The last square in the historic center of Genoa, Piazza San Marcellino, was lit up yesterday, part of the “Lighting for Genoa” project
The last square in the historic center of Genoa was lit up yesterday with the “Lighting for Genoa” project, the first Italian example of multiple “lighting design” interventions as an element of urban regeneration.
Strongly desired by the municipal administration, conceived and coordinated by Condiviso.coop of Genoa, with the creative direction of the Lighting Designer Stefania Toro, the “Lighting for Genoa” project had the objective of intervening on the historic center of Genoa with permanent light installations to redevelop squares and areas considered strategic, enhance cultural routes and emergencies and, last but not least, increase the perception of safety in specific portions of the territory.
The light thus creates an artistic journey that has become both a tourist attraction and a tool for making the urban area more usable, creating a new and greater perception of safety in those who live in the city. The project began with the lighting of Piazza Don Gallo and involved a total of 10 city squares.
Each square was assigned to a different Italian lighting designer; each installation, created by City Green Light, which will also take care of its maintenance, is now low energy consumption. After the interventions in Piazza Don Gallo by Stefania Toro (Prè area), Piazza Inferiore del Roso by Liliana Iadeluca (Prè area), climbing to the Torre degli Embriaci by Giorgia Brusemini and Carla Morganti (Santa Maria di Castello area), Piazza Stella by Beatrice Bertolini and Marta Mannino (Molo area), Piazza della Lepre by Martina Frattura and Piazza Cambiaso by Giusy Gallina, Piazza Valoria by Camila Blanco and Piazza San Pancrazio by Elettra Bordonaro and Argun Paragamyan, the last square of the project was lit up last night, Piazza San Marcellino.
The curator Stefania Toro underlines: «The intention is to bring these places to light, give citizens a new point of view and make Genoa an innovative city that experiments with permanent lighting design interventions.
We built the project with the citizens, the protagonists who oversee the territory on a daily basis. The first ones are curious, willing to have a look of attention. The first to take care of the installations. This human aspect of the project allowed us to build a nocturnal narrative of the squares with light, a new, sustainable light, to make urban spaces more suitable for men, women, children and all the people in the city who deserve to feel welcomed and safe.”
The Lighting Designers who have been entrusted with this delicate task are part of the Women in Lighting ITALY network led by Designer Giorgia Brusemini,
«With this latest installation – says the councilor for Maintenance and Historic Centers Mauro Avvenente – our historic center is further enriched with a precious form of artistic lighting that will enhance the peculiarities of our alleys and our squares.
A positive result, both from an artistic point of view and from the point of view of the redevelopment of some areas and the greater perception of safety”. «We have concluded a virtuous path and this time too, for Piazza San Marcellino, the entire lighting system was created with low energy consumption, thus combining very important aspects such as art and, indeed, sustainability» adds the councilor to ‘Environment Matteo Campora.
The project for Piazza San Marcellino is by Simona Cosentino. The project of Piazza San Marcellino, in the Ghetto district, between Via del Campo and Via Gramsci, is based on “colour”, which becomes symbolic and strategic, with the aim of giving the user a 360° experience.
The colored light, dampened by thin beams of white light, which guarantee safety, will make the accesses to the square suggestive; the various colors, a symbol of diversity, will come together in the church square to form white, a symbol of union and rebirth. Flashes of light will appear on the facade of some buildings, like those that are naturally created by the reflections of the church roof on sunny days.
