revista erco lb85 (english)

E Lichtbericht 85

Published in April 2008

ChinaTo the Chinese, the dragon is any-thing but the bloodthirsty beast featured in European fairytales. It is a divine mythical creature that brings with it ultimate abundance, prosperity and good fortune. Its five-toed variant as depicted in this woodcarving from the Palace Museum in Beijing's ”Forbidden City“ symbolised the Emperor as the

rightful occupant of the dragon throne. Today, we are fascinated by China because of its economic dynamism, its many contrasts and its vast cultural treasures, an exten-sive and exciting working environ-ment for designers, architects and providers of high-quality lighting solutions.

ERCO Lichtbericht 85 1

Originally, we had had the idea of devoting an entire Lichtbericht to Asia, with an overview of the different countries and cultures throughout the region. However, the result became a purely Chinese Lichtbericht. The material available to us proved so diverse and exciting that we wanted to focus all our attention on the Chinese culture.

The Imperial Palace in Beijing was once the ”Forbidden City“. Today, large parts of it are a public museum, and since 1999 ERCO has been working with the Palace administration help-ing to consolidate museum lighting tasks and transforming a listed building into a coherent turnkey concept. An exciting and multifaceted project in a Palace with 9999 rooms.

These days, modern China is developing at break-neck speed carrying the old China along with it. For architects and urban planners, the country is an experimental hotbed of industrial clamour. Very much in contrast, the company seat of Zhongtai Z58 in Shanghai seems a place of pure tranquillity. It was built by the Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma. Whether in architecture or design, modern China is beginning to define its role and provide its own impetus. Without doubt, it will be exciting to watch the further interaction between the cultures.

If you travel from Beijing to Tibet using the Tibet Express, you will pass along the highest railway line in the world. After five years of con-struction, it was finally finished in 2006. Over a stretch of 1,142km, you have the privilege of enjoying scenery of breathtaking beauty. The final destination is the new station in Lhasa, professionally illuminated thanks to outdoor luminaires from ERCO.

The Jinsha Site Museum offers the traveller a journey back to the magic of ancient China. Purely by chance, excavation work carried out in 2001 uncovered finds which date back over 3,000 years to the ancient culture of the Jinsha kingdom. To date, the number of artefacts discovered have increased to well over 6,000, a sensational insight into the early history of Southwest China.

I.M. Pei, the American star architect, was born in Suzhou. That he could build a museum there must have been a tremendous joy to him. The

ERCO LichtberichtImprintPublisher: Tim H. MaackEditor in Chief: Martin KrautterDesign/Layout: Thomas Kotzur, Christoph SteinkePrinting: Mohn Media Mohndruck GmbH, Gütersloh

1028720000© 2008 ERCO

Photographs (Page): Charles Crowell (2-3), Joshua Lieberman (3), Thomas Mayer (33), Alexander Ring (16-21), Dirk Vogel (1, 32), Michael Wolf (U1, U2, 3, 4-15, 22-31, U4)

Translation: Lanzillotta Translations, Düsseldorf

Tim Henrik Maack

Background

Dr. Oliver Herwig Where buildings dance into the skyChina – an Eldorado for architecture and urban planning

Projects

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result is a modern yet traditional piece of archi-tecture. An architecture that conjoins ancient and modern times.

It remains to say that China is an exciting subject and will continue for many years to sur-prise us all. A Lichtbericht completely dedicated to China barely begins to show the amazing diversity through such projects as the railway station in Lhasa and the ”Forbidden City“ in Beijing. But here and in just one edition, we offer a fascinating glimpse of the traditional entwined with the modern, all helping to build an insight into the China of today.

Indoor innovations 2008Cantax and Emanon spotlightsCompar recessed spotlightsCompact HIT downlightsNadir IP67 recessed floor luminairesFloor washlights

FocusLight control with Spherolit technology

Double focusFlexible design with exchangeable reflectors

Introduction

Report

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Final destination: LhasaHow do ERCO luminaires get to Tibet? By train – the new route to Lhasa is the highest railway line in the world. Author Harald Maass made the journey for us.

Jinsha Site MuseumThe mystery of the golden sand city: A new museum in the Sichuan province showcases spectacular archaeological finds.

The Suzhou Historic MuseumGardens of Heaven: A building that took architect I.M. Pei back to the roots of his family.

About this issue

Keylights

Bright prospects

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The Palace of 9999 roomsToday, large parts of what was once the ”Forbidden City“ are now museums. Renovation and maintenance are per-manent requirements. For the Palace museum administration, high-quality lighting from ERCO is a long-term investment.

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32 BacklightsGerman Design Award 2008 for ERCOMoving images in the Light ScoutEuroShop 2008, Düsseldorf

Contents About this issue

Light & Technology

2 ERCO Lichtbericht 85 ERCO Lichtbericht 85 3

Keylights

BeijingThe historical Nan Xin Chang district houses a total of nine well-preserved, original rice granaries built early in the 15th century to supply the Emperor’s court in Beijing. Subject to stringent con-ditions for listed buildings, these ancient walls were transformed into stores and restaurants. The entire district was designed like a park and illuminated using Beamer projectors.

Landscape architects: Dongcheng Landscape Administration Bureau, BeijingLighting designer: Beijing Z Lighting Design CO., Ltd.Toyota

This gigantic hall is the biggest Toyota showroom in the world. Quinta, Stella and TM spotlights fitted at great height bridge the distance thanks to powerful, long-life metal halide lamps, HIT 70W, to highlight the vehicles.

Architect: DSA Architects Inter-national, Dubai / Johannesburg. Lighting design: Visual Terrain, Van Nuys, CABuilding contractor: Al Futtaim Carillion, Dubai Electrical installation: Al Futtaim Engineering, Dubai

DubaiA must for Dubai tourists, the Goldsouk. Hundreds of small shops vie for the customers’ attention, not least with goods displayed in glaring light. After consulting with ERCO Dubai, this jewellery shop took a huge step toward visual comfort by opting for Lightcast downlights for metal halide lamps and complementary Starpoint downlights for halogen lamps.

GB Diamonds Shop, Dubai www.dubaicityofgold.com

DubaiOnly few competitors present this mix of electronics, media and the relevant services such as Internet access or mobile phone contracts at such a high level of quality and in such trendy fashion as the Virgin chain. Red dominates here as the corporate colour, while a multitude of spotlights on singlets or recessed in the ceiling provide the right lighting effects for such an abun-dant product offer in the branch at the Mall of the Emirates.

Virgin Megastore, Mall of the Emirates, DubaiArchitect: Collet & Burger, ParisLighting design: Collet & Burger, Pariswww.vmeganews.com

HondaCars, motorbikes and outboard engines from the Japanese brand are presented in a spacious hall under TM and Stella spotlights mounted on Monopoll tracks and structures.

Architect: GHD, Dubai Office Lighting design: Visual Terrain, Van Nuys, CABuilding contractor: Al Futtaim Carillion, Dubai Electrical installation: Al Futtaim Engineering, Dubai

Jeep Chrysler DodgeFitted with parallel T16 light structures suspended at different heights, this showroom by the Americans seems rather plain and sober, yet powerfully dynamic.


