says: “The ideal gallery subtracts from the artwork all facts that interfere with the fact that it is ‘art’. The work is isolated from everything that would detract from its own evaluation of itself. This gives the space a presence pos-sessed by other spaces where conventions are preserved through the repetition of a closed system of values."

Such a presentation, which includes appropriate lighting, was sought by the painters of the colour-field school, among others. Today, this requirement is met in new museum buildings. The lighting designer for what is known as the “Color Field Gallery" in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, Scott Rosenfeld, comments as follows on his work:

“Our objective when lighting our mod-ern galleries, especially the one dedicated to Color Field painting, is to help artworks appear as a natural extension of the white wall. The lighting should subtly ‘pop’ works off the wall without making them look ‘spot lit.’ If the relationship between the wall and the work is perfect, it will appear almost to float on the wall."

But then he adds, “This is opposite from the way we light installations in our nineteenth-century galleries where paintings are hung on deeply coloured walls."

O'Doherty’s contemplations, however, were primarily congruent with the ideas of mini-mal art. The artists here take their work and make them a function of space, light and the viewers' field of vision, as Robert Morris

remarked in his essay, “Notes on Sculpture" (1966). The viewers find themselves in a spa-tial structure with the artwork and have the opportunity to establish different relation-ships with the work itself. This is aided by taking different positions in the space and the related change of lighting conditions.

Donald Judd, an influential artist and critic in those days, continued to flesh out these ideas. From 1977 he primarily lived in Marfa, Texas, where he had acquired land and sev-eral buildings to install his work in an exem-plary manner away from all cultural activities. It is, therefore, in Marfa that the immense importance Judd attached to light and space in his art becomes most obvious. Light here means incident daylight from both sides. This arrangement changes the lighting of the art-work when ambling past it as much as the progression of the sun’s position throughout the day or the change in the weather. Judd thus created what he deemed the “ideal" museum.

No artificial light in the biscuit factoryThe lighting concept chosen for the Ameri-can museum project Dia:Beacon was a dif-ferent one. The world’s largest museum of contemporary art was opened in 2003 in an abandoned factory that had produced cracker boxes until 1991. This gigantic exhi-bition area, four times as large as that in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, allows a permanent presentation of large-format artwork in an optimal space. The facility can be compared to European exhibitions such as the Art Nouveau Halls in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen.

“We wanted to exhibit art as it was to be beheld, in an environment as that intended by the artist,” Director Michael Govan explains the concept on which the museum is based. In the “new pilgrims’ destinations for glo-bal art lovers”, as the New York Times called it, the designers opted to do entirely without electric light; apart that is from emergency lighting. Instead, more than 3000sqm of skylight provide uniform indirect light that is not too glaring. Consequently, in winter, the Dia:Beacon closes at 4 pm, in summer it stays open until 6 pm.

Galleries, collections, exhibitions and muse-ums reacted to this lighting concept by using their own daylight lighting, or, as an alter-native, a lighting installation that met the requirements of the artists in some other way. They, for example, installed rows of industrially produced neon lights that bathe the room in a uniform, impersonal and even glaring light.

What was particularly appropriate for the objects of minimal art (How else was one to illuminate a sculpture by Carl Andre that is spread out on the floor other than with uniform light from above?) also proved suit-able for a new mode of art that began to reinvent itself, namely photography. It was eminently Bernd and Hilla Becher (eagerly received and supported by minimal artists such as Carl Andre) who developed docu-mentary photography into an art form. They preferred to take photos of their objects: winding towers, gas tanks and suchlike. All from a slightly elevated observer’s position, in diffuse light, so that the objects were in front of a neutral background.

To achieve timelessness, there could not be a single cloud to spoil the time expo-sure. “The sky is not blue," commented Hilla Becher. It only seemed that way. Conse-quently, colour must never mar the path “to a certain objective truth". This corre lated with the well-known analysis by Roland Barthes in his “Myths of Everyday Life": “Things appear to mean something by themselves." Precisely this was one of the premises of minimal art.

Neutral versus dramaEven an artist from the “successor" gen-eration of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Thomas Demand, laconically answers the question of lighting his own pictures in exhibitions: “I only work by artificial light." From this he then derives his requirement of “adequate lighting" as that which must also be artificial light and flat, and which does not establish a hierarchy or dramatise. Looking at the studio of his colleague, Thomas Struth, in Düssel-dorf, one is firstly impressed by a seemingly endless battery of neon lights that create a thick carpet of light.

The installation of such pictures, which practically negate the light in themselves or at least any form of light dramatisation, requires adequate lighting and this means that it must be as neutral, undramatic and reduced as the light situation in the pic-tures. This is also plausible against the back-ground of (art) history, for it shows that the lighting in the studio has also always been the prevailing lighting in the museum. For centuries, painters had to rely on natural daylight for their work, which reflected in the museum lighting. However, under the new circumstances, such as those created by the loft, artists started to use different lighting technology such as neon tubes or illuminated ceilings. Those who used this non-dramatising or hierarchicial light in their

It’s about light in the museum, or rather light in an exhibition, because the museum is no longer the sole venue of art exhibi-tions. Over the last few decades it has been joined by art clubs, art halls, exhibition houses and galleries.

Photos by Mario Testino at the NRW-Forum, Düssel-dorf: Heavily accentuating light brings the motifs to life – as intended by the artist.

The Dia:Beacon: the former biscuit factory in the Hudson Valley now houses an all-daylight museum with plenty of space to include monu-mental works (Donald Judd, untitled, 1975. © Donald Judd Founda-tion/Licensed by VAGA. Photo: Bill Jacobson)


studios now also demand the same type of light in the museum.

Consequently, the “classic museum" for the prince of artists, Markus Lüpertz, is built as follows: “four walls, light from above, two doors, one for those entering, the other for those leaving." Thus, the new museum build-ings meeting Lüpertz' (and to some degree also Brian O'Doherty's) requirements are back – buildings such as the Kirchner Museum in Davos or the Art House in Bregenz, both of which work with daylight, or the buildings by architects such as Herzog & de Meuron (Tate Modern) or Stephan Braunfels (Art Gallery of Modern Art), which operate with an illumi-nated ceiling. But once again, artists are (re-)acting against them, such as most recently Gerhard Richter in the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, who had the diffusing ceiling cov-ering removed to promptly multiply the lumi-nous efficacy many times over.

From Rembrandt to GurskyFor example, we can see that the curatorial concepts change along with the aesthetic developments, or also with the emergence of new artistic views, such as the following: “My first all-digitally photographed picture; the light had be identical on all the shots. Before, I had often worked with plate cam-eras, with heavy equipment. This shot is composed of many detailed scenes and it is a melange of the track at the Nürburgring and in Shanghai. I have eliminated the vari-ous perspectives”, this is how Andreas Gursky describes one of his new Formula 1 pictures.

Gursky is now compared with Rembrant, on account of the fascinating Chiaroscuro, and also with Caravaggio, the master of light and dark of exaggerated realism. It is uncer-tain whether this means we resort to a new mode of lighting. So far, however, Andreas Gursky resolutely sticks to a uniform illumi-nation of his pictures, as effectively achieved in his major exhibition in the Munich House of Art. Here, the existing lighting installation had been completely removed and the arched ceilings illuminated with powerful spotlights to ensure that everything in the exhibition rooms was uniformly illumi nated by bright, indirect light. In a conversation, he favoured uniform neon light. In reality, however, he adapts to the local conditions. For example, in his exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, it was halogen lumi-naires that dominated the overall impression. Andreas Gursky then had the light some-what dimmed and, similar to what we had suggested, accentuated aspects such as the pit-stop work using guided light.

Day and night at the museumArtists such as Jeff Wall make even more dis-tinctions when specifying their demands on lighting. He postulates, “The word ‘museum’ seems associated with daylight, while the cinema requires a dark room. Right from the start, the museum claimed to be a universal museum. If that is true, however, it must include the night as well as the day and then the museum must also have darkrooms.

Maybe we should divide it into a sun wing and a moon tract."

With this, Wall has opened a wide field of discussion: What is worth exhibiting? What is exhibited? How does our canon of what can and should be exhibited widen? After all, it has been widened by including ephemeral aspects, models, projections, light boxes, eve-ryday objects, printed and electronic media or textiles. Objects, though, that are part of commodity aesthetics, such as fashion pho-tography or the works of fashion designers themselves, require lighting that is closer to that of the retail field in shopping malls than a conventionally illuminated museum. This again creates new points of reference. While many artists focus on daylight, others use the media as a reference system, such as the photographer Mario Testino, who takes his cue for the presentation of his pictures in the museum from their representation in printed magazines and who then also draws on the patterns of reception of the visitors: “Beams of light concentrate the eyes of the beholder on the image which is the same that maga-zines do due to the nature of their sizes and distance between the viewer and the maga-zine. As most of the images shown were shot for magazines, these lights made sense. On another note, in general when looking at pictures on a wall they tend to lose some of the light that actually exists whilst I take an image. I like life and these lights seem to bring the images to life."

