Zumtobel illuminates Zaha Hadid exhibition in Mobile Art Pavilion

Date Announced: 30 Jun 2011 The end of April saw the opening of a new arts venue in front of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris: the Mobile Art Pavilion designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid – a breathtaking structure in a formal language of continuous fluidity. Until autumn, the Mobile Art Pavilion showcases the exhibition “Zaha Hadid, une architecture”. For this exhibition, Zumtobel has designed and provided a lighting solution matching the building’s organic look: Arcos LED spotlights, which were especially developed for art applications, and minimalist LED spots of the multi-functional Supersystem lighting system have been installed.For Zumtobel, collaborating with renowned artists and dealing with light, architecture and art has always been a priority: many innovative impulses have been triggered by international project partnerships with architects, lighting designers and artists. The Mobile Art Pavilion, too, covers a completely new field of experience in the interplay of architecture, light and art.The Mobile Art Pavilion was designed in 2007 for the CHANEL fashion house by Pritzker Prize laureate Zaha Hadid. After having travelled to Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York, the structure boasting organic forms has now been donated by CHANEL to the Institut du Monde Arabe where it will be used to host exhibitions by talented artists from Arab countries. Zaha Hadid Une Architecture (.PDF/2MB)Press information Zaha Hadid Une Architecture (.DOC/62KB)Press photos Zaha Hadid Une Architecture (.ZIP/11MB)ARCOS spotlight range (.PDF/1MB)SUPERSYSTEM multifunctional lighting system (.PDF/3MB)Francois LacourEnlarge picture The current opening exhibition is devoted to the architect of the Mobile Art Pavilion herself and presents a selection of works by Zaha Hadid. This allows visitors to genuinely immerse into the architect’s formal and conceptual repertoire: the Mobile Art Pavilion translates the intellectual and physical into the sensuous. Using a wide range of media, the architecture unfolds through spatial sequences which engage the visitor in unique and unexpected environments.Architect Zaha Hadid about her idea of mobile art: “I think through our architecture, we can give people a glimpse of another world and enthuse them, make them excited about ideas. Our architecture is intuitive, radical, international and dynamic. We are concerned with constructing buildings that evoke original experiences, a kind of strangeness and newness that is comparable to the experience of going to a new country. The Mobile Art Pavilion follows these principles of inspiration.”Zaha Hadid’s architectural language is characterised by generating a sculptural sensuality with a coherent formal logic. The Mobile Art Pavilion is a new kind of architecture. “It is an architectural language of fluidity and nature, driven by new digital design and manufacturing processes which have enabled us to create the Pavilion’s totally organic forms – instead of the serial order of repetition that marks the architecture of the industrial 20th century,” explains Zaha Hadid.Francois LacourEnlarge picture The unique fluid forms of the Mobile Art Pavilion are continued from the outer shell to the interior, providing a structure for the torus-like exhibition loop. “Zaha Hadid, une architecture” displays a variety of projects and research agendas covered by Zaha Hadid Architects in recent years. The work is presented using different media, including architectural models, projections and silver paintings, and complemented by a customised lighting system. Ultimately, visitors are invited to experience the architecture of Zaha Hadid within this ensemble of architecture, art and light by exploring the Mobile Art Pavilion itself and viewing the exhibits.“Providing the interior lighting solution for such a unique object as the Mobile Art Pavilion was a special opportunity for us to show that light as an accentuating factor is able to unfold tremendous creative power”, explains Zumtobel Project Manager Burkhard Ehnes. Visitors strolling through the exhibition rooms are guided by precisely focused light attracting their attention and unleashing visible dramaturgic and emotional aspects that are conveyed to architecture, exhibits and visitors. This atmospheric framework is made possible by contemporary features provided by LED technology. The colour temperature of the – DALI-controllable – Arcos LED spotlights installed by Zumtobel can be continuously adjusted within a range between 2700 K and 6500 K. This ensures differentiated accent lighting supported by additionally installed Supersystem LED spots. Providing subtle illumination focussed on individual points, the lighting concept emphasises the special qualities of the Mobile Art Pavilion’s architectural structure. This is further enhanced by the luminaires installed: a network of guiding curves is attached to the pavilion’s internal ceiling and floor in specific points, unfolding a series of minimal stretch fabric surfaces. The resulting continuous spatial network is translated into two material systems: a black structural space frame made from CNC milled guiding rails out of hard foam that are coated in polyurethane, as well as white suspended textile membranes. The luminaires are mounted on the black guiding rails. The luminaires blend perfectly into the interior structure. Thus, light becomes a creative element in the Mobile Art Pavilion, escorting visitors during their fascinating exploration of the interplay of forms, logic, sensuousness and emotions.

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