HUMBOLDT FORUM

Aug 17, 2023

HUMBOLDT FORUM

Berlin, Germany
Daylight & Artificial Lighting

Architect: Franco Stella Projektgemeinschaft
Completion year: 2021
Images: Florian Selig

The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is regarded as Germany’s most significant cultural construction project in the coming decades. With the collection of the “Staatliche Museen zu Berlin” (SMB) moving from Berlin-Dahlem, the building’s main part will function as a museum. The lighting design for museums, particularly the daylight illumination in this historical context, has been adapted to meet today’s strict conservation requirements and structural demands. This involved extensive studies on glazing, solar arrangements, and glare protection systems. The art is primarily staged through lighting emitters that ensure minimal energy entry, aligning with modern conservation standards.

LIT Awards 2023: Winner in Interior Architectural Illumination
LIT Awards 2023: Winner in Exterior Architectural Illumination

Evening view of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, illuminated against a blue sky, with the Berlin Cathedral and TV Tower in the background and a snow-dusted circular plaza in the foreground

Interior courtyard of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, with illuminated classical architecture against a deep blue evening sky

Entrance area, featuring modern architectural design with large glass doors, sleek pillars, and illuminated directional signage.

Exhibition hall in the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, featuring a row of classical statues on pedestals, illuminated by recessed ceiling lights

Exhibition space at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, showcasing illuminated archaeological ruins and historical artifacts with modern lighting elements

Exhibition space, featuring angled stone structures and display cases with illuminated artifacts, under a softly lit ceiling

Vast interior hall of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, featuring a grand neoclassical entrance with statues and a glass ceiling allowing natural light to illuminate the space

Grand architectural entrance of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, featuring illuminated vaulted ceilings and classical columns leading to the inner courtyard

Sunrise view of the dome of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, with reflective glass panels on the rooftop and the city skyline in the background

The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is regarded as Germany’s most significant cultural construction project in the coming decades. With the collection of the “Staatliche Museen zu Berlin” (SMB) moving from Berlin-Dahlem, the building’s main part will function as a museum. The lighting design for museums, particularly the daylight illumination in this historical context, has been adapted to meet today’s strict conservation requirements and structural demands. This involved extensive studies on glazing, solar arrangements, and glare protection systems. The art is primarily staged through lighting emitters that ensure minimal energy entry, aligning with modern conservation standards.

LIT Awards 2023: Winner in Interior Architectural Illumination
LIT Awards 2023: Winner in Exterior Architectural Illumination

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COVESTRO HEADQUARTERS

Aug 17, 2023

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COVESTRO HEADQUARTERS

Leverkusen, Germany
Artificial Lighting

Client: Covestro
Architect: HENN
Interior Designer: Kinzo
Completion year: 2021
Images: Covestro

The Covestro headquarters form the core of the new corporate campus. The open floor plan enables flexible collaborative work. For this purpose, Kinzo designed colourful and inviting spaces. Lounge areas surround the work areas for over 700 employees. The central air space with a big skylight is the architectural focal point.
The surrounding light lines accentuate the geometric shape of the air space. Downlights illuminate the circulation areas and combine the colourful theme worlds of Kinzo with their own decorative lighting solutions. The entire lighting design was created as a BIM process with visualization and collision checking, quantity and cost determination and the creation of plan sets.

LIT Awards 2023: Honorable Mention

The Covestro headquarters form the core of the new corporate campus. The open floor plan enables flexible collaborative work. For this purpose, Kinzo designed colourful and inviting spaces. Lounge areas surround the work areas for over 700 employees. The central air space with a big skylight is the architectural focal point.
The surrounding light lines accentuate the geometric shape of the air space. Downlights illuminate the circulation areas and combine the colourful theme worlds of Kinzo with their own decorative lighting solutions. The entire lighting design was created as a BIM process with visualization and collision checking, quantity and cost determination and the creation of plan sets.

LIT Awards 2023: Honorable Mention

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GARDEN CONSERVATORY

Aug 17, 2023

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GARDEN CONSERVATORY

Seoul, South Korea
Artificial Lighting

Client: Hyundai Department Store
Architect: Casper Mueller Kneer
Completion year: 2021
Images: Roh Space

The architects designed this indoor garden room on the top floor of the Hyundai Mokdong Department Store as a contemporary interpretation of the traditional green house, extending the external roof garden into the indoors. It is a space without fixed programme inviting customers and local residents to relax while bearing flexibility for potential future events. A series of green islands with lush planting are scattered around the space providing a calming and immersive experience. The feeling of sitting inside a greenhouse is enhanced by the back-lit pitched roof. Light levels and light quality for the green islands were carefully considered and selected to apply a biophilic design idea with additional focused plant-friendly LED lights above the planting.

