Prize(s) Winners in Visitor Experience & Museum Exhibition
Lighting Design/Product Company ASlight studio
Lead Designers Anna Sbokou
Other Designer's names Catia Milia-Argeiti, Katerina Petrocheilou
Architecture Company Erato Koutsoudaki
Client Municipality of Athens
Photo Credits Yiorgis Yerolymbos
Completion Date October 2023
Project Location Athens, Greece
Entry DescriptionThe Maria Callas Museum is located in the center of Athens, honoring the life and achievements of the renowned opera singer.
Starting from the second floor, three theatrical experience rooms recreate the 3 most iconic operas Maria Callas performed, using the original live recordings. 'Norma' is a dark forest with soft highlights on tall tree trunks, while a cyclorama, recreates Maria Callas singing on stage, referencing the set design of the original performance. 'Tosca' room imitates an Opera theatre setting, with wall lights contributing to the design approach. 'Traviata' is set in a Parisian high-society house, where the challenge was to provide discrete lighting alongside a full-scale projection on the wall. The fourth room replicates the Juilliard Masterclasses, with audiovisual exhibits, and a gobo projection of her teaching in the famous school.
On the first floor, the main area is daylit on one side. Sculptures and busts are combined side by side with musical scores, letters and clothing, each with different conservation requirements. Zoom tracklights, with barndoors, offered flexibility on focusing and control of the light distribution. The glass showcases and display shelves have integrated lighting. A recessed ceiling lightbox is programmed through an astronomical clock compensates the natural lighting, during the day and provides balance throughout the museum floor
Sustainability ApproachAll luminaires were fitted with an on-board dimming capability, in order to set all lighting at the desired level and avoid any excess use of power. Given the conservation or aesthetic requirements of a large portion of the exhibits, most luminaires were used at less than 50% of their output, providing a substantial energy saving.
All LED track spotlights and linear LED profiles used in the project were sourced by a local manufacturer that fabricates the body-parts and assembles the luminaires in Athens, thus minimizing transport and associated carbon footprint.
Furthermore, the luminaires are designed in such way that allows replacing components in existing luminaire bodies, also performed locally.