Aomori CityWay up in the north of the main Japanese island of Honshu we find Aomori, a city in the prefecture of the same name. The new art museum here provides spacious galleries for the collection, which includes large-format works by Marc Chagall. The gallery is illu-minated by Eclipse spotlights and wallwashers mounted on tracks.

Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori CityArchitect: Jun Aoki & Associates, Tokyowww.aomori-museum.jp

TokyoWithin close proximity of the pop-ular Jingu Gaien parks, Café Speira is located on an avenue lined by maidenhair trees. Inside, it is lit by Quadra directional luminaires and downlights. In the evening, its ter-race presents a view onto magnifi-cent gardens effectively shown off to advantage using Beamer projec-tors and other lighting tools from the ERCO outdoor range.

Café Speira, TokyoArchitect and lighting designer: Nikken Sekkei, Tokyo

DubaiFor elegant furniture in Dubai, Aati Furniture has been the No. 1 address since 1982. One of its stores is situated on Sheikh Zayed Road, a much-frequented arterial road leading to Abu Dhabi. The ambient lighting in the loft style showroom is provided by Lightcast downlights for metal halide lamps, integrated into black, painted cable suspension bridges. Spotlights from the Castor range produce additional accent lighting on the exhibits.

Aati Furniture, DubaiArchitect: Aati Contracts, Dubai (interior design)

DubaiThe French brand Pimkie is present even on the Persian Gulf, catering to young, fashion-conscious females. In this shop, black Eclipse spotlights, mirror balls and asym-metrical ceiling panels with recessed spotlights create a spar-kling club style atmosphere.

Pimkie Shop, Mall of the Emirates, DubaiArchitect and lighting designer:Pimkie Interior Design Team

LexusThe Emirates are a key market for premium brands such as Lexus. Great store is set by a perfect and discreet service in the showroom. Brilliant light from TM spotlights with metal halide lamps gives these classy limousines the appropriate shine.


VolvoInside, Quinta TM spotlights on suspended tracks accentuate the vehicles. Outside, Parscoop flood-lights in corporate blue emphasise the eaves of the elegant, oval glass and steel structure.


DubaiThe new retail district at ”Dubai Festival City“ includes a number of car showrooms: five makes, five concepts – all with light from ERCO.Photos: Charles Crowell, Dubai


Bright prospects Palace museum, Forbidden City, BeijingView into the ”Universe in the Mind – 60 Years of Painting by Liu Guosong“ exhibition (26 April - 26 May 2007).

Photo: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong


When Wang Yirong talks about the Imperial Palace in Beijing, about the centuries-old throne rooms, the former royal bedchambers and hidden gardens, he may as well be remi-niscing about his own home. In some ways he is. “I grew up here as a child,” says Wang. His father had once worked as a bookkeeper in the administration of the ”Forbidden City“, as the Chinese call the Palace. So as a child, Wang used to play among imperial halls and chambers. “For me, the Forbidden City is like a home,” he says.

The secret paths of his childhood still come in useful to Wang, who today is Vice Director of the Palace administration. True to the legend, the Forbidden City has 9999 rooms in which the Emperors of China resided until 1924, and thus is ten times bigger than Buckingham Palace in London. A tangle of temple halls, residential buildings and accommodation for concubines and eunuchs, it’s hard not to lose yourself in here. A city within a city. “So far, only a part of the complex is open to visitors,” explains Wang.

With the paint in the centuries-old halls coming off, termites eating away at the old wooden pillars, the roofs being leaky and the ornate wall paintings fading, Beijing’s Imperial Palace is currently undergoing the biggest ren-ovation in its history. The task of the century: since 2002, up to 2000 craftsmen and restora-tion specialists have worked on returning the Palace to its former glory. The cost: 100 million Yuan per year – around ten million Euros. The work is scheduled to be finished by 2020 – in time for the 600th anniversary celebrations.

“The renovation is very costly and complex,” says Wang. He is sitting in his office inside the Forbidden City, grey walls with a curved roof and wooden pillars, adjacent to a landscaped courtyard. “In former times, this is where the sons of the Emperor would live,” recounts Wang, pointing toward the green tiles. In con-trast, all other buildings in the Forbidden City have yellow roofs – once the symbol and privi-lege of the Emperor.

“Our aim is to restore the buildings as close to their original state as possible,” explains Wang. Hence the Palace administration sought out Beijing’s master craftsmen, 70- and 80-year-old men, some of whose families had worked in the Imperial Palace for several generations – many a forgotten technique was rediscovered. In terms of lighting for the buildings and exhibitions, however, the Imperial Palace administration opted for contemporary technology and thus has been working with ERCO since 1999. “ERCO sets the highest standards in museum lighting,” says Wang. After all, the conditions for the pres-ervation of historical monuments are strict, even with regard to lighting. “Hammering nails into

The Palace of 9999 roomsToday, large parts of what was once the ”Forbidden City“ in Beijing are now museums. Renovation and maintenance are permanent requirements. For the Palace museum administration, high-quality lighting from ERCO is a long-term invest-ment.

Originally, the ”Palace of Heavenly Purity“ (Qian-qinggong) was designed to be the residential palace of the Emperor. Today, it houses exhibi-tions of life at the impe-rial court and is a popular background for souvenir photos.

The ”Forbidden City“ is the key attraction in Beijing not only for for-eign tourists but also for the increasing stream of visitors from the Chinese provinces. Members of a tourist party recognise each other by their differ-ent coloured caps.

Adjacent buildings to the west of the ”Hall of Protecting Harmony“ (Baohedian Xiwu): tradi-tional craft methods are used in the restoration. The painters for example, still prepare their red paint as in olden days, using a mixture of pig’s blood and ground bricks, which is then dabbed onto the wooden pillars using silk pads. This makes

Interior and lighting design:Display & Exhibition Department, Propaganda & Education Department, Forbidden City, BeijingPhotos: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong

www.dpm.org.cn

the wood to fix the spotlights in the old Palace halls was, of course, not an option,” explains Ricky Zhang from the ERCO Represen tative Office in Beijing. Instead, the lighting installa-tions were mounted on special fixtures that did not require structural interference or changes. “Protecting the historical structures is a top priority for us,” says Zhang. ERCO’s expertise in museum lighting also paid off in the illumina-tion of photosensitive exhibits and paintings.

One of the results of this cooperation is Qianqinggong – the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Once the private chambers of the imperial family, the hall later served regents as an audi-ence room in which they also received foreign envoys. It was last officially used in 1922 when Emperor Pu Yi, who had already been deposed by that time, was married. Visitors and tourists, who can only peer into the lavishly furnished interior from outside, mostly do not realise that the hall is fitted with almost two dozen con-cealed ERCO floodlights. “Our aim was to boost natural daylight as inconspicuously as possi-ble,” explains Zhang. Visitors are thus given an authentic taste of the imperial era.

