One of architect Piero Castiglioni’s first projects as a lighting designer was the Centre Georges Pompidou. The building reflects the concept imposed by the competition, which wanted to host culture in a less institutional and traditional way. A space dedicated to figurative arts, music, industrial design and reading as an active instrument of an urban and social function. The building was designed by Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Gianfranco Franchini. Inaugurated in 1977, the Georges Pompidou Centre has always had the aim of being a great “information machine”; the desire to guarantee total flexibility with temporary set-ups to host highly diversified cultural activities actually proved to be an illusion. Eight years after its opening, the fourth floor houses a new exhibition space, completely redesigned by Gae Aulenti: the variations in shape and size of the space reflect the variety of works on display. A longitudinal gallery, parallel to the west façade, gives back the overall length of the building and becomes the backbone of the museographic space: a privileged axis of circulation along which the exhibition units composed of galleries and rooms of various sizes open up. Galleries with niches, showcases and bases for sculptures, drawings and paintings are the transversal paths axial to the main beams, delimiting the depth of the floor and making the structural modulation intelligible. Lighting design in museums is “infinite”. Examples include the lighting design of the Malba in Buenos Aires, the MUSE in Trento, etc.
Project:
Lighting Design Piero Castiglioni
Collaborations:
Gae Aulenti Associated
Photo Courtesy:
Piero Castiglioni
Year:
1985
Other Projects
Orsay Museum where architecture became a big lighting device, the reflections of light bulbs with walls and ceilings create a uniform light without shadows. Groups of projectors in Grassi Palace recall a small football field. Here was born a new type of lighting device. Reflector lamps and articulated support gives life at the "Cestello". Spasa na Krovi is a perfection of Mantova project. Light beams aggregation allow the device size reduction and the dispersion light control.