The curatorial reaction to Testino's view is to use powerful projectors with a narrow beam light distribution, so that only the pic-ture is illuminated in a rela tively dark room. The effect is enormous – the photo takes on the quality of a slide shining from inside and magically captivates the viewer.

That artists specify the lighting required for their works in so much detail is quite a tradition. An exception here is Constantin Brancusi, who has left to posterity a photo-graphic documentation of how his sculp-tures should be presented and illuminated. The photographs are kept in the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, but the Zurich Art Gallery also has a selection of these photos in its possession. Of tremendous significance for Brancusi was the effect of his sculptures on the pedestal and in the space. He believed indirect light to be indispensable for the def-inition of this spatial effect. This is one idea which we will draw on for the lighting of our upcoming exhibition “U.F.O. – Walking the line between art and design" to accentuate the space-filling effect of sculptures (be it artwork or design objects) using light. A first test shows views of the “Box in four move-ments" by Ron Arad.

All too often, restorers produce abstracts and guides on the subject of museum lighting based on the basic assumption that light is damaging to the exhibited artwork; or they are authored by architects who have their own particular views. One such col-league lamented, “The problem in so many museums of contemporary art is that the architects still think in categories of pictures

on walls that should be illuminated indi-vidually."

A question of curatorial conceptAlong with careful conservation, lighting design in museums is, I believe, a question of curatorial concept which should always be based on the ideas the artists have in mind. A concept where, over time, the fea-tured objects change so significantly, from the individual artwork needing to be illumi-nated to a non-hierarchical arrangement of object groups and pictures by a single artist. This example can be found within the room containing Rothko pictures in London’s Tate Gallery. Retrospectively, a design that also is in itself subject to constant change, not only because the conditions of producing art change, but also the social requirements as to its presentation. The aim of this concept, however, is always to use light for the sake of art, as lighting designer Christopher Cuttle put it so aptly in his book entitled “Light for Art's Sake".

The author is grateful for the insight gained in the conversations and correspondence with Dr. Julian Heynen (K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen), Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, the photographers Mario Testino and Albert Watson and in work-ing with the photographers, designers and artists exhibited at the NRW-Forum.

About the author: Werner LippertFor the past 10 years, Werner Lippert has been in charge of exhibition management at Düs-seldorf’s NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, along with Petra Wenzel. The NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft gained an independent standing among museums and has set popular, high- profile standards for the effective pres-entation of photography, video, fashion, design and architecture. Megatrends identified in the art, media and economics theories since the late 1990s – such as fashion photography or the convergence of fashion and art, video and art, and advertising and art – were recognised at an early stage and consequently used in the in-house exhibition programme.

“Hardly any other institution has managed an alliance between art, fashion, design, archi-tecture, new media, discourse and economy in such elegant fashion,“ writes Vogue, adding:

“The NRW-Forum leads fashion, art and photography into a mutual dialogue.“

Werner Lippert also works as a corporate culture consultant. As the managing share-holder of Projects Corporate Culture Con-sultants GmbH (Düsseldorf), he is responsible for projects relating to corporate culture and corporate communication for companies such as Münchener Rück AG, Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf, Daimler AG, etc., and has sup-ported the sponsoring of the Guggenheim Museum for Hugo Boss.

He is the author of publications such as “Corporate Collecting” and “Future Office” as well as numerous pieces on contempo-rary art.

www.nrw-forum.de

Neutral, virtually shadow-free light for an instal-lation by Bruce Nauman at the Konrad Fischer Gallery, Düsseldorf.

Couture by Alexander McQueen at the NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf: Highly focused light produced by projection spotlights helps the exhibits stand out in the dark.


Floodlights with fluo-rescent lamps from two sidesTwo lateral floodlights provide low-contrast illumination with pale shadows. The homogene-ous light causes objects of the same colour as the background, such as the pedestal, to almost disappear.

Spotlights with spot reflector from two sidesThe classic form of lighting using two narrow beam directed light sources shows off the materiality and form of the object, but also produces hard, dramatic shadow.

Spotlights with flood reflector from two sidesDirected light sources with a wider beam have a similar effect with less shadows and greater illumination of the sur-roundings.

Floodlight with fluo-rescent lamp from the rightFloodlighting from one side creates soft shadow. The object itself is less obvious and vivid due to a lack of brilliance.

Ron Arad: Box in Four Movements, 1994, polished stainless steel and patinated steel, 42x42x42cm (closed), edition of 20. Courtesy of Designer's Gallery/Gabriele Ammann, Cologne.

Diffuse light from aboveZenithal, diffuse light, such as that of a skylight ceiling, does not differen-tiate objects in the room. Contrasts are faint, the material nature and col-our of the object are hard to see.

Floodlight with fluores-cent lamp from the leftThe same situation but illuminated from the opposite side: the appear-ance of the object changes depending on the direction of the light. Generally used directions, such as diago-nally from the front and above, seem more natural.

Spotlight from the left, diffuse light from the rightThe combination of a narrow beam point light source with diffuse light also produces pleasantly mild contrasts in the sur-roundings with sufficient brilliant and vivid illumi-nation of the object.

Diffuse light from the rightDiffuse lateral light pre-vents hard shadows, but leaves volumes to stand out due to its direction. Without brilliance and contrasts, the materiality of the object is hardly prominent.

Spotlights with spot reflector from two sides, wallwashingAdditional, uniform wall-washing reduces the con-trasts and creates a neu-tral, calm background for the object, which is clearly defined by the spotlights.

From various aspects, light lends itself as a tool for the curator to use. As the most basic of prin-ciples, light draws attention and influences the perception. Illuminating an object changes its material effect and its appearance in space. Scenographic qualities can be modulated to range from dramatic and theatrical to neutral and sober, vividly illustrated in this case study using a design object by Ron Arad, taken for the exhibition “U.F.O. – Walking the line between art and design” (23 May – 5 July 2009) at the NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft.

Curatorial light:an object study


“We are taking care of Berlin,” states photog-rapher Stephan Erfurt, director of the privately run institution C|O Berlin. What he and his two founding partners, the designer Marc Naroska and the architect Ingo Pott, are seeking to put across here is their great personal commitment to an unsalaried project that, in addition to eco-nomic risks and a lot of hard work, is also bring-ing them much success and recognition. The latest chapter in this success story is an exten-sive retrospective on Annie Leibovitz, showing private and commissioned work of the world-famous photographer from the years 1990 to 2005. With over 200 exhibits, C|O Berlin is filling its entire "Postfuhramt" building, the historic, former central post office on Oranien-burger Straße in the pulsating centre of Berlin. Set between the museum complex and the gov-ernment quarter, this is the perfect and indeed only venue where this spectacular touring exhi-bition can be seen in Germany.

“We are taking care of your lighting,” state 15 students from the fields of architecture and

interior design, following an invitation from ERCO to a special kind of student workshop. ERCO has been intensively involved in student seminars for several years now, aiming to con -vey more knowledge of architectural lighting to young, creative minds. At the beginning of the year, an unusual offer was made exclu-sively to alumni who had already taken part in a three-day foundation workshop in Lüden-scheid: develop a lighting concept for an entire exhibition venue and implement this concept using a concrete design task. Illuminate Annie Leibovitz!

It was quite evident that the students con-cerned were also of the opinion that this was a unique and special opportunity, since, thanks to email and telephone, the 15 spaces on the workshop were all gone in less than six hours. Consequently, a highly motivated and com-petent team was assembled that, supported by ERCO experts, would design and produce a complete lighting concept for the exhibition in just four days. This was a demanding task both in terms of design and logistics, because, parallel to setting up the exhibition itself, sev-eral hundred luminaires would require position-ing and focusing, sometimes even before the exhibits had found their place on the wall. This was no experimental game, but the everyday reality of top-level design work.

To find the perfect lighting for an exhibition with exhibits measuring between 20cm and six metres, without letting any idea get lost, two design teams worked in competition. Following a detailed introduction to Leibovitz’s work and

Lighting Leibovitz www.co-berlin.infoPhotography: David Kuntzsch, Bochum

Light is the fourth dimen-sion of architecture. The proprietors are in discus-sion with the design team directly on location.

The official hanging lay-out as the definitive yard-stick: the exhibits are to be emphasised using solely vertical lighting.

In the mock-up process, pieces of cardboard are used to represent some of the exhibits that have not yet arrived.

The historic gymnasium forms the backdrop for a magical arrangement of large landscape photo-graphs. Uniform light lifts the exhibits out of the darkness.

Within the setting of an ERCO Lighting Workshop, students place the great Annie Leibovitz Retrospective in Berlin in the right light.

It was not until the light-ing was being installed that the 200+ exhibits arrived – a very tense moment for all involved.

The moment of truth: presenting the concepts to the client, followed by concentrated debate to quickly identify the best solution.