Another highlight of the Palace complex, the “Hall of Supreme Harmony” (Taihedian), is currently veiled in green cloth while the hammering and renovating is still ongoing. At 29 metres, this hall is the tallest building in the Forbidden City. Here, China’s Emperors were once crowned, hence the lavish interior of this building. Mythical creatures decorate the eaves. When it rains, 1142 marble dragonheads spew out the water. The terrace is adorned

with bronze tortoises and cranes, symbols of luck and eternal reign. The renovated hall will reopen to visitors in time for the start of the Olympic Games in the summer. Around 100 ERCO spotlights will then present it in the right light.

For Wang and his colleagues the work, however, continues. 30,000 visitors flock to the former Imperial City on any given day. On record days, this figure could even be as high as 100,000. “The visit should be a special expe-rience for each individual”, says Wang. “The Forbidden City becomes a huge museum. This is our job.”

Harald Maass

the paint stay on for longer. The yellow roof tiles are also baked using traditional methods.


Forbidden City

Many of these buildings are closed to visitors and can only be viewed through windows. Lighting tools such as Focalflood floodlights are arranged outside the field of vision to provide glare-free illumination of the room.

The ”Palace of Earthly Peace“ (Kunninggong, top and left) is the last of the three rear palaces. During the Ming dynasty, it was used as sleeping cham-bers for the Empresses.

The residential buildings to the west of the cen-tral axis, including their furnishings, have been preserved or restored to give an impression of daily life in the Palace. In the ”Hall of Mental Cultivation“ (Yangxin Dian, right) in the south of this sector, Empress Cixi attended to the affairs of state, hidden behind a curtain, until 1908.

Accent lighting empha-sises the details of the magnificently painted halls decorated with intricate woodcarvings. Installing the lighting systems without tamper-ing with the substance often requires talent for improvisation.


Forbidden City

Today, the ”Hall of Military Courage“ (Wuyingdian) is a gallery for temporary exhibitions of historical and modern works of art. The lighting tech-nology used here is of maximum quality and includes Optec wall-washers and spotlights.

In the galleries, Pollux projection spotlights conjure up traditional Chinese ornaments of light on the ground.

In the historic sur-roundings of the ”Hall of Military Courage“ (Wuyingdian) and effec-tively bathed in light, the painting by Liu Guosong, a contemporary artist from Taiwan, has a sug-gestive effect.

Display cabinets in the annex to the Palace (Dongxiwu): reliefs and clay figures along with wall paintings give an idea of life at the ancient imperial court.

In the annexes to the Palace (Dongxiwu), the Palace museum displays items from its vast collec-tion of time-honoured art treasures of the imperial court.


New beginnings! An excavator flattens a brick wall, dust whirls up and wood splinters; tomorrow will see the start of something new! Something big and some-thing shiny. A shopping mall perhaps, or an office complex. The Middle Kingdom is vibrating with energy!

“The construction problems of today are enormous,”1 complains Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky as early as 1956 after her trip to Asia, when detailing the dimensions of a country that puts all European experiences in the shade. The famous architect comes up with a dozen comparisons to describe the Middle Kingdom, making it even a lit-tle tangible. “In such a country, to tackle even the most urgent building tasks,” she concludes, “is inconceivably difficult and complex even in a planned economy.” Planned economy? Nothing could be fur-ther from the truth today. The dragon has developed turbocapitalistic traits. Two-digit growth rates, gigantic export sur-pluses and booming stock markets.

Such change needs signs. China adorns itself with the icons of international build-ing culture: office buildings, TV towers, museums, sports facilities, even regional parliaments and entire cities from the drawing boards of American, Japanese or European designers. Not a month goes by without spectacular projects sprouting up out of the ground, such as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) designed by Rem Kohlhaas' OMA (Office for Metropolitan

Where buildings dance into the skyChina – an Eldorado for architecture and urban planning

by Dr. Oliver Herwig Zhongtai Z58, Shanghai Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates, TokyoLighting designer: Zhong-tai Lighting, ShanghaiPhotos: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong

A dramatic atrium and a panoramic view with design classics: Kengo Kuma is a virtuoso of modulated transitions between inside and out-side, between materials such as water and glass.

Architecture). The highlight without a doubt should be 8/8/2008, the opening day of the Olympic Games in Beijing. This lucky day for the Middle Kingdom will present a new superpower, awash with ultramodern sports arenas and competition centres. China will be a building exhibi-tion of top international offices. However, the time of guest architects, these catalysts for change, from Europe, Japan and the US, dropping projects by the dozen over boomtowns of the East, is coming to an end. As China has successfully shown in many other areas, the architecture of the Far East has also set about trying to rise to international levels by copying, transfer and amalgamation, the consequence of which will feature there itself soon. China is setting new standards. East and West are entangled on a huge experimental ground that is the third modernism. Nothing seems too fancy, nothing impossible. China is everything, and everything at the same time is a stage for rationalism and repre-sentative architecture, late postmodern ascendency and ultramodern features. The result is not only solidiums but also ideals of a society on the cusp of a new tomorrow.

The art market in China paints a similar picture to architecture. Recession is a word this country does not seem to know, and an increasing number of ‘Chuppys’ (Chinese urban professionals) are desperate to show off their hard earned success. While the market is exploding, the West is running

out of categories to describe this change to turbocapitalism. Chris Dercon, Director of the Munich Haus der Kunst (House of Art), who travelled through China, sounds as baffled as he is frustrated. “The jury of the CCAA on which I serve has voted Liu Wei the best artist of recent years,” writes Dercon, “although we did have some heated discussions on the jury regarding the dominance of commerce, especially the Chinese plagiarism tricks.”2 Despite its humble endowment, the winner receives a mere 3000 dollars, the CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award) is deemed to be trendsetting. After all, it awards “par-ticularly creative and innovative Chinese artists, draws attention to Chinese contem-porary art, and thus raises awareness of the contribution of this art to the contemporary culture in China.”3 Maybe this is the root of the loss of standards, everything is in a state of flux, we have no idea yet where this journey will take us. Only this much is certain, China is a mega-player in the global market, and its role will continue to grow.

Phase FourChina is like an accessible study for design-ers, psychologists and sociologists. Phase One: prestigious buildings. International competitions bring international award-winners, technology, and uses of form. Japan, the USA and Western Europe export the state of the art. This is implemented in

cooperation with local partners in Phase Two. The increasing transfer of ideas, uses of form and construction design rings in Phase Three: national and international companies (or hybrids and independent agencies of globally operating architec-tural firms) compete for follow-up orders and further development measures. Inter-national beacons now feature side by side with torchbearers of Chinese provenance. Phase Four finally catapults local archi-tects and civil engineers trained to global standards into key positions in building design and development.

Ieoh Ming Pei continues to be the best-known Chinese architect. Hailing from the region of Kanton, he emigrated to the USA in the 1930s and has built very little in his native country. His great-grandchildren on the other hand, are actively involved in the development of the country, such as the Shanghai architects from Mada Spam, currently deemed by experts as one of the hottest young firms. Not untypical for the current situation, they also work as con-tract architects for French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Their 8000sqm Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing, which was opened last November, brings together Chinese art and international works from the collection of the Belgian art collecting couple, Ullens. The exhibition centre is a completely remodelled frame construc-tion from the 1950s, which now features a number of exhibition halls, an auditorium

for 130 people and the familiar mixture of cafes and shops entwined around the building like a garland.

