Lighting art at EYE, the new Amsterdam film museum

Unique ambience thanks to Starbrick, a Zumtobel Masterpiece

On 4 April, the EYE Film Institute Netherlands was opened – after having been relocated to a brand-new and above all larger building – in an inauguration ceremony attended by Queen Beatrix. The futuristic building has included 92 Starbricks, a work by artist Olafur Eliasson. Starbrick is part of Zumtobel's Masterpiece collection – works of lighting art developed by the luminaire manufacturer in collaboration with renowned architects, designers and artists.


Since 5 April, EYE, the only museum in the Netherlands that is exclusively dedicated to film and the moving image, has been located at its new home directly on the waterfront along the homonymous river IJ, right across Centraal Station. Owing to its exposed position, it is visible from afar. The gleaming white shell that covers its angular structure makes the building stand out from the cityscape like no other, also thanks to the dynamic design language used by the Vienna-based architectural studio of Delugan Meissl Associated Architects in charge of the building project. The architects started from the assumption that film is an illusion based on moving lights. This principle was translated into architecture, so that the building itself has become a kind of screen in its own right, showing a film the protagonists of which are the light, the city and the landscape of Amsterdam. Architect Roman Delugan sums up: “What we wanted to achieve was for the EYE museum to change its spatial appearance depending on the viewer's perspective and position. Like a mobile camera, ever new perspectives will open up to visitors as they pass through the building.”

Another special feature of the building is the arena covering 1,200 square metres that welcomes visitors who enter the futuristic building. Predominantly lined with wooden panelling and fitted with high-quality oak parquet flooring, the arena boasts an open, warm and pleasant atmosphere as well as a direct view across the river and the city. Visitors are welcomed by a pleasant ambience inviting them to stay for a while in the coffee bar, restaurant or bar to get in the mood for the show. Usually, it doesn't take long before the many seat cushions placed on the terraced stairs are occupied, where guests can enjoy a wonderful view of Amsterdam. “The spatial centerpiece of the building, the “arena”, invites visitors of the museum to stay for a while. The room's unique geometry promotes social interaction to a great extent”, Roman Delugan points out. The Starbrick installation contributes significantly to this effect. Starbrick is a Zumtobel Masterpiece, a collection of exclusive works of lighting art which the luminaire manufacturer has developed together with renowned partners. The highly versatile lighting module was made by artist Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with Zumtobel. “The Starbrick is a space-generating lighting module. Developing it together with Zumtobel we were able to create it for everyday use and living. I’m very excited to see it integrated into a public institution. The expandable system behind the geometric design enables the Starbricks to grow in all directions. For the new EYE museum foyer, the bricks form luminous cloud-like structures that conjure up the atmosphere of a cinema – stars for the stars”, explains artist Olafur Eliasson.

The basic structure of the Starbrick is a cube, on whose six surfaces additional cubes have been placed at an angle of 45°. Starbricks can be assembled to form groups of any size. Clusters consisting of one, two, four and even as much as seven modules were used at EYE. By joining these modules, floating sculptures were created for the arena that combine architecture, light and art in a unique way.

A total of 92 Starbricks – installed in 21 clusters of various configurations – seem to float in the arena, illuminating the room with exceptional light, especially at dusk and in the night. The Starbrick LEDs are arranged so as to emit white light. At the same time, they also create a luminous yellow and kaleidoscopic core in the shape of a cubeoctahedron. The Starbricks can be separately controlled via the central building management system. Thanks to the LEDs' dimming function, the museum is able to make use of a variety of light settings, either functional direct lighting, or indirect ambient lighting, or a combination of both.

Thus, movie buffs can now enjoy the largest film collection in the Netherlands in a building that has almost become a staging project in its own right. A total of 40,000 films are stored there – from the first silent movies dating back to the late 19th century to contemporary digital productions. In addition to its four cinema halls, the museum is provided with a spacious exhibition area and a variety of interactive sections for children and adults. Moreover, the museum organises open-air screenings, festivals and special children's showings.


