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Snapshot
STUDIO SWITCH With backgrounds spanning architecture, industrial design and interior design, Bergamo-based Studio Switch brings a mixture of art and science to its diverse portfolio of projects in both Italy and abroad.
Pietra Perduca Travo, Italy
In the stunning Trebbia Valley, with its gentle and charming hills, a dedicated association called Organico Perduca is establishing a permanent journey in which art meets nature. The final step is an extraordinary natural amphitheatre which faces the mystic Pietra Perduca rock massif. The Pietra Perduca was left by an ancient ocean’s presence 250 million years ago. Many deep meanings and an aura of sacredness surround this place; Celts worshipped the Penn God there, and then Christians dedicated the site to Saint Anna. Pietra Perduca, within neighbouring Pietra Parcellara, is the symbol of this part of the valley. Organico Perduca asked Studio Switch to design the lighting, a challenging request given how many aspects must be considered: respect for a historical site, devotion, emotion, communication, engagement. The lighting concept was inspired by the Perduca’s holiness: a red emotional light turns on the holy fire which breaks the darkness, drives to the art and warms up visitors like a big fireplace. Meanwhile the Pietra Perduca becomes the valley’s red heart, transforming the hills into a macro amphitheatre and bringing together the entire community around an ancient fire. The same light represents communication because it announces that the amphitheatre is hosting a show, offering engagement within the theatrical backdrop. The lights for the amphitheatre had to solve further needs related to the Perduca’s light. The terraces for the seats are illuminated considering both the setting of the welcoming scenography and the visual needs of the users. The choice to light just the vertical sides of the terraces was taken due to the Perduca’s fire being located in front of the terraces. Finally the stage has its own lights hidden on the trees.
Château de Wallerand Vireux-Wallerand, France
Built in 1714, the historic Château de Wallerand is now a luxury hotel in the French Ardennes, welcoming travellers who are looking for an exceptional location, a verdant estate and attentive service. The hotel has 10 rooms combining old-world charm with contemporary design, comfort and tranquillity. The lighting design had to fulfill a number of different needs: highlighting the architecture and its external volumes; studying the individual rooms and the restaurant, taking inspiration from the huge world of decorative and design lighting fixtures that complete the complex level furnishings, ensuring visual comfort and the right amount of light; illuminating the orangerie, which becomes the main feature in the park; creating the right atmosphere for the wonderful spa; and giving the right mood lighting and spots within the park, which is the transition between the hotel and the river. The biggest challenge was ensuring that all the different lights speak the same ‘language’ while satisfying different individual needs. The design team resolved this by defining a master guideline to follow. The guideline was built on two simple words that inspired and governed all decisions: gentleness and elegance. Every time a decision was needed on the type of light, emission, temperature, lamp design and what kind of scenography they show, the designers asked themselves: “is this choice gentle and elegant”?
Santuario della Beata Vergine delle Lacrime (Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Tears) is an architectural jewel full of history, culture and faith. Built in 1594, it contains the miraculous picture of 1522, that, according to the legend, saved the city from destruction by the French troops. Remarkable for the presence of frescoes and paintings by the Montaltos, a seventeenth-century vault in the nave of the entrance by Molinari and the transept with its majestic dome overlooking the intersection with the nave. In every single place of worship, light has a significant symbolic value: it represents the divine, it provides a sacred and separated atmosphere from reality to the building. The painting of Our Lady is the focal point of the whole Sanctuary: it was necessary to dedicate an intense spotlight to the painting, in order to instantly direct the attention of the faithful to this sacred image as they enter the church. The issue was dealing with the hyper-reflective covering glass and the considerable depth of the frame: two spotlights were installed on the cornice at the height of 16.9-metres, out of the volume of offence of the picture; also necessary was the presence of one additional spotlight from below, hidden behind the altar. The other main goal was to enhance the artistic content, avoiding disturbing effects on paintings, made particularly difficult by very dark pigments mixed with gold inserts. The amazing vault was lit through high-CRI and high-efficiency LED strips, covering half width from each side of the cornice. The assembly below is illuminated by on-track spotlights. The dome is 34-metres tall: at 20-metres both indirect (LED strips) and direct lighting (track spotlights) has been installed. Different lighting scenarios have also been set, according to the different liturgical functions.
Winefully Bergamo, Italy
Winefully, the wine portal based in Bergamo, is exclusively dedicated to wines of excellence and high quality liquors. Its cellar, dating back to the 19th century, has now been restored and equipped with all features ensuring a proper preservation and a balanced ageing of the wine. The priority of the client was to have a place with an elegant, but at the same time pleasing and relaxing, atmosphere, paying particular attention to lighting and acoustics. The location covers two floors, each of which has a precise function, clearly underlined through different light scenes. On the ground floor, mainly dedicated to customer reception and wine tasting, the lighting has been designed with the aim of recreating an intimate and elegant atmosphere. The accents and contrasts between lights and shadows point to the main features and valorise the natural materials of architecture. High CRI spotlights have been necessary due to the distinction of the different shades of wine colours. The basement floor displays and presents the bottles, and is illuminated by indirect light; here lighting is softer, enhancing the brick vaulted ceiling and the clay shelves, and making more welcoming and comfortable the whole atmosphere. At the same time, through the use of track spotlights, a direct light strikes the wine exhibit highlighting the bottles and their labels. Today Winefully is a special place for customers, in which wine is not only sold, but also told and experienced, as a vector of intense emotions and sociality, just like the lighting conceived for it.
Studio Switch
Studio Switch is a lighting design studio based in Bergamo, Italy. Founded in 2019, it is an independent and creative atelier, with team that comes from backgrounds as diverse as architecture, interior design and industrial design. This gives the studio a full breath of experience, spanning the art and science of the lighting design profession, and proven growth ability during many years of experience in the field. Light sculptors, lighting designers or lighting consultants, whatever you call them – Studio Switch believe that light has the power to change lives: regulating our bodies, fueling our emotions and inspiring our souls. www.studioswitch.it
