Bespoke lighting technology
Vatican Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai
© Photography Dany Eid
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At Expo 2020 in Dubai, the Vatican presented itself with a small, elliptical pavilion that represents the human eye and goes by the themes of brotherhood and encounters with various cultures and religions.
© Photography Dany Eid
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Architect Giuseppe Di Nicola designed The Holy See Pavilion and planned the tour for visitors to be like a walk through a museum. Various art installations appear in small, elliptical niches: three manuscripts from the Vatican Library are being exhibited for the first time. A bespoke lighting system was developed to preserve these manuscripts; this illumination determines the overall atmosphere in the pavilion.
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The entry wall of the pavilion greets visitors from around the world in many different languages. The Vatican’s coat of arms, done in bronze, is presented on a green wall panel using a special 3D-printing technique. The remaining walls consist of a reflective material and are ornamented with three-dimensional letters, symbols and numbers.
© Photography Dany Eid
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The floor, whose centre has the shape of an elliptical medallion with a length of 8,6 m, is of marble: white Carrara, yellow Siena and black Portoro – the same marble types found in St. Peter’s Basilica. Curved lines crisscross and join to create a pattern derived from both the Roman rosette and Islamic geometry. The predominantly dark colours are accentuated by striations of pure bronze inlay.
© Photography Dany Eid
© Photography Dany Eid
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The highlight of the pavilion is an artistic reproduction of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. A team of specialists in art and historical preservation from Italy painted this work on a carbon-fibre dome using techniques known from frescos. It is surrounded by an elliptical metal structure that was conceived in steel and realized completely in bronze.
© Photography Dany Eid
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Here as well, Giuseppe Di Nicola lay great value on suitable lighting. He studied Michelangelo’s colours and techniques in order to achieve the effect of the light intensity, which succeeds thanks to an expressly designed dimming system.
Architecture, design, construction: Giuseppe Di Nicola/Dinicoladesign
Location: Expo 2020 Dubai (AE)
Fresco painting: Epogea – Ferdinando Latour
Gallery
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