Curator Felix Hoffmann gives a detailed presenta-tion of the artworks and explains the exhibition concept using the hang-ing layout authorised by the artist herself.

a tour of the building by curator Felix Hoffmann and director Stephan Erfurt on the Monday morning, there was only about one working day left to design and illustrate each concept. At noon the following day, they had to persuade the critical clients of their ideas in a colloquium session. Working together, the best individual aspects were then identified and integrated into a coherent, uniform overall concept. It was not just the students who showed good nerves, but also the sponsors of C|O Berlin showed courage in entrusting such responsibility to young pro-fessionals. Only two days and nights remained before the exhibition would be swamped by 160 journalists – and 4,000 visitors on the Friday evening. But after good teamwork on all fronts, there was unanimity about the result: a subtle, uniform lighting concept for the magician of light.


staged portrait. It is these photos that make her exhibition spectacular – interspersed with pri-vate images of family, friends and personal life that jar the viewer back to reality. The exhibition, derived from the book “A Photographer’s Life”, presents portraits of the famous, intensively mixed with intimate moments such as the death of her own father, the birth of her children and the death of Susan Sontag, the famous Ameri-can intellectual and Leibovitz’s partner for over 15 years until she passed away.

Criticised on many fronts for publishing these images, even Leibovitz herself, talking to journalists, concedes that she would never again reveal her private life in such depth, though she is happy to have done so once. It is the private images that divide the public: respect and approval are met with shock and rejection. However, from an artistic point of view, it does seem plausible that a photographer would use the camera to filter and overcome the world and life – from the mundane to highly emotional situations. Ultimately, opinions only differ on the issue of publication.

In this context it is particularly interesting that it was Susan Sontag of all people – long before she ever became involved in a relation-ship with Leibovitz and before the latter was to publish the photographs of her illness and death – who analysed this conflict in her now canoni-cal work “On Photography”. In that book, Sontag writes that photographs can only depict the world, but can never convey its processes and background. The emotional significance of the images only transfers from the photographer to the observer to a limited extent, which is why some images may leave the viewer bewildered.

The visitor in Berlin sees a rich yet polarising exhibition that fittingly represents the personal-ity of Annie Leibovitz with all her rough edges.

David Kuntzsch

Further information:Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer‘s Life, 1990-2005Random House, New York (2006)ISBN-10: 0375505091 ISBN-13: 978-0375505096

Annie Leibovitz: At WorkSchirmer/Mosel (2009)ISBN-10: 3829603827 ISBN-13: 978-3829603829

Annie Leibovitz – Life through a Lens (DVD)Director: Barbara LeibovitzKinowelt Home Entertainment (2008)

The fact that the Berlinale had already rolled its red carpet back up just the weekend before was made a distant memory by the events of Friday, the 20th of February 2009. What transpired on the entrance steps and in the foyer of the Postfuhramt was equal in every way to all the hype of the film festival. Judging by the throng of press and public, one would have thought that at least some of the stars portrayed in the photographs were actually present. But no, the 160 journalists, selected from 300 applicants, were in fact all here just for one person: Annie Leibovitz – usually the eye behind the camera, but now in the limelight and herself the star.

Since the beginning of her professional carrier as a photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine in 1970, Leibovitz’s photographic interest has always centred on people. Her usual subjects, photographed for various magazines in a reporter’s style reminiscent of Henri Cartier-Bresson or Robert Frank, were mostly famous people; others were on their way to fame, and some were even made famous by her photos. Her client portfolio, which alongside Rolling Stone Magazine also includes Vanity Fair and Vogue, is matched by an equally glamorous list of those in front of the lens: Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, George Clooney and every American president since Nixon. She often has the uncanny ability, as if by fate, to simply be doing journalistic work in the right place at the right time – like when she recorded a moment of contemporary history with the photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono only a few hours before Lennon’s murder. Yet for other people she is also the inventor of the

Homogenous wallwashing emphasises the exhibits on the display partitions that stand apart from the architecture, while images hanging directly on the original building walls are each bathed in an individ-ual, gentle pool of light by spotlights with sculp-ture lenses.

A star holds court: having arrived appropriately late, Annie Leibovitz commands everyone’s attention. Over 160 representatives of the press clamour around the photographer as she explains the background behind the unusual con-figuration of images using significant events of her biography.

The lighting of the wall areas creates a clear hierarchy of perception, separating the important from the unimportant. A defined strip of light along the floor directs the visitors into the large gymnasium where the largest pictures of the exhibition are displayed.

Having been initially positioned “blind”, all the lumi naires are then exactly focussed the second time around.


DALIPLUG+PLAY

New Products 2009: LED technology spotlights

The new spotlights benefit from the greatly improved features of the latest generation of white LEDs specifically in terms of luminous flux and colour rendition. As professional light-ing tools, they can now be used for many more applications in architectural lighting and are a valuable alternative to conventional light sources.

The spotlights with LED technology provide all the advantages inherent to the operating principle of these lamps. These advantages include an exceptionally long service life and low IR and UV radiation, while the luminous efficacy of the LEDs is comparable to metal halide lamps. Additionally, they are dimmable and can be re-started when hot just as with low-voltage halogen lamps. Optimised for effi-cient visual comfort, these new lighting tools integrate seamlessly into the system design of the ERCO Program and match other spotlights in each range through uniform product design.

Thermally optimised high-quality housings provide ideal operating conditions for all com-ponents to ensure that the long life advantage of LEDs is achieved.

Flood The flood lens system (beam angle of 25°-35°) features a Spherolit lens made of clear plastic.

SpotThe spot lens system (beam angle of 10°-20°) features a Softec lens made of clear glass.

Daylight whiteLED spotlights in daylight white of 5500K ensure superior efficiency with acceptable colour rendi-tion. The light colour is similar to daylight.

Warm whiteIn warm white, LED spot-lights have a somewhat lower luminous efficacy than in daylight white, but better colour rendi-tion. The light colour of 3200K comes close to the light of halogen lamps.

Lighting controlThe plastic collimating lens designed and pro-duced by ERCO creates a parallel beam, while a further special lens pro-duces the precise beam angle required.

In terms of luminous flux, spotlights with white LEDs are now a useful alternative to spotlights with 50W low-voltage halogen lamps. While the LEDs do not yet match the perfect colour rendition quality of the latter, they pro-vide exceptionally long life and superior energy efficiency.

As they emit no UV or IR radiation, they are highly suitable for sensitive exhibits.

Potentiometer“tune the light”: The LED spotlights for ERCO’s 3-circuit track feature a potentiometer for indi-vidual adjustment of the dimmer output, similar to many spotlights with low-voltage halogen lamps.

Light System DALITo ensure smooth integra-tion into Light System DALI installations, the LED spotlights are also avail-able as DALI-compatible Light Clients.

Plug and playDue to their factory-set digital code with lumi-naire ID in the control gear, ERCO’s Light Clients and the Light System DALI ensure true plug and play flexibility.

LED modulesThe LED characteristics require new approaches in lighting technology. ERCO has developed appropriate lens systems for accent lighting using LED spotlights. These consist of collimators and lenses. The beam angles of the resulting spot and flood characteristics are based on the familiar spotlight characteristics of conventional ERCO spotlights.

ERCO’s Cantax, Emanon and Optec spot-light ranges already include varychrome versions with LED technology. These ranges have now been extended to include LED spotlights with either daylight white or warm white lamps.


80%

Efficient visual comfort

New: Light in the outdoor area brochureFind information and inspiration on light in the outdoor area on over 60 pages – with focus on efficient visual comfort. Contact us:

www.erco.com/contact

Lighting requires energy. Everyone involved in an aspect of lighting – from the manufac-turer to the designer and the user – should use the limited resources responsibly. Against the background of rising energy costs, architectural lighting has made enormous progress over the past few years and has already achieved a significant level of efficiency. Efficient visual comfort as promoted by ERCO means steadily improving both the energy efficiency and the light quality – through innovative technical and design-oriented approaches.

Efficiency through visual comfortMan and his perception determines whether lighting is efficient. Irrespective of any tech-nical measure of efficiency, if light produces glare, it will impair vision and diminish people’s comfort, resulting in wasted energy. The eye is forced to adapt and the pupils contract. The result is that even zones of high illuminance will appear relatively dark in comparison with a dazzling source of light. Glare-free, comfort-able light, by contrast, creates optimum view-ing conditions for the human eye. From the outset, it allows the designer to use an energy efficient solution with lower illuminance levels and subtle contrasts.

Qualitative lighting designCareful, perception-oriented light-ing design uses light specifically to meet the requirements of the

user: vertical lighting, for example, provides a subjectively high impression of brightness in a room. The same applies to controlled accent lighting which is invariably more effective than blanket high levels of lighting. Lighting tools which provide good visual comfort prevent glare and inherently allow the designer to pro-duce an energy efficient solution with lower illuminance levels and subtle contrasts. The variety of efficient and differentiated lighting tools, indeed the scope and structure of ERCO’s entire Program, is orientated towards qualita-tive lighting design.