LIT Award 2021: Winner in Horticultural Lighting

The architects designed this indoor garden room on the top floor of the Hyundai Mokdong Department Store as a contemporary interpretation of the traditional green house, extending the external roof garden into the indoors. It is a space without fixed programme inviting customers and local residents to relax while bearing flexibility for potential future events. A series of green islands with lush planting are scattered around the space providing a calming and immersive experience. The feeling of sitting inside a greenhouse is enhanced by the back-lit pitched roof. Light levels and light quality for the green islands were carefully considered and selected to apply a biophilic design idea with additional focused plant-friendly LED lights above the planting.

LIT Award 2021: Winner in Horticultural Lighting

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CHANGZHOU CULTURE PLAZA

Apr 18, 2023

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CHANGZHOU CULTURE PLAZA

Changzhou, China
Exterior & Landscape Lighting

Client: Changzhou Jinling Investment and
Construction Co., Ltd.
Architect: gmp International
Landscape architect: WES
Completion year: 2020
Images: Schran images

The Changzhou Culture Plaza comprises various museums, a library and service facilities. In addition, numerous shops and restaurants in the on the lower level are directly connected to the cultural spaces above. The six pavilions cantilever in large arcs and open upon covered public space on the ground floor. A water course running diagonally through the site links all the modules and acts as a source of natural lighting for the basement facilities.

The pavilions’ functions vary significantly but they form a visual whole from the outside. This is underlined by the façade lighting realized from high poles surrounding the complex. Along the riverside promenade the lighting of the water features as well as of trees, sculptures, benches and handrails aims for a high-level integration. General lighting of streets and pedestrian areas is implemented with poles again, emphasizing spatial axes with higher poles and entrance areas with lower ones.

LIT Awards 2021: Winners in Exterior Architectural Illumination
IES Illumination Awards 2021: Merit Award
FX Award 2021: shortlisted

Front view of the Changzhou Culture Plaza at night, with striking linear façade lighting that emphasizes the building's symmetrical, geometric design

Night view of the Changzhou Culture Plaza, featuring illuminated geometric architecture with lit pathways and a modern water feature

Night view, featuring striking horizontal façade lighting that highlights the building's unique geometric design, reflected in the nearby water

erial view of the Changzhou Culture Plaza at dusk, showcasing its illuminated geometric design and surrounding public spaces

The Changzhou Culture Plaza comprises various museums, a library and service facilities. In addition, numerous shops and restaurants in the on the lower level are directly connected to the cultural spaces above. The six pavilions cantilever in large arcs and open upon covered public space on the ground floor. A water course running diagonally through the site links all the modules and acts as a source of natural lighting for the basement facilities.

The pavilions’ functions vary significantly but they form a visual whole from the outside. This is underlined by the façade lighting realized from high poles surrounding the complex. Along the riverside promenade the lighting of the water features as well as of trees, sculptures, benches and handrails aims for a high-level integration. General lighting of streets and pedestrian areas is implemented with poles again, emphasizing spatial axes with higher poles and entrance areas with lower ones.

LIT Awards 2021: Winners in Exterior Architectural Illumination
IES Illumination Awards 2021: Merit Award
FX Award 2021: shortlisted

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BEETHOVEN HOUSE, BONN

Apr 16, 2023

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BEETHOVEN HOUSE

Bonn, Germany 
Artificial Lighting

Client: Beethoven-Haus Bonn
Architect: Holzer Kobler Architekturen
Completion year: 2019
Images: David Ertl

The Beethoven House in Bonn is the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven in the city center. For the 250th anniversary, the permanent exhibition was reorganized and redesigned. The planning team, consisting of architecture, exhibition design, graphic design, media installations, and lighting design, was selected through a selection process with a holistic approach and implemented the redesign.

The design idea was to perceive the museum as a private house – the house as part of the exhibition and the stories being told. Daylight is reduced using screens, maintaining the view to the outside and anchoring the exhibition in the present. The lighting situation should not be documentary and sober, but rather the room light should complement the exhibition light, creating light islands and zones; making the private visible in the public. The display case lighting system is transferred into room lighting. The fine line in the visible area minimizes the technology and connects room, picture, and graphic lighting.

German Lighting Design Award 2022: shortlisted

The Beethoven House in Bonn is the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven in the city center. For the 250th anniversary, the permanent exhibition was reorganized and redesigned. The planning team, consisting of architecture, exhibition design, graphic design, media installations, and lighting design, was selected through a selection process with a holistic approach and implemented the redesign.

The design idea was to perceive the museum as a private house – the house as part of the exhibition and the stories being told. Daylight is reduced using screens, maintaining the view to the outside and anchoring the exhibition in the present. The lighting situation should not be documentary and sober, but rather the room light should complement the exhibition light, creating light islands and zones; making the private visible in the public. The display case lighting system is transferred into room lighting. The fine line in the visible area minimizes the technology and connects room, picture, and graphic lighting.

German Lighting Design Award 2022: shortlisted

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