Citeluz will illuminate the façade of the Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago de Chile with LED technology in 2013

The Citeluz company has presented to the Santiago de Chile City Council a plan to illuminate the four faces of the Museum of Fine Arts in the Chilean capital with the aim of highlighting its architectural value. To achieve, will be installed 300 LED projectors, of which 180 they will point to the facade. Besides, the glass dome will be blue at night.

Starting from the first semester of 2013 The four faces of the Museum of Fine Arts of Santiago de Chile will be illuminated by 300 projectors with LED lights, 180 of which will be pointing only at the facade. This is an initiative promoted by the City Council of the Chilean capital, in collaboration with the Brazilian company Citeluz, subsidiary of the French CiteLum, that illuminated part of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, some canals in Venice and the Oriental Pearl tower in Shanghai.

The project has been developed by the Brazilian architect Fabiano de Olivera Xavier and the designer Alain Maître. In the technical report they made, They explain that “the current lighting is quite damaged, with several pieces of equipment destroyed or not working”. That is why they consider increasing the luminous power to 11 kilowatt around the four sides of the building. What is LED technology?, better energy performance will be obtained. “Maintenance costs could be reduced by almost two thirds”, Rubén Bahamondes points out, head of the public lighting department of the Municipality of Santiago, who details that the front will concentrate 180 projectors of different sizes and will be located at different points on the facades (cornices, stairs and balconies, etc.). “This is to highlight the structure and forms of the construction”, adds Bahamondes.

Besides, the project designers' report adds that the existing facility is very visible, and that the equipment has inadequate dimensions in relation to the current possibilities. “The above results in a distorted view of the construction with contrasts that are too marked”, breaks down the evaluation.

The details

To highlight the classic architecture of the museum, a warm white projected light tone will be used, but also cold white details. with this, The aim is to create contrasts on the stone and beige material.. Another notable change will be reflected in the upper part of the Bellas Artes structure.. This is the old Belgian glass dome, which will be illuminated blue at night thanks to a series of projectors located inside the building.

“It will be a very relevant icon from the local point of view, because we do not have another building in the commune that has lighting of this level. Besides, will highlight the urban context in which it is inserted; It is a building in the middle of a forest., como es el Parque Forestal, “which makes it different from other spaces in the community”, Bahamondes has assured.

You do to modernize

When analyzing the project, Oriana Ponzini, the architect of OP Illuminations, believes that the work will be a contribution to the city. “It is important to value heritage and enrich it by looking for lights that highlight it.”, highlight elements that give it character and, also, "That this is achieved from artifacts that are not visible", assures. For the specialist, “it is important that the new lighting is sustainable, so that it can be maintained over time.", concludes.