Vertical illuminanceVertical illuminance is a character-istic feature of well-designed, eco-nomical lighting concepts. For this

reason, ERCO offers a particularly wide range of appropriate lighting tools. Vertical illuminance using special wallwashers is far more important to the subjective perception of brightness than the light on horizontal surfaces. This is taken into account in perception-oriented lighting design as an optimal solution that contributes significantly to meeting the requirements of the users of architecture and can help save energy if used in an appropriate lighting concept. So, for example, the impression of brightness in a room is created more efficiently using a differentiated lighting concept which involves wallwashing than a uniform level of brightness resulting only from direct ambient lighting. The average illu-minance can be decreased accordingly, reducing the required number of luminaires.

Effective lighting technologyEfficient, precise optical systems lower the energy requirement for lighting. A comprehensive toolbox

of lighting equipment ensures optimal and thus efficient light distribution for specific lighting tasks. This extends from the asymmetric wall-washer and various spotlight characteristics to the reflector lens system for illumination of product displays in shops. Innovations such as the ERCO Spherolit reflectors provide both high light output ratios and visual comfort. New light sources such as high-power LEDs with their directed beam require entirely differ-ent light guidance systems than conventional lamps, which creates new lighting technology challenges. The result is lighting tools which give the user complete control and allow effec-tive planning.

Intelligent lighting controlERCO’s DALI technology simplifies scenic lighting and makes it eco-nomical. Individual light scenes to

suit each situation are selected and controlled by the user. This is in combination with auto-mated light management using sensor systems and timer programs which have the potential for enormous energy savings. Typical scenarios here include the use of presence detectors to dim or switch off the light in unused rooms or else, twilight switches or analogue daylight sensors to call up light scenes depending on the amount of available daylight. Easy installa-tion, setup and ease of operation contribute to the high level of acceptance of these systems among users.

Efficient lampsERCO is heavily involved in the development of LED lighting equipment to make practical use

of the many advantages of LEDs in terms of luminous efficacy and functional life. ERCO also continues to provide an exceptionally wide range of products for use with economical, long-lasting metal halide lamps and compact fluorescent lamps.

Less can be moreThe investment in light quality is beneficial from both an economical and an ecological point of view. A carefully planned and imple-mented lighting concept using high-quality products effectively is more attractive to the client and user. In the long run, it will produce savings in both operating and maintenance costs. Specialised, professional lighting tools are highly efficient in achieving a specific light effect in a differentiated lighting concept. They invariably replace several non-specific, cheap products, which compensates for their higher price. Modern, efficient lamps reduce the con-nected load of the lighting system and the thermal load – with additional positive effects, such as the size and operating costs of air con-ditioning and ventilation systems. Intelligent designs and high-quality lighting tools ensure lighting solutions that reduce the operating costs while meeting all the aesthetic, func -tional and ecological requirements.

Vertical illuminance

Qualitative lighting design

Effective lighting technology

Intelligent lighting control

Efficient lamps

5 factors for efficient visual comfort

To optimise efficient visual comfort in lighting concepts, ERCO has cooperated with designers and users to formulate five factors which reinforce each other and in practice result in significant increases in light quality, resource savings and eco-nomic efficiency.


h(lm/W)10080604020

LEDLED LED AQT-NVQT, QPARTCTHIT-CEHST

100W 150W

3.6W

3.6W 14W 42W28W

10W W41 W82 W241.7W

1.7W 10W

10W 20W

W001 W051W57W05W02

35W 70W W051 W052 W004

60W 100W 150W 300W 500W 1000W

9W 18W 26W 32W 42W

W85W53W42 W82

50W 100W

55W

20W

10 50 100 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 50000

29

47

62

15

25

22

87

94

92

49

10 50 100 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 50000

Focus Double focus

Type of lighting

Orientation lighting in dark sur-roundings, identification of archi-tectural lines, directive lighting

Accent lighting for smaller objects with minimal lighting distances, grazing light, orientation lighting

Accent lighting for medium-sized objects with medium lighting distances, wallwashing up to 3 m, grazing light, projection

Accent lighting for larger objects, wallwashing up to 4 m, washlight-ing, grazing light, projection

Ambient lighting, washlighting and accent lighting for large objects or great distances, wall-washing up to 6 m, grazing light, projection

Ambient lighting and wallwash-ing of very high ceilinged rooms, washlighting and accent lighting of very large objects at great dis-tances

Lumen category< 50 lm

< 500 lm

< 2,000 lm

< 5,000 lm

< 10,000 lm

> 10,000 lm

Examples of application

Stairs, pathways, marker systems

Homes, gardens, pathway lighting, display cabinets, marker systems

Art galleries, homes, gardens, pathway lighting

Museums, shops, wide pathways, trees, parks

Shops, exhibition rooms, museums, atriums, facades

Halls, industrial buildings, airports, facades, monuments, towers

Technology Luminous effi-cacy (lm/W)

Luminous flux (lm)

Lighting design using lumen categoriesDesigning a lighting system using lumen categories simplifies the process by providing an initial selection of suitable lamps and wattages. Irrespective of the type and efficiency of the lamp, the luminous flux value indicates the available light output. Having identified the lighting task, the

Luminous efficacyThe relation of the lumi-nous flux emitted to the wattage of a lamp.

Unit: lumen/watt (lm/W)

Luminous fluxThe luminous flux describes the total light emitted by a source. It is calculated using the spectral radiant power relative to the spectral sensitivity of the eye.

Unit: lumen (lm)

required luminous flux can be derived using criteria such as object size, lighting distance and ambient brightness. The lumen table shows the lamps available in each lumen category. Due to different luminous efficacies, the lamps may produce the same luminous flux but from different wattages.

Efficient lampsERCO is highly committed to the devel-opment of LED lighting tools, ensuring the great advantages of LEDs in terms of luminous efficacy and service life are made practically available. In addition, ERCO also offers a wide product range for metal halide lamps and compact fluorescent lamps.

LED varychromeLED warm whiteLED daylight whiteIncandescent lampsLow-voltage halogen lampsHalogen lamps Compact fluorescent lampsFluorescent lampsMetal halide lampsHigh-pressure sodium lamps

LED vary chrome

LED warm white

LED daylight white

Incandescent lamps

Low-voltage halogen lamps

Halogen lamps

Compact fluorescent lamps

Fluorescent lamps

Metal halide lamps

High-pressure sodium lamps


Today, Reininghaus & Co. has been registered in our Commercial Register ‘A’ under the no. 1048 as a general part-nership with registered offices in Lüden-scheid, specifying as its general partner 1. The merchant Arnold Reininghaus from Bruges, 2. The tool mechanic Karl Reeber from Lüdenscheid, 3. The presser Paul Buschhaus from Lüdenscheid. The company commenced operations on the 1st of July, 1934.

Lüdenscheid, 11th of August, 1934

The District Court

Light years are actually used to measure cosmic distances, not time. But when a light factory celebrates its 75th anniversary, this pun may be excused. After all, it has been a long journey through these years – “per aspera ad astra", from the vision of an ambitious young man to the company today. ERCO has become a global player and technological leader in the field of architectural lighting, where innovative power, design competence and all the virtues of a family-owned business set the standards for an exciting and successful future.

1934: The beginningReininghaus & Co. was registered in the Commercial Register on 1 July 1934 laying the foundations for the success of the Light Factory from Lüdenscheid that continues to this day. Founded by Arnold Reininghaus (1907–2003) with Paul Buschhaus and Karl Reeber, who would later with-draw as partners, the company faced economically difficult times char-acterised by recession and unemployment. The three partners had raised 6,000 reichsmarks each, allowing the company a working capital start of 18,000 reichsmarks. All three had previously worked in the electrical industry and had experience in commercial and technical fields.

The company initially produced parts for luminaires such as pendulum light fittings and spring balancers for height-adjustable pendant lumi-naires. At the Leipzig trade fair in 1935 these products were offered to the electronics wholesale sector which promptly placed orders to com-plement their own lampshades and sell finished luminaires.

The balance sheet of 1934 showed an inventory of 11,056 reichsmarks. The original company name of Reininghaus & Co. was changed to the phonetic abbreviation ‘ERCO’, which was then introduced as the com-pany’s trademark. It was not long before the company offered complete luminaire models to the market. Sales grew satisfactorily with revenues totalling 1.5m reichsmarks by the time war broke out. After only a few short years, the humble 6-man operation had thus developed into a suc-cessful mid-sized company that industrially produced luminaires for the home and sold through wholesalers and retailers. With the outbreak of World Word II in 1939, the company changed its production to military supplies. Unfortunately in the very last weeks of the war, in March 1945, the business was badly damaged by two direct bomb hits.

75 light years

The founder: Arnold Reininghaus (1907-2003), as a young man in the 1930s. His life’s motto "You can’t live on fears" characterised the culture of innovation at ERCO right from the start.

ERCO provided the wholesale market with pre- assembled spring balancers, which were then completed with lampshades from out - side suppliers.

In the very last weeks of the war, in March 1945, the production facilities were destroyed by air raids.