   
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Das Zumtobel Kundenmagazin ist erstmals auch als App verfügbar

Die Frühjahrsausgabe des Zumtobel Kundenmagazins lightlife ist ab sofort in fünf Sprachen verfügbar. Zumtobel hat das Magazin für die siebte Ausgabe sowohl inhaltlich als auch gestalterisch überarbeitet.

Weniger Informationen „Urbane Lebensräume“ ist das Thema der neuesten Ausgabe des Zumtobel Kundenmagazins, das auf Deutsch, Englisch, Italienisch, Französisch und Niederländisch verfügbar ist. Das Heft greift verschiedene Perspektiven auf, die Stadt als Herausforderung zu begreifen. In einem Porträt des Architekturbüros WOHA aus Singapur wird beispielsweise gezeigt, wie Gebäude selbst in einer Großstadt zur Landschaft werden können.

Chris Luebkeman von Arup spricht im Interview über die Zukunft der Stadt, an der alle Menschen mitschreiben. Daneben beschreiben zahlreiche internationale Architekturprojekte die Möglichkeiten, urbane Lebensräume zukunftsweisend zu gestalten:

• Die Fotostrecke des Harpa Konzertgebäudes in Reykjavik, Island
• Die Erweiterung des Städel Museums in Frankfurt
• Der Neubau von Salewa in Bozen
• Das Einkaufscenter Galleria Centercity in Cheonan Südkorea
• sowie zahlreiche Kurzprojekte aus der ganzen Welt

Schließlich leitet das Interview mit Thomas Schmölz, Leiter der Zumtobel Produktentwicklung, den Blick auf die technologische Seite und wie die zukünftigen Anforderungen und Bedürfnisse urbaner Lebensräume in die Produktentwicklung einfließen. Das zeigen nicht zuletzt auch die sich dem Heft anschließenden Produkt-Highlights des Frühjahrs 2012.

Erstmals gibt es das lightlife in Deutsch und Englisch als kostenlose iPad-App.
   
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Space/lighting installations on the subject of “City & Nature”

Within the scope of international collaboration, students designed lighting installations for the publicly acclaimed festival “Fête des Lumières” in Lyon.

Each year, up to 3.5 million visitors come to see the Fête des Lumières in Lyon. This Festival of Lights dates back to a custom started in the year 1643. On 8 December each year, the city's inhabitants light candles on their window sills to honour the Virgin Mary.

In 2011, the Festival of Lights organised by the City of Lyon was held from 8 to 11 December. Renowned lighting designers and artists made the city shine anew in a variety of ways. Students from the Berlin University of Technology were also among the participants and, together with fellow-students from I.A.E. Université Lyon, created five space/lighting installations on the subject of “City & Nature”. In five empty stores, the installations “Crime Scene”, “Lonely Heart Club”, “The Miracle Machine”, “Nestinginstinct” and “Once upon a time there was a tobaccoshop” were implemented. The international collaboration of students was sponsored by Zumtobel.

   
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Zumtobel illuminates Zaha Hadid exhibition The architect's oeuvre on display in Mobile Art Pavilion

Zumtobel sets the lighting stage for the Zaha Hadid exhibition in Paris that is showcased in a pavilion designed by the architect herself.

he exhibition “Zaha Hadid, une architecture” is currently on display inside the breathtaking structure of the Mobile Art Pavilion in Paris. Thus, the exhibition shown inside the mobile structure is dedicated to the oeuvre of the very architect who designed it.

In 2007, the pavilion, which was already on display in Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York, had been designed by Zaha Hadid for the CHANEL fashion brand. Now CHANEL donated the structure boasting a formal language of continuous fluidity to the Institut du Monde Arabe. In future, the pavilion set up in front of the Institut will be used to host exhibitions by talented artists from Arab countries.

The current exhibition of the Pritzker award winning architect will be on show until autumn. “Zaha Hadid, une architecture” displays a variety of projects and research agendas covered by Zaha Hadid Architects in the past years. Zumtobel has designed and provided a lighting solution matching the pavilion's organic look.