The social awakening is reflected in experimental art. Hong Hao, a conceptual artist born in Peking in 1964, aptly sums it up:

“I ask myself what the connection is between individual and collective identity and come to the following conclusion: we are what we consume, and what we consume makes us unique.”4 The identity adopted in times of change, the spirit of optimism and the acceptance of consumer-ism – these too are signs of a new mental-ity that initially borrows Western identities and then begins to fill them with its own ideas. Jenny Holzer’s dry reply to such a consumerist manifesto: Protect me from what I want.

Growth and tranquillity: Zhongtai Box Z58 If you want to see global networking, you only need to go to a harbour, where con-tainers and landing cranes tirelessly fill the bowels of the freighters. In 2006, seven of the ten harbours with the highest turnover worldwide were Chinese. In first place is Shanghai with 537 million tons of cargo. Next up are Ningbo and Guangzhou, each with 300 million tons, Tianjin (255 million tons), Hong Kong (238 million tons), and Qingdao and Dalian (each with 200 million tons), all showing what connects China

with the world. The Middle Kingdom is not just growing; it is exploding. “Over the past 20 years, our cities have become the biggest building sites in the world,” laments Zhao Zhijin, a Chinese urban plan-ner. The real estate and building industries show serious signs of overheating. Since his last multi-city trip barely three months ago, “the real estate prices in some parts of Shanghai and Shenzhen have risen by up to 30 per cent,” bewailed “pixelpainter” last October. The blogging investment banker gives figures. Where in 2006 a square metre of apartment space had cost around 930 Euro, the price had now increased to almost 1500 Euro. Critical voices are heard complaining about a ruth-less demolition mentality. With a mixture of pride and unease, even Chinese news-papers report about this change in attitude. “China News” stated that more buildings would be erected over the next five years than in the past 5000 years together.

However, there are also other sides, pro-jects that include the locality and trans-form it. As demonstrated by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma for Zhongtai Light-ing. Z58 is the four-storey complex of this up-and-coming company, named very pragmatically after its address: Panyu Road No. 58 in the East of Shanghai. An exclu-sive residential area, framed by multi- storey blocks of flats. Right in the middle of it now stands an architectural jewel that completely transforms the former watch


Ms. Emma Jiang (below) is the Vice President of Zhongtai. Her husband, Kepei Cheng, is the foun-der and CEO of Zhongtai Holding that operates in different sectors of the booming building and real estate industry. Both are design fans and sell top-class European brands such as ERCO in China.

ERCO products can be found not only in the light showrooms of the Z58, but are also part of the functional lighting installation. Here, Optec wallwashers provide ver-tical illumination in an office zone.

making factory in the garden of the family of Sun Yatsen. First, the architect had three parts of the facade torn down, opened up and replaced by a magnificent mantle of light, air and water. The front facing the street is made up of horizontally stacked plant troughs of reflecting metal which mirror the ivy as well as the sky and earth. The levels get blurred. What is in front, what is behind; what is real, what but an image? Kuma has created a walk-in distorting mirror, the ideal exhibition centre for the lighting company Zhongtai Lighting.

A “laboratory, a cathedral of light” – this is what Kuma calls his own work, which the Dutch stage and lighting designer Johan Vonk presented so congenially for the opening event. Vonk was fascinated by this transparent box and made it shine inside and out. “It’s all about the structure, the horizontal, vertical, crossing lines,” he was quoted by the design magazine “surface”. Judging by its unimposing entrance at the corner, one would never expect what follows, a high atrium that automatically forces you to look up. A wall of water that continues the transitory experience of the mirrored laminar wall. Both optically and acoustically, the waterfall acts as a lock between the hectic bustle of Shanghai and the clear working and exhibition envi-ronment of this light and water box. The reception is followed by an international lighting exhibition and beyond that, the offices. The new top level on the fourth floor displays the luxury of a 5-star hotel. Pure minimalism with two glass cubes forming two guest apartments. Rooms merge; only some glass separates bedroom and bathroom. The cubes open up sky-wards and towards the green of the garden of Sun Yatsen. Water laps about the edge of the building, dissolves its periphery and as a classic reflecting pool, separates the glassy pavillions. Right in the middle we find a panoramic lounge with two classic chairs designed by Charles Eames. Sit on this terrace, surrounded by choppy water and the light steel and glass structure, and you may think you are in an aquarium. The elements fuse together. Air becomes water, water turns into glass.

Z58 for Zhongtai Lighting shows a new attitude in uncompromising aesthetics. A conversion that uses the existing, yet completely transforms it instead of for-ever adding new features. Architect Kuma reckons he can already perceive a change in outlook, this building is an “expression of the desire to get away from the practice of copying the West.”5 Yet, West and East seem very much united here, like yin and yang in a timeless form.

China production: the world is growing closerChina thinks in big pictures. This is what foreigners learnt and so they produced metaphors. When the former German Secretary of State for Culture, Christina

Weiss, was asked to comment, she said that China was “like the transrapid of archi-tecture”. Speed creates new categories. People no longer have any inclination for standardised urbanity under the banner of Mao, Shanghai capitalism expresses the together. Opposites do not disappear they are integrated, as shown by Shi Xinning. The 39-year-old painter of photorealistic fake pictures has the great Comrade Mao pose next to Marilyn Monroe or adds him to the famous photo of the victorious pow-ers on Jalta. “This type of absurd picture concoction,” says Xinning, “which can hit you deep down, proclaims that in the eyes of each individual, everything can have an entirely different explanation.”6

If there is one thing that has become clear over the past few years it is this, even the world of architecture is only a market, a global distribution process of ideas, forms, styles and names. While some universal brands have a determining influence on our perception, 99.9 per cent of the build-ings remain below the radar of press and public. They are accepted, occupied, used and at best, tolerated. The same is true in China. But the sheer mass of the spectacu-lar and speculative buildings never ceases to amaze. The Middle Kingdom has become the measure of globalised modernity and its new ideas. Kuma’s Green House in Shanghai or the converted Centre for Con-temporary Art in Beijing have taken the first steps. Highly advanced technology is combined with time-transcending think-ing. As Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky once put it: the particular charm of the tradi-tional Chinese residential building is its “gradual transition from the stony streets teeming with people to the actual living space, the atrium [...] Here you feel far removed from the hustle of the city.”7 Even Kuma can’t do more.

Literature (selection)Bert Bielefeld, Lars-Phillip Rusch: Bauen in China. Handbuch für Architekten und Ingenieure. Birkhäuser, 2006.Uta Grosenick, Caspar H. Schübbe: China Art Book. Dumont, 2007.Philip Jodidio: CN. Architecture in China. Taschen, 2007.Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky: Millionenstädte Chinas. Bilder- und Reisebuch einer Architektin (1958). Springer, 2007.

