The building's design - by Zoboki, Demeter and Associates - and a 21st century technological backbone enable the staging of high quality and large-scale performances, bringing together various branches of the arts under one roof. Its permanent residents include the Ludwig Museum, the National Concert Hall and the Festival Theatre. It is part of the Millennium City Centre, a major urban renewal development program in Budapest that includes the adjacent National Theatre.
Client and main contractor on the project, Arcadom Co. Ltd., approached Martin Architectural's Hungarian representative, LISYS Co. Ltd., to create a dynamic outdoor illumination solution on three sides of the building. LISYS proposed a color changing scheme using Martin Architectural's range of Exterior luminaires.
On three sides of the building LISYS installed Exterior 600 fixtures on custom made poles 5 to 10m high. Additional Exteriors of different types (Exterior 600, Exterior 600 Compact, and Exterior 200) are located on the roof to illuminate the upper cube of the building. Most of the Exteriors used on the project are equipped with extra wide angle optics. LED strips on the sides of the building break up the colours of the large surfaces.
As the fourth side (main entrance) of the building is covered in glass, Arcadom sought a dynamic indoor lighting solution to be synchronized to the outdoor colours. Martin Alien 02 full range colour changers were chosen for the foyers, visible from the outside through the main glass-wall. An extensive DMX network was installed inside and outside the building. A synchronized nighttime music and color sequence runs each hour until 2:00 am.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
