vicenza light fest

2014
vicenza

Vicenza light fest is an experimental project of urban lighting, conceived by traverso–vighy, placed within the Palladian city’s historic centre between December 6, 2013 and January 7, 2014.

The project, briefed by the municipal administration, was targeted to enhance the monumental heritage, the waterways and the urban spaces of the city for cultural and tourist attraction.

The design concept has been applied on three different levels: infrastructure, installations and visual axes.

infrastructure

an alteration to the public lighting system has characterized the main urban axes leading to the installations; the light from the historic sodium streetlights was filtered by special films for glare control and lighting levels reduction to emphasise the programmed light interventions and the shop windows, specially lit for Christmas.

visual axes

particular emphasis was given to the street focal points: towers, palaces and gateways to the city, where the lighting of the vertical surfaces were key elements of the urban installation.

installations

the project was aimed at rediscovering the “invisible” places, spaces of value away from the normal trade flows in the town center.

Palladio’s Basilica, the central element of the visual axes of the city, was animated by a dynamic installation of lights and sounds (developed by Andrea Cera IRCAM). The inner surfaces of the Basilica’s arches, generally untouched by sunlight, are brought to the focus of the visitor.

The Basilica became a key element of the axes that converge to the system of the squares. The central walkway through the basilica placed on the city decuman, features a suspended lit art installation developed by students as part of the lighting course through the School of Architecture, University of Florida.

Another objective of the project was the appreciation of the city rivers. Special lighting installations have emphasized the presence of the waterways Bacchiglione and Retrone at St. Paul’s Bridge, St. Michael’s Bridge and Ponte Pusterla, where the presence of the rivers has been displayed through the reflections on the waterfront buildings and through the illumination of green space alongside.

The city squares located near to the main entrances of the historic walls were the subject of special lighting installations, such as the lighting of the Piazza e Porta Castello and the lighting of the gardens of Piazza Matteotti and Chiericati Palace (A. Palladio 1550). The porticoes of the building were enhanced by indirect white lighting, while the front garden is illuminated by a sequence of skeletal light columns, which are similar to the proportions of the Doric Palladian mansion.

Finally, the project concerns Viale Milano, a road leading from the railway station. A sequence of pressostatic spheres illuminates the verticality of the buildings of the ’60s, highlighting a place of today’s multi-ethnic and multi-cultural comparison.

client

Comune di Vicenza

design team

G. Traverso, P. Vighy
L. Angelini, G. Dalla Gassa, E. Panza

photo credits

Alessandra Chemollo  1-2-5-7-8-10-13
Dario Rigoni  9-11
Alberto Sinigaglia  3-4-6-12-14-15