Early luminaire models in a pre-war catalogue.

ERCO’s presentation of luminaires at the Leipzig trade fair in 1937.

A cornerstone of ERCO’s success: the universal balancer, a device used for height adjustment of pendant luminaires.

Modern concept in a contemporary style: a pendant luminaire from the 1930s, which simul-taneously produces both direct and indirect light.


Light above the kidney-shaped table: shapes and colours typical of the 1950s from an ERCO catalogue of the period.

The 1950s: Reconstruction and economic miracleTwelve years after its foundation, the company had to practically re-start from scratch. With annual sales of 288,500 reichsmarks, it was difficult to believe in a possible reconstruction. Co-founder Paul Buschhaus had been killed in the war, his heirs asking to be paid out after the currency reform. Arnold Reininghaus and Karl Reeber continued to run the busi-ness on their own. The first post-war trade fair in Hannover in 1947 was held in tents. ERCO presented old catalogue pages from pre-war times and attempted to reconnect with former customers who had been scat-tered to the four corners of the globe during the chaos of the war.

The currency reform rang in a time of reconstruction for the company. In rented factory facilities, ERCO initially produced the same luminaire models as before the war. As the “economic miracle” took its course, fresh orders came in, and ERCO was able to continue its pre-war successes.

The following passages of a letter to customers in 1949 testify to the excep-tional conditions of post-war times:

“Due to a welcome change in procure-ment options with more relaxed condi-tions in regard to various raw materials, we have been able to relaunch articles which we were temporarily forced to take out of our range because of a material shortage. At the same time, this means that our frequent produc-tion changeovers as a result of this shortage of raw materials have now largely found an end, which allows us in some cases to reduce our prices, applicable with immediate effect”.(...)“One final, brief remark: As in pre-war times, we have always upheld our prin-ciples of selling our value for money, high-quality ERCO LUMINAIRES ONLY THROUGH SPECIALIST DEALERS even in the difficult period during and after the war. We are proud to be one of a few factories to have seen through this sac-rifice. Based on our principle of SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER AND FAITHFULNESS TOWARDS OUR BUSINESS PARTNERS, we will continue to make every effort to ensure your full satisfaction”.

Industrial serial produc-tion – the credo of Arnold Reininghaus. An anony-mous industrial photogra-pher has captured, in black and white, production in the 1950s.

Around 1950 and facing the economic miracle with optimism: Arnold Reininghaus with staff.

Reception area at ERCO’s headquarters in the 1950s.

Scenes of ERCO’s pro-duction: Despite indus-trial processes and serial production, the manual part of work remains significant. The company becomes an important and popular employer in Lüdenscheid.


In the era of plastic lamp - shades, artist Fred Back-hove was a key figure in the company where he worked as a model maker; it was his gifted hands that created the plaster moulds for later produc-tion.

The first designer with whom ERCO works is Alois Gangkofner. Originally an expert in glass design, he also began in 1963 to develop for ERCO modern well-proportioned plastic luminaires appropriate for the material involved. Photography in the

New Objectivity style. Contemporary design objects such as vases or the Braun hand blender create an ambience typi-cal of the 1960s.

This trade fair presenta-tion from the 1960s is equally tidy, clear and in a spirit of “international style“.

The choice of colours in this photo already points to the pop aesthetics of the late 1960s. The design may have become more technoid and the lighting technology more sophis-ticated, but the luminaire is still appreciated mostly as a decorative object.

The range of luminaires increased to include rise-and-fall pendants for the kitchen, bedside lamps and wall luminaires. The biggest revenue drivers, however, were bathroom lumi-naires. In July 1959, ERCO celebrated its 25th anniversary. It had been 25 long and hard years in which survival had only been possible through intensive work; noted by the founders in their addresses. Export sales began to grow with business relations developed in Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Holland. ERCO was a thriving company that now conceived plans for a spacious new building to combine its production facilities scattered throughout the municipal area of Lüdenscheid.


A familiar picture: These or similar types of mir-ror lamp could be found in almost every German household. Accessories such as the Braun Sixtant razor lend an authentic flair to the advertising shots.

1963: Beginning of the Maack eraIn the mid 1960s, Reininghaus appointed his son-in-law Klaus Jürgen Maack to the ranks of management and put him in charge of market research, product development and communication. Right from the start, the spirited father-in-law also entrusted Maack with the planning and implementation of the new factory building, which was designed on drawings by the architect Ernst Kuhlmann from Hagen and con-structed on Brockhauser Ebene north of the city. In the “open country-side“, with optimal connections to the brand-new A45 motorway, the Sauerland route that links the north of Germany and the eastern Ruhr area with Frankfurt am Main, the factory was completed in 1969. The production and administrative facilities now available to the company measured some 30,000m2.

Parallel to the change of location and despite an already booming business, Maack set about analysing and rethinking the company’s strat-egy to reinvent a completely new business model for ERCO. The result of his thought process led to a radical change in the production program, which initially shocked the professional world: ERCO changed from a luminaire factory to today’s Light Factory.

Glass and bathroom lumi-naires were the "cash cows" of the 1960s. Their reliable success ultimately pro-vided the necessary scope for Klaus Jürgen Maack to completely reinvent the company on a solid basis.

Op art: ERCO design awareness increases with typographically designed catalogues and through coopera - tion with designers in product development.

Linestra lamp fixtures for mirror lighting – a classic of superior light quality; once a standard, today a phased-out model facing a ban due to poor energy efficiency.

Smart planning for the future: the ample new company grounds on Brockhauser Ebene accommodate modern production and admin-istrative buildings.


Dieter Witte designed the legendary die-cast spot-light with its strikingly ribbed cast aluminium housing that gives it its name (above). Material and appearance of this spotlight were to charac-terise the ERCO design for many years. The arche-typical TM spotlight of 1973 (left) with continu-ously updated lighting technology is still part of the range today.

Double focus downlights: a sensation in the early 1970s and still a specialty of ERCO today. Their light-ing technology allowed a minimalist reflector opening.

From very early on, ERCO used low-voltage reflector lamps in spot-lights with integrated transformers for highly focused accent lighting.

Discussion at top level in the late 1960s: Getting the responsible parties at ERCO to support his new concept took some con-vincing by Klaus Jürgen Maack.

Clear signal to the users: ERCO uses dia-grams established on the laboratory scale, known as light intensity distribution curves, to prove the efficiency of its lighting tools and challenge the technical understanding of its catalogue readers.

Spherical spotlights made it possible to integrate directed light inconspicu-ously into the ceiling.

This advertising motif from the early 1970s already shows many features of orientation, system and structure of lighting that have characterised the ERCO Program ever since: from spotlights and downlights to electronic control gear.

Light, not luminaires: The focus at the trade fair stand in 1968 is on the interplay of light, architecture and object shapes, with the tools discreetly remaining in the background.

1968: Light, not luminairesBased on his analysis of the market and its trend in the luminaire sector, Klaus Jürgen Maack was rather sceptical about the prospects of ERCO’s existing orientation. For two reasons: firstly, it seemed that the habits of the Germans and their European neighbours were changing. The increas-ing options of leisure activities, the growing need for a functional and individual design of one’s living space, the rise in income and the result-ing prosperity all pointed to a discriminating luminaire market. Secondly, like most of its competitors, ERCO suffered from rather short product cycles that were at the whim of fashion trends. Due to their short life in the market, new models often did not even fetch their development costs.

His suggested strategy responded to this analysis with five points: firstly, light had to become the central business of the company and the focal point in the development of luminaires. Secondly, individual prod-ucts needed to be replaced by product systems. Thirdly, the findings of lighting technology were to be intensively considered and implemented in the development work. Fourthly, fashion trends needed to be replaced by a new use of forms that remained current potentially for a minimum of ten years. And fifthly, the company was to commission designers of international standing with the design of its products.

After some serious convincing, Maack’s suggestions were finally accepted within the company, then the sales system, followed by the retail sector, and finally also by the customers. The program structure which has remained in use to this day took shape with tracks, spotlights and recessed ceiling luminaires. ERCO conquered the new and growing market for architectural lighting and significantly helped to shape it.


EUnivers 65 Univers 55 Univers 45

At the EuroShop in Düsseldorf: the “Confer-ence of the White Men“, a witty presentation of ERCO’s lighting system.

Downlight with glare- free Darklight reflector: for the first time ERCO uses a computer program to calculate the reflector contour. Lighting tech-nology and visual comfort become central issues in the product development.

Light, not luminaires: The square stele with sphere, reminiscent of the “Stone of Good For-tune“ in Goethe’s garden in Weimar, becomes an object of demonstration and a key image for ERCO.

The 1970s see the begin-ning of cooperation with Otl Aicher as well as numerous designers of international standing, including Terence Con-ran, Ettore Sottsass and Roger Tallon. The “Tallon spotlight“(right) with its characteristic basket pro-tector becomes a design icon of its time.

A cooperation that went far beyond a mere client/service provider relation-ship: Klaus Jürgen Maack (left) and Otl Aicher at a meeting in 1990.

