What is art without good light?
Designing the light for museums requires a high degree of precision on our part when it comes to natural and artificial light. We form an understanding of the exhibited objects and the architecture and draw on all the aspects of good exhibit lighting.
For the reconstruction of the Neues Museum in Berlin, the illumination of the architecture played just as significant a role as that of the exhibits. Our meticulous lighting design was successful in combing the two. Nonetheless, each room has its own specific character. Different types of glass in the atrium ceilings and special sunshades on the museum windows allow the diversity of natural light to be experienced.
The Liljevalchs Art Gallery is also an example of a congenial alliance between natural and artificial light. The large roof on the museum's extension with its 166 chimney-like skylights, is the source of the natural light in the exhibit halls. We were able to optimize the skylights in such a way that no direct sunlight falls into the rooms. We integrated busbars and spotlights on the inclined sides of the chimney-like openings so that they cannot be seen from the principal lines of vision. Our simulations showing the reachability of the exhibited objects from the planned positions for the luminaires and a 1:1 model test convinced all of the people involved.
Conceived as a universal museum, the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt unites different collections of art, culture and natural history. Here the goal is to optimally illuminate the surfaces and material characteristics of the objects, from suits of armor and weapons, jewelry and handicrafts, to bones and minerals. For each type of vitrine, we designed covered lighting components that can be flexibly adjusted according to the changing exhibits.
The exhibits at the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm have proven themselves to be highly varied. This museum dedicated to the art of the entire country displays works from the beginning of the 16th century through to contemporary times. As a result of its highly flexible and future-oriented configuration, our lighting design will fulfill the museum's many different needs. We have shown appreciation for each work of art through our deliberate selection of the lighting characteristics needed for uniformity or shadows and the best color rendition.
For the Museum of Architectural Drawing, we stepped the ceiling so that no reflection images of the opposite light line are possible in the glass cover of the pictures. The LEDs shine through a solid acrylic block by means of total reflection, precisely illuminating the light-sensitive drawings. This special luminaire has been used only in this museum.
