CHANGZHOU CULTURE PLAZA

Apr 18, 2023

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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ZUHAI CITY MUSEUM

Apr 17, 2023

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ZUHAI CITY MUSEUM

Zhuhai, China
Artificial Lighting

Client: HUAFA Group
Architect: gmp International
Completion year: 2020
Images: CreatAR

The design of the Zuhai City Museum comprises a vertical and a horizontal tract. Together, they combine to form a sculptural ensemble. This contrasting duality reflects both the local situation between the mountains and the coast as well as the museum program – the exhibition areas provide visitors with a view into the past and the future of the city. The architects of gmp synchronise both these aspects to create a uniform architectural gesture.
Visitors enter the museum from the coastal road via the foyer in the linking part between the two tracts. The horizontal part of the building to the south facing the mountains exhibits, on two exhibition levels, the history of the city’s development in this traditional coastal region at the Pearl River Delta. In the exhibition area dedicated to the planning of the town, visitors are guided upwards along a spiral gangway to explore the cascading sequence of stacked exhibition rooms.

The design of the Zuhai City Museum comprises a vertical and a horizontal tract. Together, they combine to form a sculptural ensemble. This contrasting duality reflects both the local situation between the mountains and the coast as well as the museum program – the exhibition areas provide visitors with a view into the past and the future of the city. The architects of gmp synchronise both these aspects to create a uniform architectural gesture.

Visitors enter the museum from the coastal road via the foyer in the linking part between the two tracts. The horizontal part of the building to the south facing the mountains exhibits, on two exhibition levels, the history of the city’s development in this traditional coastal region at the Pearl River Delta. In the exhibition area dedicated to the planning of the town, visitors are guided upwards along a spiral gangway to explore the cascading sequence of stacked exhibition rooms.

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BAUHAUS MUSEUM WEIMAR

Apr 16, 2023

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BAUHAUS MUSEUM WEIMAR

Weimar, Germany 
Artificial Lighting

Client: Bauhaus Museum Weimar
Interior Design: Holzer Kobler Architekturen
Completion year: 2019
Images: Radeck Brunecky

This three-storey museum holds the oldest and most unique Bauhaus collection in the world. Over the course of three storeys, this museum takes visitors on a historical journey from the origins of Bauhaus to the present day. The museum emphasizes the cultural heritage of the Bauhaus school and its impact on the present day. The exhibition lighting in this museum has tracks integrated into the ceiling, following its form, and highlights the pieces in the exhibitions with adjustable track heads. This creates a flexible space that can accent different important pieces in various different exhibits over time. The rooms for a sequence of unique and scenic lighting atmospheres.

a view of an exhibition room in the bauhaus museum in weimar. In the foreground is a table with drawings and other paper on it, protected by glass. Behind those, glass exhibition boxes with architectural models of buildings. The room is white with beams across the ceiling. In these beams are tracks with spot track heads in them, aimed at the various pieces being exhibited.

This three-storey museum holds the oldest and most unique Bauhaus collection in the world. Over the course of three storeys, this museum takes visitors on a historical journey from the origins of Bauhaus to the present day. The museum emphasizes the cultural heritage of the Bauhaus school and its impact on the present day. The exhibition lighting in this museum has tracks integrated into the ceiling, following its form, and highlights the pieces in the exhibitions with adjustable track heads. This creates a flexible space that can accent different important pieces in various different exhibits over time. The rooms for a sequence of unique and scenic lighting atmospheres.

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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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BAUHAUS MUSEUM DESSAU

Apr 16, 2023

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BAUHAUS MUSEUM DESSAU

Dessau, Germany
Artificial Lighting

Client: Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau 
Architect: addenda architects
Completion year: 2019 
Images: Zumtobel, Faruk Pinjo 

The lighting design creates a serial, industrial, flexible linear basic structure in the area of the ceiling with a classic lighting strip system, which allows for intake of a wide variety of lighting components as well as electrical components. The minimization of the stylistic devices of lighting technology puts emphasis on the space and forms the stage for the manifold use of the newly created Bauhaus space. The general light works with the democratic-diffused light. The exhibition design in the collection area works in the staged light-directed light.

The ground floor with the temporary exhibition aims at opening up technically and spatially. The staging of art gives the viewer space to classify the object in a local context. The visual relationship with the city and the park is integrated into the presentation. The Bauhaus is not just building and art history but is calibrated in the now.

LIT Awards 2021: Honorable Mention

The lighting design creates a serial, industrial, flexible linear basic structure in the area of the ceiling with a classic lighting strip system, which allows for intake of a wide variety of lighting components as well as electrical components. The minimization of the stylistic devices of lighting technology puts emphasis on the space and forms the stage for the manifold use of the newly created Bauhaus space. The general light works with the democratic-diffused light. The exhibition design in the collection area works in the staged light-directed light.

The ground floor with the temporary exhibition aims at opening up technically and spatially. The staging of art gives the viewer space to classify the object in a local context. The visual relationship with the city and the park is integrated into the presentation. The Bauhaus is not just building and art history but is calibrated in the now.

LIT Awards 2021: Honorable Mention

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