Footnotes1 Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky: Millionenstädte Chinas. Bilder- und Reisebuch einer Architektin (1958). Springer, 2007, p. 34.2 Dercon, Chris: Lang lebe die Partei! Kunstgalerien schießen wie Pilze aus dem Boden, und alle malen Sarkozy – Eine Reise durch Chinas brodelnde Kul-turszene. Süddeutsche Zeitung on Monday, 11 February 2008, p. 13.3 A press release of the Bern Art Museums explains the backgrounds of the CCAA: http://www.kunstmuseum-bern.ch/index.cfm?nav=567,1250,1610,1639&DID=9&SID=14 Uta Grosenick, Caspar H. Schübbe: China Art Book. Dumont, 2007, p. 129.5 Philip Jodidio: CN. Architecture in China. Taschen, 2007, pp. 92-97, here p. 92.6 Uta Grosenick, Caspar H. Schübbe: China Art Book. Dumont, 2007, p. 345.7 Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky: Millionenstädte Chinas. Bilder- und Reisebuch einer Architektin (1958). Springer, 2007, p. 45

Based on ERCO’s latest developments in lighting technology, the Cantax range is a logically structured system which provides a professional quality of light in shops, galleries, restaurants or residential areas, while making a striking, highly contemporary design statement with a shape made up of basic geometric forms. As with Emanon spotlights, ERCO

Eventually, many methods and effects used in stage lighting and then applied to shops and shop windows, presentations or trade fair stands, find their way into architecture. For these applications, the time was right to develop, from scratch, a new range of spotlights – a system which would consolidate the progress of lighting technology over the past few years, effortlessly offering creative designers the opportunity to implement the principles of “tune the light“. Lighting equipment which would enable the creation of scenographic effects, a familiar aspect in stage shows and at events, or even for continuous, daybyday operation. This new range of spotlights, Emanon, consists of a striking, integrative housing design for highly differentiated lighting equipment, from standards including spotlights for lowvoltage halogen or HIT lamps to ERCO specialities such as LED varychrome spotlights or technical innovations such as the DALIcontrolled Goborotator. In terms of heat management, this range also follows a new path – the thermally stressed components such as lamp, lampholder and reflector are installed in a cylindrical metal

The Cantax LED varychrome spotlight comprises the exclusive ERCO colour compensation technology and can be conveniently controlled via Light System DALI and the Light Studio software.

Four Spherolit reflectors with narrow spot, spot, flood and wide flood beam angles are available for accent lighting.

Alternatively to the spotlight reflector, the Spherolit reflector wallwash, can be used for vertical illumination. The slight focal emphasis noticeable in the upper third of the reflector serves as additional accent lighting.

Changing reflectors without using tools allows spotlights with Spherolit technology to be quickly and flexibly adapted to new lighting concepts.

The Emanon Goborotator provides impressive high lights in a room using dynamic lighting effects. The use of metal gobos, glass gobos or structure lenses enables the lighting designer to produce a wide range of lighting effects. The rotating speed can be set separately to between four seconds and four minutes. The gobos are easy and quick to change. After removing the front of the hous ing, the Goborotator attachment can be pivoted to the side.

CantaxDesign: Naoto Fukasawa

EmanonDesign: Yves Béhar, fuseproject

ERCO Lichtbericht 85 1716 ERCO Lichtbericht 85

Indoor Innovations 2008 The essence of innovations is more than a collection of creative ideas, inventions or research results. It is the implementation of these to bring about a change for the better, to benefit the people who will use them. Some are additions to, and updates of, existing ranges, but predominantly, they include several completely new product ranges. New developments provide

the opportunity to link stateoftheart technology with the results of ERCO’s own research and development to produce designs which are as innovative as the technologies used in these products. The following pages introduce our key innovations for indoor areas.

appropriate wallwash version of the Spherolit reflector, the light distribution pattern can even be changed to that of a wallwasher without altering the outer appearance of the spotlight. Alternatively, Cantax is also available with the classic lens wallwasher technology for vertical illumination. Naturally, the Cantax range with its spotlights, wallwashers and accessories also comprises exclusive ERCO technologies such as DALIcompatible Light Clients or the varychrome spotlight with colourcompensating LED technology. The housing and bracket on one side with concealed cables are of cast aluminium with black or white powder coat finishes.

has provided Cantax with the new Spherolit reflectors, which are available in four light distribution patterns, from narrow spot to wide flood and as a Spherolit wallwasher. In addition to providing a superior quality of light, they offer the user an option of quick changes to light distribution patterns by way of interchangeable reflectors. When using an

carrier with controlled ventilation which is situated between the highquality plastic shells of the spotlight housing. The flat part of the housing provides a thermally separated space for the electronic or DALIcompatible control gear. Its dimpled surface identifies a gripping zone to adjust the luminaires during operation.

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Indoor Innovations 2008

The development of the Compar recessed spotlights was based to a degree on the requirements of the retail sector in the area of shop lighting. The Compar range provides a combination of innovative lighting technology, rational detail solutions and flexible system design. As a result, all the spotlights have Spherolit reflectors for a superior quality of light. The light distribution patterns include the rotationally symmetrical narrow spot, spot, flood and wide flood reflectors and the Spherolit reflector, wallwash, for asymmetrical light distribution. The new display

Compact HIT represents an entirely new approach to downlight lighting and is made possible only by the exclusive ERCO innovation of Spherolit reflectors. In order to achieve a revolutionary combination of light efficiency, compact recessing dimensions, visual comfort, and costeffectiveness, the Compact HIT follows an alternative path to Darklight technology, a characteristic of the remaining ERCO range of downlights. The exclusive use of energyefficient metal halide lamps with a connected load of 20W to 70W ensures high illuminance from the wide

Since the unusual direction of their light attracts attention, lighting designers like to use recessed floor luminaires even in indoor areas. However, recessed floor installation is usually more complex than mounting the luminaires to or in the ceiling. Consequently, when the Nadir recessed floor luminaires for indoors were completely redeveloped, ERCO focused its efforts not only on the usual sophisticated lighting technology, but also directed attention to a safe and simple mounting solution with superior finish. The heightadjustable frame of the recessed

The complete redevelopment of the ERCO range of floor washlights focused on two aspects – the integration of modern light sources such as LEDs and more flexibility in terms of trim detail design. In addition, ERCO’s design engineers devised reflectors with a new surface that proves particularly scratchresistant and easy to clean. Apart from its excellent reflection capacities, the satin matt silver coating ensures that the discreet luminance of the reflector surface provides the desired effect and turns the floor washlights into an architec

Compar Compact HIT Nadir IP67 Floor washlights

lens produces a brilliantly precise, horizontally spread beam of light. In contrast to the sculpture lens, its only structuring are the grooves for light distribution, and it features an antidazzle cap for defined visual comfort. The beam angles vary depending on whether the display lens is combined with a spot or a flood reflector.

beams emitted by Spherolit reflectors with a wide flood light distribution. The attractive, almost magical appearance of Compact HIT in the ceiling is defined by bright reflections and with the nonreflective safety glass, making it ideal for prestigious rooms in the retail sector or in administrative buildings.

floor housing now compensates for dimensional tolerances between floor slab and finished floor. The shallow recess depth of 100mm makes the luminaires suitable for many applications in architecture. The front covers are round or square; particular highlights in the range include luminaires with special characteristics such as the grazing light wallwashers or with innovative lamps such as LEDs.

tural element. The light sources themselves are fully concealed from view and protected against the ingress of dust and dirt by using a Softec lens as safety glass. Lowmaintenance light sources such as metal halide lamps or maintenancefree LED lamps underline the fact that the ERCO floor washlights are truly efficient and economical lighting tools.