The colour temperature of the DALI-controllable ARCOS LED spotlights installed by Zumtobel can be continuously adjusted within the range between 2700 K and 6500 K, which ensures sophisticated accent lighting of the exhibits.

The lighting concept, which is focussed on individual points emphasising the special qualities of the pavilion's architectural structure, is enhanced by minimalist SUPERSYSTEM LED spots.


   
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Seeing the world with different eyes

Übersee-Museum Bremen uses LED technology to illuminate new permanent exhibition

Creating an atmosphere, providing accents, setting the stage: by providing an advanced LED lighting solution, Zumtobel has helped to present the new permanent exhibition at the Übersee-Museum [Overseas Museum] in Bremen to optimum effect. In the process, mainly the Arcos spotlight range developed especially for museums has been used: thanks to its clear design, cylindrical unit and large variety of optics available, Arcos provides perfect lighting conditions in exhibition areas and galleries. High lighting quality, low energy consumption and little maintenance effort are crucial for museums. The Arcos spotlight range by Zumtobel incorporates state-of-the-art LED technology to meet all these requirements. The museum’s management is excited about the new lighting system: “We are impressed not only by the energy saving effects of Arcos but also by its versatile range of applications. The system enables us to create accents, illuminate surface areas, and to dim the lighting according to the sensitivity of the items displayed. This lighting versatility is fantastic for a museum”, explains Prof. Dr. Wiebke Ahrndt, head curator of the Übersee-Museum Bremen.

The Übersee-Museum is one of Germany’s most frequently visited museums. Its collections on natural history, ethnology and trade are housed in one building. “Experiencing what affects the world” is the title of the new permanent exhibition covering a whole floor of the museum, a total of 1200 square metres. Provided with lots of excitement and education, visitors can walk through the exhibition on seven “paths”, discovering global phenomena and the way they are related. The subjects dealt with are communication, global economy, climate change, sex & gender, migration, time, and human rights. For transferring knowledge in a varied manner, the exhibition not only uses a variety of illustrations but also impressive exhibits and realistic models. Numerous hands-on stations invite visitors to get involved into research, allowing them to call their own role and cultural perspective within the global context into question.

In order to make the seven subject areas tangible for visitors, the team of the MUSEUMSREIF! agency has created a proper setting, using plenty of space and a good sense of edutainment. “We see ourselves as people translating exhibition subjects into three-dimensional settings”, explains the innovative agency, which is specialised on museum, exhibition, information, education and edutainment concepts. “According to the museum’s specifications, and using only creative design means, we also sought to develop a “central museum area” within the rigid architecture, which is to leave an imprint, yet without creating isolation or irritation”, explains Jörg Werner of MUSEUMSREIF!.

This idea of integration is enhanced by Zumtobel’s lighting concept, consistently using the Arcos spotlight range. The LED spotlights with various beam angles from spot to flood, and colour temperatures of 3000 K or 4000 K, have all been installed on tracks. In this way, the light is used selectively – providing diffuse light here and focused light there, either in warm white or intermediate white –, thus creating a vivid atmosphere in the room. The luminaire themselves always stay in the background, perfectly matched to the white ceiling. The high-quality lens technology of the LED module provides for uniform, soft light distribution. As the light provided is IR/UV-free, the exhibits can be illuminated gently at high colour rendering quality of Ra > 90. Explains lighting designer Andreas Witt of Enjoy Witt & Roggenkamp: “Whenever contemporary lighting solutions are needed, LED technology has already become firmly established for us lighting designers in the art and culture scene on account of its energy saving potential, lighting quality and long service life. The option of colour temperature selection in particular, the excellent lighting quality as well as the slim-line design of Arcos were decisive criteria for us to use this spotlight range by Zumtobel to illuminate the permanent exhibition.”