1974: Cooperation with Otl AicherThe crucial marketing idea conceived by Klaus Jürgen Maack can be sum-marised in a single sentence: ERCO sells light, not luminaires. Maack’s “enlightenment“ sprang while he was leafing through a magazine. “When the marketing clubs were still called sales manager clubs, I once read in one of their publications, 'If the oven builders of old had understood that they were selling warmth, not ovens, they would still be in business today.'“ Maack read this and realised that ERCO as a brand would in future have to symbolise high-quality light. This not only meant a break with a prod-uct range that had been passed on over the years, but also a new way of thinking: a perception of light, in a medium that makes objects visible without being visible itself.

In 1974, with this concept in mind, Maack met one of the most distin-guished graphic designers of post-war Germany, Otl Aicher (1922–1991). The initial meeting was only to negotiate the licensing of Aicher’s well-known pictogram system for a series of directive sign luminaires. But what began as discussions of a more tangential nature revolving around typography and design, soon developed into a mutual respect and appre-ciation and led to joint projects: a new logo, printed material, a company brochure, catalogues, all of which and after further adaptation, help to shape ERCO’s corporate image today. An image that has won many prizes. The intensive exchange between Maack and Aicher also defined a design attitude that still pervades every area of the company: communication media, products, trade fair presence and corporate architecture became part and parcel and an expression of the corporate identity, the corporate culture.

drawn


E

Lighting expertise as the deciding factor: ERCO technicians test the ceiling washlight for London’s Stansted airport, a design by Norman Foster.

The Technical Centre in Lüdenscheid is completed in 1988. The design by Prof. Uwe Kiessler caused a stir among architects. The briefing contained only one sentence: The building was to be like an “overall for engineers“.

Specialised lighting tools for increasingly complex lighting tasks: the Eclipse projection spotlight, designed in 1987 by Mario Bellini.

For many years, Swiss product designer Franco Clivio made contributions to ERCO’s design, e.g. Lucy (above), Stella (left) and Lightcast (below).

High-tech of the early 90s: the highly efficient Emanon projector, designed by Roy Fleet-wood.

Delicate lightweight design: the Axis light structure was designed by Roy Fleetwood in the 80s.

System design by Mario Bellini (Eclipse, above) and the ERCO work design team (Pollux, left): light-ing accessories such as filters and projection lenses add to the appli-cation spectrum of the spotlights. In the 1980s, the low-voltage halogen lamps led to a miniatur-isation of luminaires.

Oseris low-voltage spot-lights with system acces-sories: the aesthetics of this advertising motif, devised in cooperation with photographer Hans Hansen and advertising expert Thomas Rempen, set standards.

The 80s and 90s: A global brand for light is bornWinning the German marketing award in 1980, the “Light, not Luminaires” concept gained official recognition and acclaim. In practice, the success was obvious: the company was expanding, sales and exports boomed and ERCO was developing into a global brand for light. The cooperation with outstanding personalities in all areas of design, including the pho-tographer Hans Hansen, the advertising expert Thomas Rempen and the designers Mario Bellini and Franco Clivio, to name but a few, inspired and strengthened the company. Many awards for product design, graphic design and corporate identity testified to the company’s achievements in those years. The lighting know-how grew with the requirements of the first major international projects in which ERCO was involved, such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong by Norman Foster or the Louvre glass pyramid by I.M. Pei in Paris.


EThe digital ageAs the Internet began to gain popularity, the first website was launched in 1996 at www.erco.com. Following the accidental death of Otl Aicher in 1991, however, the development of a presence in digital media became the first design challenge the company had to tackle on its own. Since 1999, after the reconstruction of the Reichstag in Berlin by Norman Foster, ERCO lighting tools have illuminated the new parliament.

The worldwide sales network already covered some 40 countries and continued to expand. The USA joined in 2000 and China was added in 2006. Digital electronics found their way not only into communication and logistics, but also into the lighting tools themselves. Electronic con-trol gear with digital interfaces become a standard, while LEDs as semi- conductor light sources have continued to find ever new applications since the turn of the millennium.

What does the future hold?In 2003, Tim Henrik Maack took over from his father as spokesman for the four-strong management team. He has set new priorities in ERCO’s prod-uct policy without abandoning the old principles, because ERCO’s claim of “Light, not Luminaires” continues to apply. The introduction of the dig - ital lighting control system Light System DALI under the motto “tune the light“, which signifies scenographic lighting and efficient visual comfort, is one of the key innovations of recent years. Sustainability takes on an ever increasing role in ERCO’s company policy. The company focuses on new technologies such as LEDs as a maintenance-free and energy-saving alternative to conventional lamps, heavily investing in the appropriate new developments. ERCO looks forward to the next quarter of a century with an optimism forged from 75 years of lighting experience.

tune the light: With this internationally under-standable appeal, ERCO hopes to inspire lighting designers to exhaust the creative options of mod-ern, progressive lighting tools available to them and to achieve optimal efficiency and visual comfort in architectural lighting.

In addition to indoor and outdoor luminaires, light-ing control systems such as Light System DALI play an ever increasing role in ERCO’s Program.

Digital electronics find their way into luminaire construction to affect the control gear, but also the shape of the LED as a light source.

The Light Factory becomes a software producer: lighting sys-tems with an increasing range of options require appropriately conven-ient user interfaces such as Light Studio for the configuration of Light System DALI.

The heart and symbol of the computer-aided com-modity and information logistics at ERCO: the P3 Automated Warehouse started its operation in 2002, its architecture designed by Schneider + Schumacher, the lighting effects added by Prof. Uwe Belzner.

Since late 2001, ERCO has offered a growing range of luminaires for the outdoor area – with great success thanks to efficient lighting technol-ogy and robust housings.

ERCO has used LEDs for orientation luminaires from as early as 2000. Today, experts agree: LEDs are the light source of the future.

ERCO’s web presence, the Light Scout, has become the hub of information logistics: all information is available anywhere at any time.

www.erco.com

The four managing direc-tors of ERCO (from left to right): Dr. Dirk Stahl-schmidt, Kay Pawlik, Tim Henrik Maack, Mark Oliver Schreiter.


DALIPLUG+PLAY

German football fans in particular, will remem-ber Córdoba as a venue in the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina. Second only to Buenos Aires, the Argentine metropolis is located around 700km northwest of the capital at the historic “Camino Real” in the direction of Peru and has a population of some 1.3m. As an economic cen-tre with a huge catchment area, Córdoba has grown rapidly over the past decades, but much to the delight of the tourists has managed to retain its colonial charm in the city centre. Old and new Córdoba merge in the “Nueva Cór-doba” district. Here, at the major roundabout of the Plaza España, close to Sarmiento Park, we find the “green lung” of Córdoba, a cultural and museum district whose development takes account of the increasing demands of both population and visitors.

Thus in 2004, the regional government acquired the Palacio Ferreyra, a magnificent neoclassical palace which the patrician fam-ily Ferreyra had built in 1916 based on then contemporary French fashion. The Museo Superior de Bellas Artes, which now bears the addition of “Evita” in dedication to Eva Peron (1919-1952), the enigmatic wife of the former President, was opened in the elaborately reno-vated palace in late 2007. Diagonally across it lies the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Caraffa, a further museum building whose main wing dating back to 1915 was modernised and extended over the past few years. With these two art institutions Córdoba, which has always been a cultural centre in South America, now has galleries and exhibition halls whose design

Museo Superior de Bellas Artes Palacio Ferreyra, Córdoba

On the catwalk: In the entrance foyer of the museum, visitors become participants in a dramatic scenography of light and space.

Architects: GGMPU Arquitectos, Córdoba. Lighting design: Maestre Iluminación, Córdoba.Photos: Rogerio Reis, Rio de Janeiro

and technology hold up well in comparison with leading museums around the world.

In the Palacio Ferreyra, the local architectural firm GGMPU effectively devised the fusion of tradition and future drawing heavily on the “intangible material” of light: only the coloured glow behind the windows of the main facade points from afar to the new use of the palace. But before visitors enter the carefully restored splendour of the main hall and the galleries, they will cross a new futuristic entrance and access zone: black, sculptural stairs and ramps cut through the void connecting the different levels; transparent wall covering gleaming like metal or ornamented with screen prints all but hint at the historical substance. Coloured light from Focalflood LED varychrome facade lumi-naires controlled by a DALI system turns visitors into participants in a dramatic scenography that deliberately transports them from everyday life into the sphere of art.

From the outside, only the colourful glow behind the windows of the main facade bears witness to the experience of space inside. DALI-controlled Focalflood LED varychrome facade luminaires back-light the semitransparent surfaces and establish an atmosphere of constant flux.

The entire museum is fitted with Light System DALI for lighting control. Despite the unusual com-plexity of this system, it can be conveniently con-figured using a notebook PC with Light Studio soft - ware.

As an Argentine metropolis, Córdoba articulates its high standard of culture with ambitious museum projects. Design and technology fare well in international com-parison. The redesigned Palacio Ferreyra, for example, features a Light System DALI installation to provide optimal lighting conditions.