The selection of light sources, both metal halide lamps and highpressure sodium vapour lamps, wattages and light distribution patterns allows for differentiated lighting concepts with a uniform appearance in the ceiling.

The spotlights with display lens are particularly suitable for the efficient illumination of product presentations in a linear arrangement, such as tables and shelves.

Easy mounting and the compact dimensions of Compact HIT are aspects which have a positive effect on the overall costeffectiveness of a building project.

For a flush surface and to compensate dimensional tolerances, the position of the luminaires can be precisely adjusted during mounting using height adjustment screws.

The mounting frame is available with two optional trim details for mounting in drywall partitions and options of cover edge or flush mounting.

The position of the fixing brackets can be adjusted for both the square and the round floor washlights to suit all common ceiling panel thicknesses.

ERCO Lichtbericht 85 1918 ERCO Lichtbericht 85


Focus Double focus

Light control with Spherolit technologyPreviously, the reflector contour was crucial in directing light. However, new Spherolit reflector technology is based on the actual surface structure of the reflector. Similar to conventional facetted reflectors, this reflector is divided into individual areas. These indi-vidual areas are not flat but consist of three-dimensional, spherically domed segments. Due to the dif-ferent radii of the spherolites, the reflector characteristic can be con-trolled over a wide range. The result is spotlight reflectors that have the same basic geometry, i.e. diameter, depth and focal point, but different light distribution patterns, from narrow spot to wide flood. Because of the same contour, luminaires can now be designed for flexible applications in which reflectors can easily be exchanged.

Due to multiple reflections, spherolites direct the light and pro-duce a particularly uniform beam with a slightly soft edge. The light is spread wide to prevent a reflection of the light source on the object or surface, as is common with con-ventional mirror-finish reflectors. A combination of Spherolit tech-nology and mirror-finish, anodised aluminium results in a very high light output ratio.

Whereas uniform spherolites in a reflector produce a symmetrical light distribution pattern, reflector segments with different spherolite shapes provide an asymmetrical light distribution with even wall washing characteristics.

Flexible design with exchange-able reflectorsIn addition to the quality of light, the key advantage of Spherolit technology for designers is the fact that the light distribution pat-tern can be flexibly adapted to suit changing requirements. Different sized objects in shops or exhibi-tions and new lighting concepts require adjustable lighting systems for optimal accentuation of the exhibits. The Spherolit reflectors for spotlights are available with four light distribution patterns for differentiated accent lighting. Due to the mechanical fastening using retaining springs, the reflectors can be exchanged without tools very quickly. Metal halide lamp versions have anti-dazzle caps on the cover glass especially for spot reflec-tors to minimise unpleasant light intensities.

For vertical illumination, the Spherolit wallwash reflector is available with a specially formed segment for asymmetrical light distribution. Its generally uniform beam produces a focal point in the upper third of the wall to empha-sise decorative objects or letter-ing placed higher up in shops or product presentations to produce a long-distance effect. This wall-washer technology ensures a high light output on the illuminated surface.

Another perfect solution for applications such as in museums or prestigious rooms is the classic lens wallwasher technology because of its complete uniformity across the entire wall. The wallwasher attach-ment ensures additional glare control.

Thomas Schielke

Lens wallwasherWallwasher attachment for uniform illumination and good visual comfort

WallwashAsymmetrical wallwasher light distribution with focal emphasis in the upper third

Narrow spotRotationally symmetrical light distribution, beam angle < 10°

SpotRotationally symmetrical light distribution, beam angle 10°-20°

FloodRotationally symmetrical light distribution, beam angle 25°-35°

Wide floodRotationally symmetrical light distribution, beam angle > 45°

Section of a Spherolit reflector, narrow spot.

Section of a Spherolit reflector, wide spot.

Spherolit reflectors are characterised by indi-vidually shaped mirror-finish spherolites. Despite the same contour, they produce different light distribution patterns and an excellent light output ratio.

Depending on the cur-vature of an individual segment, the incident light is reflected and to a greater or lesser extent, widely dispersed. The Spherolit narrow spot reflector therefore has the flattest Spherolit segments, whereas the Spherolit wide flood reflector has the most highly domed segments.

The reflectors are designed so they can easily be exchanged without tools to adapt spotlights with Spherolit technology quickly and flexibly to suit different lighting concepts. The various reflectors are available individually as accessories for ERCO spotlight ranges such as Emanon and Cantax.

Spherolit technology produces a particularly uniform light beam with a slightly soft edge. This new, exclusive reflec-tor technology is used primarily in ERCO spot-lights for tracks, but also in recessed ceiling spotlights and even downlights.

Due to the system of different light distribu-tion patterns, appropri-ate beams accentuate objects of varying sizes. The reflectors are easy to exchange, adapting the beam diameter to suit different exhibits.


The train’s tannoy is playing a Chinese pop song. “Your heart is too soft,“ croons the voice. Xiao Wang pours hot water from a thermos flask over his pot noodles. It is lunchtime as the foothills of the snow-capped Himalayas pass by the window of the compartment. Xiao Wang still has a long way to go, more than 24 hours in fact. A luminous display at the end of the car-riage announces in glimmering letters, ”Final destination – Lhasa“. Xiao Wang is travelling on the Tibet train on one of the most spectacular railway routes in the world.

“In the past, we always had to take a bus across the mountain pass,“ recounts Xiao Wang. “The journey was exhausting and dangerous,” continues the carpenter, who was born in Sichuan. Until 2006, the Golmud-Lhasa high-way used to be the only land connection to Tibet that was open in the winter. Fuel, building materials, machinery, and vegetables – the bulk of the Tibetan products needed to be trans-ported laboriously via this route. Day and night, the lorries rattled along the bad road surface. 30 hours it took each way – if all went well, that is. Three days, if a landslide had once again washed away the road.

Xiao Wang can travel more in style. He is lying on a bed called ”hard sleeper berth“ in China. Two Tibetan monks in dark red habits occupy the next compartment. While outside, the perpetual ice of the Himalaya glaciers is drifting by, the compartment is nice and cosy. Each seat is fitted with a transparent plastic tube issuing oxygen. Without this breathing aid, most of the passengers would get altitude sickness on the journey. A large part of the trip to Tibet takes us above 4000m. The highest pass which the ”Dongfang 8“ type Diesel engine needs to tackle lies at an altitude of 5072m – 200m higher than the Andes railway in Peru. The Tibet railway, which cost around 3.3 billion Euros to build, is the highest railway in the world.

“I am travelling to Lhasa to work,” explains Xiao Wang. He had already worked on con-struction sites in Tibet during the summer of 2007. The economy in the highland is booming, the wages for migrant workers are better than in the inner-Chinese provinces. “All being well, I intend to settle down in Tibet,” he says. His wife and child, however, will stay behind in Sichuan for the time being.

The Great Chairman Mao Zedong had been the first to dream of a railway line to Tibet. In 1973, he had told the King of Nepal, "I won’t sleep until the railway line to Tibet is finished.” All attempts to lay tracks across the Himalayas, however, had failed due to the perpetual ice, which proved unsuitable as subsoil for the tracks.

