H E R V É D E S C O T T E S | M I C H A E L A N A S TA S S I A D E S | C A R LO T TA D E B E V I L AC Q U A | L E N I S C H W E N D I N G E R

SINCE 1969VOLUME 47 ISSUE 4 AUGUST 2015

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MICHELE DE LUCCHILighting’s accidental hero

who created an icon

EOIN BILLINGSWe must bridge the gap

between architects and tech

ADVICE TO MYSELFArchitects and designers

write to their younger selves

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LIGHTING • AUGUST 2015

SOLIS SILOS: FEED ON LIGHT, MILANMARIO NANNI, VIABIZZUNO

Lighting designer and head of design at Italian

lighting company Viabizzuno, Mario Nanni has

illuminated the interiors of seven silos at a special

installation at the Milan Expo this year.

The structures are 10 metres tall and 3.5 metres

in diameter, and connected in a line to exploit the

sensory features of each silo’s theme: earth, air, light

bulbs, sun, moon, water and fire.

Nanni used oil-painted surfaces, light sculptures,

moving objects, the heat of the sun and the light of

the moon to create ‘an intimate dialogue with the

beholder’.

The sequence of silos ‘aims to explore the physical,

aesthetic and symbolic values linked to one of the

essential realities of human experience: light, which

since the renaissance has also been a fundamental

dimension of art,’ according to Nanni.

The seven silos are individual spaces of regular shape,

but Nanni has exploited the reflection of daylight

that enters from the upper openings. At night, he

uses artificial light. The floors of the silos have

different, vibrant surfaces, and there are small holes

in the walls that admit natural light and the urban

sounds outside.

‘Light transforms the invisible into the visible,’ says

Nanni. ‘Light which at the moment of its greatest

intensity cancels out the sense of sight. A revealing

light that leads us beyond what we see.’

This spread and overleaf: Each silo in the procession contains an installation that uses daylight or electric light to take visitors on a sensory journey

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