In the subject area of Communication, display cases in the form of speech balloons are used to impart knowledge. Painted in bright yellow, the individual stations provide a short overview of the peculiarities of human and animal communication. Micros LED downlights installed flush in the ceiling provide adequate illumination. Compact, practical and versatile, these energy-efficient LED luminaires by Zumtobel are a perfect alternative to 20 W or 35 W low-voltage halogen luminaires. All Zumtobel luminaires installed in the museum can be dimmed, allowing for additional potential savings.


   
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Preview: A “department store” full of lighting experiences

At this year’s EuroShop trade fair in Düsseldorf, held from 26 February until 2 March 2011, Zumtobel will present trendsetting lighting solutions for superior lighting of retail areas. For that purpose, Zumtobel simulates a variety of shop areas at its 300 square metre stand A16 in hall 11, where visitors can see application-focused lighting solutions for areas ranging from boutiques to supermarkets. LED products for all segments demonstrate the multifaceted options available for setting the lighting stage while communicating authenticity.

With its stylish façades, shop windows and entrance areas, the stand suggests a typical shopping situation already from the outside. Even the interplay of shop window lighting and daylight is simulated realistically by an LED luminous ceiling. The surface areas of the trade fair stand exhibit a very pared-down design featuring purist white and grey tones, fully directing the visitors’ attention onto the exhibits and lighting experiences created. It is only in the evening that dynamic lighting scenarios turn the Zumtobel stand into an impressive stage, where a specially developed multimedia performance is presented – an inspiration to both eyes and ears.

Inside the stand, visitors find numerous solutions for a variety of presentation areas, including lighting systems for shelves, recesses, POS areas, display tables and changing rooms, plus a fresh-product counter. In this way, the right lighting concept for any retail situation is revealed to visitors walking through the stand. “As the largest international trade fair for retail investments, EuroShop serves as an important platform for us to present visitors efficient and customised solutions for any retail situation. In the process, we seek to impress visitors not only with innovative LED products but with our holistic approach combining technology, dynamism and efficiency to create a special lighting experience”, explains Harald Sommerer, CEO of the Zumtobel brand.

Highlights
One of the product highlights at the trade fair is the new lyon LED spotlight range. In collaboration with Delugan Meissl Associated Architects, Zumtobel has developed a sophisticated spotlight. With its unusual design especially developed for LED technology and its outstanding lighting technology, lyon is breaking new ground in illumination of retail areas. Special features of the spotlight range are an innovative lens/reflector system, high-performance LED modules and excellent colour rendition properties, as well as the availability of Stable White and Tunable White models. The range is presented at EuroShop for the first time.

The modular LED system developed by Zumtobel for shelf lighting systems will also make its debut. Fitted with cutting-edge LED technology, the unobtrusive LED system provides excellent lighting and colour rendition quality within minimum space. The innovative shelf lighting system is composed of high-quality manufactured LED lighting heads that can be combined to form various modules. The front ring of the lighting heads protrudes only 4 mm from the modules: thanks to sophisticated integration, the light sources remain almost invisible to the beholder.

For fresh-product counters, the Vivo Tunable Food LED spotlight presents itself as a new, extremely flexible product. Based on the Vivo LED spotlight range, Vivo Tunable Food features an adjustable range of colours that can be matched to the fresh products currently displayed – fruit, cheese or meat – at the push of a button. Via a rotary switch or via DALI, ten colour points pre-programmed on the LED board can be called up directly. This makes the new LED spotlight a perfect alternative to hitherto complicated reflector/filter combinations.

Tunable White – a benefit for retail areas
Lighting concepts for retail areas that use dynamic colour temperatures and lighting intensity to simulate daylight will increase customers’ sense of well-being and make them stay longer. Another major trend at the Zumtobel stand is therefore the presentation of Tunable White. For that purpose, Zumtobel introduces a range of LED downlights and spotlights with unique changes in colour temperature ranging from 2700 K to 6500 K.

Zumtobel stand: hall 11, stand A 16
www.zumtobel.com/euroshop2011


Venue:
Düsseldorf Trade Fair Centre
Messeplatz
Stockumer Kirchstrasse 61
40474 Düsseldorf

   
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