Painted a-la khokhloma

Painted a-la khokhloma Moscow will get new subway station with traditional Russian ornament, but on the basis of modern lighting technologies

May 15, 2015 Moscow metro was 80 years old. During this time, the architectural appearance of the Russian capital`s subway was the set of many stages of development. Today, the complex structure of transport is increasing in the direction of New Moscow, where the Kalinin-Solntsevo line will be built. It should embody the alloy of native Moscow traditions and of modern technology. Good example - the lighting project of the station "Novoperedelkino", which has no analogues in Russia.

In November 2014, were determined the winners of the contest of design projects for the future metro stations "Solntsevo" and "Novoperedelkino" in the Kalinin-Solntsevo line, which, according to the mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin, should become the longest radial branch of the Russian capital`s subway.

On the international architectural competition it was filed more than 600 applications. The jury, headed by the Deputy Mayor Marat Khusnullin, selected about 100 works, and then 10 finalists were determined. The final winners were determined in the comparison of the results of the jury voting and of voting by residents of Moscow in the "Active Citizen" program (total voting attended by about 300 000 people).

Design project of the station "Novoperedelkino" was developed by Latvian Bureau URA (United Riga Architects). Authors of the project - Yevgeny Leonov and Alexander Demba. They were founded upon the traditional Moscow style of architecture, with vaulted ceilings, reminiscent of the Palace of Facets, Russian terems and monastery refectories. The decorations of the project were also khokhloma patterns - the Russian traditional style of the XVII-th century.

Work on designing the lighting system of "Novoperedelkino" was done by team of specialists from the MDM-LIGHT. The main elements of the light solution are steel panels with ornament "Khokhloma". They will perform two tasks at once - functional lighting and decorative RGB-lighting.

In "Novoperedelkino" are applied stylized vegetable ornaments, that khokhloma masters-"starovery" (old believers) created on the basis of iconic ornaments and handwritten miniatures. Panels of opal diffusers behind perforated aluminum plates create a soft and diffused light. It passes through the lacy patterns and creates a-jour light.

Edward Zhegalin, head of the company "MDM-Light", says: - The lighting system of the metro station "Novoperedelkino" is unique for Russia. It is fully realized, using LED lamps, and has two circuits. The first serves as functional lighting. The second creates dynamic, decorative RGB-lighting of the station, passages and hallways.

This is a very complicated from an engineering point of view and a very unusual concept for the Moscow subway. In this regard, in addition to project work, there have been many experiments in natural modeling. Close interaction between architects from Riga studio URA and our engineers on Illumination enabled us to find the necessary solutions.

Walls and ceiling of the station will be coated with panels in brushed stainless steel, which will reflect light, creating an effect, similar to the northern Lights, but without glare for subway drivers. RGB-light boxes are segmented on panels. These panels are the size of 60x60 cm, they can be easily opened to replace, if necessary, removable LED-light sources. This is one of the requirements of underground: the illumination system should be designed so that in the event of failure of its parts they could be replaced as soon as possible. After all, for the repair and maintenance of all systems in the metro is given minimal time. Another important factor is that LED lighting has virtually no flicker and has a high color rendering (Ra> 80%) and energy efficiency.

Edward Zhegalin comments: - Today the most common for the subway stations are the fluorescent lights, the use of which provides significant energy savings. They are inexpensive, economical and have a long life. But fluorescent lamps have a serious drawback - the need for disposal of mercury.

Recently, the subway is gradually beginning to use LED lighting. If the life of the fluorescent lamps can be up to 20 000 hours, the LED light sources are designed for a service life of more than 50 000. You will agree, that this is a significant difference.

Above all, this lighting project for the station "Novoperedelkino" meet the strict requirements of the metro. The lightings are isolated from the ingress of moisture and dust, and have vibration resistance.

Variable appearance of the new station is the basis of the entire design concept. The chosen lighting solution not only allows to change the color of light during the day (from the active tones in the morning to quiet tones in the evening), but also to create animation effects. This coverage will be compatible with existing norms and peculiarities of perception of space in motion.

Edward Zhegalin says:

- Fixtures should provide not only the necessary level of illumination at stations and junctions, but also comfortable lighting for passengers and for the metro drivers. Autodrivers will understand what I mean.

Imagine, that you are travelling by car through the tunnel and out of it into the open. What's happening?

At some point you will see nothing, until your eyesight is not adapted.

This is due to different light levels: the adaptation time depends on the difference in light level in the tunnel and outside it. In the evening adaptation occurs rapidly, but in the afternoon, in bright sunlight it takes more than a second. If you are moving at a speed of 60 km / h, then you will drive more than 16 m, during which you will not be able to react to possible emergencies.

At the designed station we are using lightings with a large area of the illuminated surface. What for? A simple example: a 100W lamp will dazzle you, and 100 lamps of 1 Watt will be comfortable. The same effect has a lighting system with a large luminous surface.

Each lamp is controlled, using a specialized software, that allows you to implement a variety of lighting scenarios. For example, it may be an overflow from one color to another, pulsation of different colors or animations. The system is to be managed centrally and automatically, using pre-created software scenarios. They will separately control the lighting of the station areas, including platforms, passages, entrances and so on, set light scenes during the day and the calendar year, as well as to connect sound.

It should be added, that the opening of the metro station "Novoperedelkino" is planned in 2017.