Lighting solutions in the exhibition rooms of the museum: Suspended Hi-trac track with uplights for illumination of the ceilings carry Optec spot-lights for low-voltage halogen lamps with DALI-compatible control gear. Due to individually addressable Light Clients in Light System DALI, the illuminances can be conveniently and pre-cisely adjusted to suit the exhibits.

The central hall with its lavishly decorated stairs reminds of the glory days of the Argentine upper class in the early 20th century.

The neighbouring Museo Emilio Caraffa also oper-ates an efficient, user-friendly ERCO lighting system with DALI track mounted on a suspended supporting structure, Optec spotlights and wallwashers as well as Light System DALI for lighting control.

Optec spotlights and wallwashers

Overview of the ERCO products used

Hi-trac track with uplights

Focalflood LED varychrome facade luminaires

DALI track Light System DALI

tune the lightThe universal use of Light System DALI in this museum demonstrates one of the central advantages of this technology: it integrates classic lighting tasks in the museum, such as adjustment of illuminances to ensure maxi -mum conservation of the works of art, in a most convenient fashion with all the possibili - ties of scenographic lighting concepts. Using a single system designed for application in archi-tecture and the uniform user software Light Studio, technicians in the museum are able to minimise the work required for operation and maintenance. The use of the DALI protocol as a uniform industrial standard for lighting control ensures that the system is future-proof and easy to extend: with existing and future ERCO Light Clients, but also with DALI-compatible products from other manufacturers. One of the key aspects of Light System DALI is the system-atic and flexible adjustment of illuminances to ensure a reduction in energy consumption – a key step towards achieving efficient visual comfort.


In previous decades, Valencia sought to present itself as a modern metropolis by way of large urban planning projects. In the 1960’s for instance, the city caused a stir when, after repeated horrendous floods, the River Turia was briskly rerouted away from the city and into a new, artificial riverbed. Then in 1984, after intensive political debate, the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill began creating an attractive park landscape in the former riverbed. It was a wellknown son of Valencia, Santiago Calatrava, who is most responsible for giving the modern cityscape its present look. Beautiful in form and content, his “Ciudad des Artes y de las Ciencias” presents a virtual bridge into the future of his hometown. Renowned international architects, such as Lord Foster with his “Palacio de Congreso”, have also left their mark where the Turia once flowed.

The other side of Valencia is its rich history. Founded in 138BC, the city was subsequently conquered by Roman, Visigoth and Arabian invaders. It was not until 1238AD that it returned to Christian rule. The construction of Valencia Cathedral, commenced in 1262AD and was erected on the foundation walls of an old mosque. Whenever building excavations are made in the area of the old city it is hard to avoid unearthing ancient relics – as was the case at the Plaza L'Almoina, in the immediate vicinity of Valencia Cathedral.

Its name, which translates as “Alms”, goes back to a fourteenth century poorhouse that was demolished in 1910. During further demolition work that began in 1985, the workers uncovered such a rich corpus of finds that it was decided to halt the planned extension to the neighbouring “Basilica of the Mother of God for the Homeless” and instead to secure the excavations and open them up to the public. This decision led to the design of the L'Almoina Archaeological Centre, which opened its doors at the end of 2007.

Today, this special museum allows visitors to take a walk back through more than 2000 years of the city’s history. The museum tour begins in the groundlevel entrance pavilion and then leads stepbystep deeper into the historical strata of Valencia. A clever architectural feature is the use of a large glass skylight ensuring a constant link to the world above, a world that becomes more and more alienated. The skylight forms the roof above the central hall containing the excavations of Roman baths and at the same time it is also designed as a giant water tank acting as a design feature for the plaza above. While granting a view inside and out, it also creates reflections and distortions that lend a dreamlike quality to the tour of the archaeo

L'Almoina Archaeological Centre, ValenciaValencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast owes its attractive lure to an architectural history spanning from the Romans to Cala-trava. The redesigned “L'Almoina” Archaeo-logical Centre sets the scene most effectively for a walk into the past.

Architect: José María Herrera García, ValenciaLighting design: Julià Colomer, Emblemma, Barcelona.Photography: Thomas Mayer, Neuss

www.valencia.es/almoina

logical site. The city’s entire development from the second century BC to the fourteenth century AD is laid bare in the 2,500squaremetre excavations. The exhibition is divided into five key epochs: “Valentia, The First City”, “Valentia, The Roman Imperial City”, “Valentia, The First Christian Community,” “Balansiya, The Islamic City” and “Valencia, The Christian City”. These epochs are represented by original features, both sacred and profane, including town streets, forums with monumental porticos, residential and religious buildings, bathing complexes, fortifications and burial sites. The architect created individual spaces, each tailored to suit the intended impression, from small intimate chambers to high, multistorey halls. The one linking element is the lighting. This is consistently implemented using DALIcompatible ERCO spotlights for ERCO DALI tracks throughout – technology that allows it to be flexibly adjusted to suit the changing daylight conditions and usage requirements.

The remains of the Roman baths document the earliest phase of Valencia’s history. Visits to the archaeological site give rise to ever changing vistas of the urban surroundings, such as the dome of the “Basilica of the Virgin for the Abandoned” (above) or Valencia Cathedral with its impressive Gothic tower (right). By adjusting the ratio of artificial light to

natural daylight, it is possible to control how much can be seen above and below the spectacular skylight that is both window and water basin.


Lofty ceilings provide the framework for monumental ancient artefacts. The optimum lighting tools for projecting across such distances are powerful spotlights from the Stella product range. Mounted on DALI track with DALI transadapters, they are fitted with 100W/12V lowvoltage halogen lamps.

A discreet and flexible system of DALI track and custombuilt Pollux spotlights with DALI transadapters for 50W/12V lowvoltage halogen lamps provides highly versatile lighting in the various exhibition zones. Thanks to their optical accessories and their varioreflectors with a beam angle from 11° to 24°, the Pollux spotlights

Presence detectors combined with a DALI control help reduce the current consumption of the light ing system by automatically decreasing the illuminance level.

The directed light of the spotlights gives shape to the historic exhibits, while the use of lowvoltage halogen lamps provides optimum, natural colour rendition.

Individually addressable via DALI, the spotlights enable an atmospheric lighting concept that connects the extensive underground rooms with the museum’s central daylightflooded hall via soft graduations.

Stella

Overview of the ERCO products usedStella, Pollux in DALI versions for lowvoltage halogen lamps, ERCO DALI track

Pollux

In the same way as the museum’s interior design and modern additions are delineated from the actual excavations by a clear use of forms, so too the lighting of the architectural elements is distinct from the scenic

In using four hundred Pollux and two hundred Stella spotlights and several hundred metres of DALI track, the lighting designers and building owner not only decided for precise lighting tools but also for a sustainably economical solution. The decision parameters with longterm relevance include reliability, long service life and simple

lighting of the exhibits, forming two distinct levels within L'Almoina’s lighting design. DALI technology makes it possible to treat and control these two design levels differently.

operation in both installation and maintenance.

can be individually and flexibly tuned to suit their particular use: “tune the light”.

DALI track


The Fine Arts Museum, the Museo de Bellas Artes, is located in the building complex of Palacio Carlos V, part of the Alhambra fortress. The Alhambra is one of the most important cul-tural monuments of the Andalusia region and was officially included in the World Heritage List in 1984. Lying high above the City of Grana-da in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the city fortress was captured by Spanish kings in 1492 during the “Reconquista”, or re-conquest, of Moorish-occupied territories. The influences of the various rulers are reflected in the different aesthetic styles evident in the building. Moorish and Spanish architecture from various epochs is woven together, making the complex an archi-tectural artwork unique worldwide.

The Spanish King Carlos V demolished parts of the Moorish Palacio Nazaries (Nasrid Palace) and in its place erected a new palace complex, which, although uncompleted, is one of the most important pieces of High Renaissance architecture. The two-storey palace and its facade, which is decorated with countless reliefs, columns and oriels, fascinate hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The high -light of the palace is the circular inner court - yard with a diameter of 30m, enclosed by a two-tier colonnade with 32 columns each.

The Fine Arts Museum has recently been restyled and has undergone extensive renova-tion work. The new, high technical standard is also clearly apparent in the lighting used. ERCO products, equipped with special filters and lenses to protect the exhibits, illuminate the work. The museum is situated on the second storey of the

Museo de Bellas Artes, Granada The Alhambra is divided into four parts: the Alcazaba defensive for-tifications, the Nasrid Palace and the Carlos V Place, above which is the Generalife, the former summer residence with its beautiful gardens.

Trion uplights have been providing light in the lower colonnade for many years now and pro-duce an indirect ambient lighting, giving a unique atmosphere.

