Renzo Piano has given a significant piece of the urban fabric back to the city by building the new headquarters of Bank Popolare di Lodi on a large disused industrial area near the railway station.
The lighting design was articulated on several levels: from the urban scale with the street lighting of Via Anelli, the external car park and the pedestrian areas, to the dimension of the working environments, open spaces and executive offices, up to the scenographic area with the lighting of the auditorium. The auditorium is a cylindrical building connected to the main complex by a glass tensile structure that defines the large covered pedestrian plaza. Here, the architectural lighting must allow the colours to be seen as faithfully as possible in order to favour the pleasure of meetings, appreciate the elegance of both the place and the people in the party; furthermore, the need to signal the events in the hall by varying the intensity of the light could not be ignored. Halogen sources with dichroic reflectors were used to illuminate the foyer, the cafeteria, the distribution areas and the public areas; the radial arrangement of the luminaires with an internal display in frosted glass guarantees the uniform distribution of illumination levels due to the superimposition of light beams on both horizontal and vertical surfaces without creating glare or marked shadows. The hall was conceived as a large musical instrument: curved terracotta panels and suspended forms work together to reflect sound back to the audience. Theatre-type projectors were used, for indirect lighting, arranged in a crown around the perimeter of the hall. The pointing of beams of different widths highlights, with chiaroscuro and marked shadows, the superimposition of the suspended volumes. An automated lighting and intensity management system makes it possible to select the most suitable lighting scenario from a range of predefined lighting scenarios, depending on the variety of activities and visual tasks.
The lighting consultancy for Branciforte Palace in Palermo, the Ex-Arsenal in Metz, France, Altieri Palace in Rome, includes other auditoriums.
Project:
Lighting Design Piero Castiglioni
Collaborations:
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Photo Courtesy:
iGuzzini Lighting
Year:
2001