Final destination: LhasaOur author Harald Maass, correspondent for the ”Frankfurter Rundschau“ in Beijing, took the train across the highest rail track in the world to Lhasa in Tibet, where light-ing tools from ERCO are used all around the new station.

The route leads through the grandiose scenery of the Tibetan highland. Prior to the construc-tion of the railway line, travellers had to choose between costly flying or many tedious days on the bus.

The train journey from Beijing to Lhasa takes approximately two days. Passengers while away the time by playing cards or sleeping, wherever they can find a spot.

The Tibet Express passes the snow-capped peaks at an altitude of 5000m; well worth a photo or two for the travellers. Meanwhile, the dining car is serving a Chinese-style breakfast.

It was not until three decades later that China’s engineers finally found a solution to the prob-lem and the plan became reality. In the summer of 2006, after five years of construction, China opened the Tibet railway line from Qinghai to Lhasa, which covers a total of 1142km. It is one of the most spectacular projects ever to have been tackled in railway history. The line goes through seven tunnels and across 286 bridges. During construction, thousands of workers withstood the thin air of the high moun-tains and its icy temperatures. Using a newly invented cooling system for the tracks solved the problem of the perpetually frosty ground, which tends to shift and undulate throughout the seasons. Pipes filled with ammonia, which were rammed several metres into the ground, ensure that the ground does not heat up and crack during the summer months.

The sun has almost disappeared behind the mountain peaks by the time the train reaches the plateau of Lhasa. Xiao Wang clears the set of cards away which he and his fellow compart-

ment occupants had played to pass away the time. He shoulders his big bag, which is made of denim and holds his belongings. Slowly the train rolls into Lhasa, the Tibetan-looking out-side walls of the new station bathed in bright light. Xiao Wang jumps onto the platform, breathes in the thin mountain air. For him, the journey to Tibet has only just begun.

Order is everything. For the Chinese state, the new railway line is a showpiece in every respect. Security, comfort and environmental pro-tection meet stringent requirements.


Final destination: Lhasa

Today, tourism is a key economic factor for Tibet, its development a clear guideline from Beijing. The streets, alleys and traditional restaurants, however, are still undeni-ably indicative of every-day life in Tibet.

Icons of the Tibetan cul-ture and the main visitor attraction in Lhasa – the Potala Palace. Today, this castle-like former seat of the Dalai Lama houses a museum and remains a destination for Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims.

The spacious area in front of the new sta-tion, its design featuring motifs found on tradi-tional Tibetan buildings, is structured to include steps. Axis walklights provide safe lighting for the stairs and are mainte-nance-free, long-lasting and energy-efficient thanks to LED technology.

LED orientation lumi-naires mark the paths and underline the architectural axis of the station forecourt.

Adjustable Tesis uplights with metal halide lamps illuminate the Chinese flag on its pole from different directions. The exceptional glare control of these recessed floor luminaires ensures high visual comfort, making this an inviting place to linger.

The atmosphere in the old part of Lhasa is domi-nated by a particularly special blend of spiritual-ity and commerce, of tradition and emerging tourism. Countless stores and travelling hawkers offer Buddhist devotional objects, ritual masks or habits.

Architect: China Architecture Design and Research Group, BeijingLighting designer: Beijing SIGN Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd.Photos: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong


The story of the Jinsha museum begins with a strange noise. In 2001, when construction workers were digging a new road on the out-skirts of the Chengdu metropolis, the bulldozer could suddenly be heard making an unusual scratching sound. The earth beneath held a number of hard items, which, on closer inspec-tion, turned out to be ancient objects, made of jade, bronze and gold. These were the rem-nants of a bygone culture, presumably of the more than 3000-year-old Jinsha kingdom in the mountains of Southwest China.

The construction workers, of course, did not know that, but they did realise that these soil-encrusted items must be of some value. They grabbed what they could and carted them away. But they were not to keep their treasures for long. When the authorities got wind of this lucky find and experts inspected the construc-tion site, it became clear that they had come upon an archaeological sensation. Within days, the police seized well over 100 finds which the construction workers had abstracted.

Jinsha Site MuseumThe mystery of the golden sand city

A futuristic museum building near Chengdu (Sichuan province) presents 3000-year-old archaeological finds on a site where ancient and modern China meet.

Within the museum, the walls serve as an information carrier, their natural stone cladding also being used as ele-ments of a representative architecture. Optimal lighting tools for vertical illuminance: Optec lens wallwashers for low-voltage halogen lamps, mounted on singlets.

The scenography of this museum involves an interesting and varied mixture of realistically staged dioramas and a classic presentation of exhibits. The objects are modelled using directed light to make them stand out from the darkness of the exhibition halls. Optec spotlights with different light distribu-tion patterns and types of lamp are mounted on suspended ERCO tracks.

The glass roof of the central rotunda is deco-rated with ornaments of the Jinsha culture, a delightful play of light and shadow and a popu-lar place for the obliga-tory souvenir photo.

The museum building rises like a wedge from the park-like layout of the archaeological site on the outskirts of Chengdu.

Architect: Pan Solution International Design Co., Ltd, BeijingPhotos: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong

www.jinshasitemuseum.com

Today, the site houses a museum. On grounds covering 300,000sqm, visitors can view the remnants of the city of ”Jinsha“, a name that translates as ”golden sand“. Many of the 6000 items excavated in 2001 are actually made of gold and jade. In addition, archaeologists unearthed tens of thousands of shards and pottery items. “The Chinese normally use gold for jewellery – earrings, bangles and necklaces etc. The people in Jinsha, however, used the gold for religious sacrificial ceremonies,” explained

Sun Hua, archaeologist at the University of Peking.

Experts suspect that the Jinsha people for ritual sacrifices once used the site. The items exhibited in the museum include a wafer-thin gold mask, barely 20 centimetres wide and elev-en centimetres high. For archaeologists like Sun, this is a highly unusual find since gold masks in olden days were not actually produced in China; they were prevalent predominantly in Egypt and in the Middle East. Even the many elephant tusks discovered in Jinsha have the researchers baffled. Zhu assumes that they were used as religious implements or offerings. A drawing on one of the golden vessels shows a kneeling man carrying an elephant tusk on his back. “We do not know to which god these elephant tusks were offered as a sacrifice or in which rituals they were used,“ says Zhu Zhangyi, Vice Curator of the museum. So far, no written records that might shed some light on the life of the Jinsha have been discovered.

To allow visitors to discover the world of the Jinsha, the museum is set up as a theme park. At its centre stands the exhibition hall, which looks like a gigantic, diagonally cut cylinder. The glass roof is decorated with ritual Jinsha sym-bols, their shadows slowly wandering across the round walls throughout the day. A huge park surrounds the exhibition hall. 389 million Yuan, around 38 million Euros, were invested by the government of the Sichuan province to have this museum built. Since its opening last sum-mer, the number of visitors has topped 100,000.