Stella spotlights accentu-ate individual artworks. Trion uplights with fluo-rescent lamps mounted in concealed installations atop moveable walls provide diffuse ambient lighting. All the technol-ogy is integrated inside these false walls in order to leave the ancient fab-ric of the building in tact. In the side-lit galleries, windows fitted with UV filter glass and gauze curtains filter the incom-ing daylight while still permitting a view of the surroundings.

Interior design: Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas, GranadaLighting design: Juan José SendraPhotos: Thomas Mayer, Neuss

www.alhambra.org

To ensure the preserva-tion of the historical pan-elled ceiling, the lighting designers used Stella spotlights mounted on Hi-trac tracks. This light structure can span large distances and therefore requires fewer mounting points.

building and mainly displays works from art-ists of the Granadine School of the 15th to 20th centuries. In addition, the ground floor accom-modates the museum for Spanish-Islamic art, presenting archaeological findings excavated in the Alhambra.


On the 13th of May 1917, according to their own testimony, three shepherd children from the Portuguese village of Fátima were first vis-ited in the open countryside by the Virgin Mary. Further appearances followed, confirmed by an ever-increasing number of believers. After recognition by the Catholic Church, Fátima has developed into a favourite pilgrimage destina-tion. Today, a little more than 90 years later, the village 80 miles north of Lisbon is one of the world’s most visited places of pilgrimage. Sev -eral million visitors make the journey here every year in search of spiritual and physical healing.

This flood of pilgrims has led to the construc-tion of the Holy Trinity Church. Dedicated on the 12th of October, the new building offers seat-ing for 8,800, making it one of the four largest Catholic churches in the world. The circular building, following designs by the Greek archi-tect Alexandros Tombazis, measures 125m in diameter. The interior features a column-free sanctuary that gently slopes towards the altar and boasts excellent acoustics and climate con-

Igreja da Santíssima Trindade, Fátima Architect: Alexandros Tombazis, AthensLighting design: Bartenbach LichtLabor, Innsbruck; Fernando Silva OHM-E, PortoPhotography: Bernd Hoff, Düsseldorf

www.santuario-fatima.pt

The esplanade of the Holy Trinity Church, seen from the tower of the old basilica; hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throng here at the height of the pilgrim year.

The visual layout of the gigantic luminous ceil-ing is divided into areas of different colouration using the appropriate filters.

Mounted in pairs in the roof construction, the Trion uplights are equipped with metal hal-ide lamps to supplement the natural daylight and with halogen lamps to provide dimmable light-ing for evening occasions. A textile stretch ceiling forms the lower boundary of the roof area.

Even outside of peak pilgrimage times, several masses are held every Sunday in the new church. A lighting control system allows the daylight and artificial light to be sceni-cally adjusted to follow the liturgy.

For energy reasons, the lighting designers opted for luminaires with metal halide lamps wherever possible. One exception is the vertical illuminance for the rear wall behind the altar. The magnificent mural by Father Marko Rupnik from Slovenia is

Light in its ancient form: pilgrims light votive can-dles in one of the chapels. Light has its place as spir-itual metaphor and sym-bol in almost all religions of the world.

ditions. A glazed, saw-tooth roof bathes this whole area in diffuse ambient daylight. Con-cealed in the roof construction, Trion uplights provide supplementary background lighting for the textile luminous ceiling. This diffuse light-ing, which emphasises the shear expanse of the room, is augmented by ceiling-integrated wallwashers providing subtle additional illu-mination of important areas such as the large-format altarpiece. IP65 Lightcast downlights emphasise the church’s 13 portals, which repre-sent Christ and the twelve apostles. The design and lighting of anterooms such as cloakrooms, galleries and chapels are given equally careful treatment.

illuminated by Lightcast lens wallwashers for PAR lamps for optimal uniformity and colour rendition.

QT-DE12HIT-DE-CE


Backlights

Designer’Saturday, Düsseldorf“New everyday solutions in architecture and design” were the focal point of the 11th German Designer'Saturday held in Düssel-dorf from 26 – 27 September 2008. The now traditional event for designers in every sector – a regu-lar feature since 1985 – combined product displays in the attractive setting of the “Altes Kesselhaus“ (Old Boiler House) of the former Böhler factory with an interesting and varied programme of lectures. ERCO was present for both parts of the event: an opportunity for many an interesting meeting and dialogue.

www.designersaturday.de

10 years of ERCO South AmericaOn the occasion of its anniversary, the team led by Edgardo Cappiel-lo joined with accredited lighting experts of the region to organise a number of events involving var-ious activities. The highlight was a celebration with cocktail recep-tion on 20 November 2008. Over 200 guests showed up at the “Colección Fortabat” – a recently opened art gallery in Buenos Aires illuminated by ERCO.

Contact:ERCO Iluminación, S.A.Oficina de RepresentaciónAv. Alicia M. de Justo 2030, Of.2021106 Buenos Aires Argentina

Tel: +54 11 431 314 00Fax: +54 11 431 254 65Email: [email protected]

„L´art de la Ilum“ La Sala Vinçon, BarcelonaAs a company, Vinçon does not merely trade in contemporary design articles for home and living. It also presents exhibitions in its premises at the Passeig de Gràcia, such as photographs of contempo-rary architecture on the occasion of the Arquiset '08 event last Octo-ber. Pollux spotlights with fram-ing attachments served to provide powerful effects for the illustrated photographs.

www.vincon.com

Seminar by Kengo Kuma, ERCO SingaporeWith many buildings to his name, Japanese-born Kengo Kuma enjoys high esteem in the world of archi-tecture. His architectural philos-ophy is summed up in the catch phrase “anti-object” buildings, which virtually seem to merge with their surroundings. Invited by the Faculty of Architecture of the National University of Singapore, Kengo Kuma visited the Asian city state on 29 August 2008, initial-ly gave a talk at the University and subsequently attended a seminar as an honorary guest and speak-er in ERCO’s new premises. From its showroom and office in Singapore, ERCO has serviced the entire Asian Pacific market since 2007.

Contact:ERCO Lighting Pte. Ltd.93 Havelock Road#03-532Singapore 160093 Singapore

Tel: +65 6227 3768Fax: +65 6227 8768Email: [email protected]

“tune the light": Karl-Heinz Beckhoff, lighting expert and trainer at ERCO’s Ger -man sales organisation, presented guests at the Designer'Saturday with the philosophy, concepts and products of the Light Factory.

The small but nice ERCO stand offered the right setting and many points of contact for shop talk among the designers.

Mark Oliver Schreiter (3rd from left), the ERCO manager responsible for global sales, and Antonio Merino (4th from left), manager of the Spanish sales organisation, with their team for South America (from left to right): Martiniano Legui-

Lighting experts among themselves (from left to right): Carlos Sanchez Saravia (editor at the LMD magazine), Edgardo Cappiello and Luis Schmid (Marketing Manager, OSRAM Argentina).

An attractive setting for a talk by a master in manip-ulating light and shadow: ERCO’s modern showroom in Singapore. In dialogue: Kengo Kuma (left) with Hendrik Schwartz, ERCO’s Sales Manager Asia/Pacific (right).

More on Kengo Kuma and his work on his office website:www.kkaa.co.jp

Verborgene Gestaltung – Dinge sehen und begreifenFranco Clivio, Hans Hansen, Pierre Mendell2009, Birkhäuser VerlagISBN: 978-3-7643-8967-3

English version: Hidden Forms – Seeing and Understanding Things ISBN: 978-3-7643-8966-6

Aloys F. Gangkofner. Glas und Licht / Glass and LightIlsebill Gangkofner (Publ.), Xenia RiemannLanguages: German/English2008, Prestel VerlagISBN: 978-3-7913-4193-4

New booksBoth designers have had a formative influence on a design era at ERCO: Aloys F. Gangkofner with his glass and plastic designs from the 50s and 60s; Franco Clivio with luminaires such as Lucy, Stella or Lightcast, which were created in the past two decades and are still very much part of ERCO’s Program. Gangkofner was highlighted in a visually powerful mono-graph, while Clivio presented his fascinating collection of everyday items with anony-mous design in book form.

zamón, Rodrigo Jardim, Ana Altobelli, Martín Massaglia and Edgardo Cappiello.

E ERCO GmbHPostfach 246058505 LüdenscheidGermanyTel.: +49 2351 551 0Fax: +49 2351 551 [email protected]

Pergamon Museum, BerlinOn the occasion of the “Babylon – Myth and Truth” exhibition held from 26 June to 5 October 2008, the world-famous reconstructions of the Processional Way and Ishtar Gate were given new lighting. The antique, clay bricks with coloured glazing now seem as vivid and bril - liant as once under the Oriental sun in the Babylon of King Nebuchad-nezzar II (604–562 BC). The Cantax spotlights for 35W metal halide lamps enhance the light quality while providing a high level of energy efficiency and optimal visual comfort.

Exhibition design and lighting: Günter Krüger, Scala – Werkstatt für Gestaltung, Berlin.Photo: Sabine Wenzel, Berlin

www.smb.museum/babylon

erco lichtbericht 88...sheikh zayed mosque, abu dhabi the vision of a modern islamic ruler has...

Documents