The excavations, however, are far from com-pleted. To date, scientists are still searching the area around the museum for relics in the hope of finding out more about this mysterious empire of the Jinsha. 2000 graves have already been uncovered, but bulldozers are no longer in use. To protect the fragile finds of gold and jade, archaeologists today are digging with shovels, and at times with their bare hands.

Harald Maass


Jinsha Site Museum

Chinese museum makers love dioramas, Chinese museum visitors love dig-ital cameras. Baudrillard and co. would be thrilled about this complex simu-lacrum, an image of an image of an image. The elaborately and care-fully detailed panorama representations are com-plemented by multimedia presentations.

The actual excava-tion sites are exposed underneath a glass floor, dramatically lit using Beamer spotlights mounted on the steel support structure.


Suzhou – whenever the Chinese say its name, it’s with a hint of awe and enchantment. Like no other place, this garden city located in the northwest of Shanghai is famous for its beauty. Since the time of the Ming dynasty, it is here that China’s rulers had the most magnificent gardens and buildings established. Suzhou’s elegance and face are proverbial to this day – “In heaven there is Paradise, on earth there are Suzhou and Hangzhou,“ goes a popular Chinese saying.

Building a museum in such a city would most certainly be a challenge to any architect. For the American star architect I.M. Pei, however, it was so much more as his family hails from Suzhou. An ancient aristocratic family who has lived here since the 15th century. As a child Pei spent many a summer with his grandparents in Suzhou, the former hub of the Chinese silk industry, before moving to the USA to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then onto Harvard. While Pei celebrated worldwide success as one of the great architects of the 20th century, he never forgot the memories of Suzhou and his homeland in China.

In 1974, Pei travelled with a group of American architects to the People’s Republic, his first visit to China for four decades. In those days China and the USA did not maintain diplomatic relations. In the following years Pei would travel many more times to his old home country. Invited by the Chinese government, he designed a hotel at the foot of the Fragrant Hills near Peking. In 1990, the Bank of China

Gardens of Heaven: The Suzhou Historic Museum

The museum collection includes ancient ceramics and jade objects as well as calligraphies and old paintings. The vase below, for example, dates back to the time of Emperor Yongzheng from the Qing dynasty, who reigned from 17231735.

Geometrically shaped window openings that direct and frame the view from the building onto the gardens are a traditional element in Chinese architecture – here reinterpreted in the work of I.M. Pei.

A showpiece of the collection: “Tianheng and the 500 rebels" – a painting by the Chinese master, Xu Beihong (18951953). As one of the first painters, Xu applied European painting techniques to Chinese art. Today, his works fetch prices of up to 18 million Yuan (around 1.8 million Euros) and so are highly protected.

Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners / I.M. Pei, New YorkLighting design: Fisher Marantz Stone, New York Photos: Michael Wolf, Hong Kong

www.szmuseum.com

Tower in Hong Kong, another one of his works, was completed and was then the highest skyscraper in the world. Today it is still a milestone in modern architecture.

It was to be another decade before Pei could realise his dream and implement a project in Suzhou. So the new Suzhou Museum came into being with 15,000sqm of exhibition space and building costs in excess of 40 million dollars. This is one of the most costly and interesting cultural buildings in China.

“I have never achieved anything like this before,“ Pei said recently in an interview. The Suzhou Museum is an avantgarde yet traditional building consisting of white and grey cubes that gives the appearance of stacked boxes. “I used grey and white as the traditional colours of Suzhou. The form though is modern,“ explained Pei. A long development process preceded the design. Local government officials had made it a condition that the new museum should meet both the requirements of modern architecture and harmonise with the style of Suzhou. “How exactly this was to be achieved though, no one really knew,” said Pei.

He decided on a compromise, dispensed with the classic grey roof tiles and instead, integrated grey stones into the whitewashed walls. “I needed something that would create volume,“ said Pei and consequently designed the walls rising in steps up towards the roof. The architecture also integrates numerous ponds, stone bridges and gardens. “In the West, a building is a building and a garden, a garden,“ so Pei – in China, both went together.

For the opening of the building, the architect invited 100 of his best friends and members of his family to Suzhou. “My grandfather used to have a house and a garden here,“ said Pei. Today, two of the gardens of Suzhou are a world heritage site of the United Nations. Many historical canals and buildings have been destroyed in the building boom over the past years but the government has now finally set about preserving Suzhou as an historical garden city. For Pei, the museum is a kind of return to his roots but does not mark the end of his work: “There are always new challenges ahead in life,“ remarked the 90yearold genius.

Harald Maass


Backlights

Moving images in the Light ScoutExplanatory films and animations are the optimal communication medium for scenographic lighting tools that introduce design dimensions such as time or movement to lighting design. Consequently, ERCO increasingly uses short tutorial films to demonstrate complex issues. The general availability of broadband Internet access has revolutionised the provision and distribution of film clips to ensure a simple process. All ERCO tutorial films available to date are now combined in the Download section of the Light Scout and available as a podcast via iTunes.

www.erco.com/film

German Design Award 2008 for ERCOOn 8 February 2008, ERCO was presented with the ”Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany 2008“ in Silver for its Grasshopper projector. The reception for the vernissage proved to be a gathering of personalities from the design scene. The exhibition of the 25 award winners within the scope of the ”Ambiente“ trade fair met with great interest. The speech in honour of Manfred Lamy, who received the Celebrity Design Award for 2008 in recognition of his life’s work, was given by Klaus J. Maack, ERCO’s Managing Director of many years’ standing.

www.designpreis.de

EuroShop 2008, DüsseldorfERCO once again stood out at the key trade fair for the international business and trading community. In new, ideal conditions for suppliers of lighting equipment due to a separate hall, ERCO presented itself from 23 – 27 February 2008 with target group oriented and innovative products, including Cantax and Emanon as a new spotlight series and the recessed ceiling luminaires Compar and Compact HIT. In typical fashion, ERCO’s open and informatively designed stand clearly stood out from the mass of exhibitors. The number and quality of contacts exceeded all expectations.

www.euroshop.de

Scenographic light with Light System DALI (top) or dynamic effects with the Emanon Goborotator (left): two examples of innovations that are optimally introduced using film and animation.

Left: Henk Kosche (1st from left) and Alois Dworschak (3rd from left) received the award on behalf of the ERCO design team, presented by Andrej Kupetz (German Design Council, 2nd from left) and Roland Heiler (Porsche Design, 4th from left).

ERCO’s trade fair con cept of presenting new products as a ”hands on experience“ while providing background information on text boards and displays has once again proved successful in Düsseldorf. A new feature this year: screens and handsets additionally played the ERCO tutorial films.

A clear eyecatcher at the stand was the abstracted interpretation of the shop window theme. Objects and areas, light, movement and colour, all controlled and integrated using Light System DALI.

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

TEDA Monument, TianjinTEDA as an abbreviation stands for "Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area“. Founded in 1984, this area at the fringes of the harbour town of Tianjin was one of the first special economic zones in China. Designed by Isozaki, this monument made of curved stainless steel shells was set up in 2004 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the TEDA. Working closely with ERCO Japan, Isozaki developed the lighting concept to include Tesis uplights and Beamer spotlights.

(Design: Arata Isozaki & Associates, Tokyo)

revista erco lb85 (english)

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