lightfair international - Illuminating Engineering Society

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the keystone of a decade of
urban development that includes a new subway, bridges, and
performing arts center. As seen from the outside, it’s not hard to see why
Philip Johnson called the museum ‘the greatest building of our time.’
of choices available in U.S. 120 and 12 V lamps provided the
flexibility that was needed. In addition, the advantage of selecting
from numerous lamp choices for lighting specific art conditions
minimizes the use of light blocking screens and therefore
conserves energy. Three lamp types were selected to meet
the demanding criteria and custom fixtures were then
designed to take full advantage of each lamp’s characteristics.
For galleries with lower ceilings, a small fixture was developed
for the PAR36 12 V lamp or the 111 mm aluminum
reflector lamp. These lamps offer excellent color rendition in a
good assortment of beamspreads.
The workhorse in the tall galleries is GE’s Q250 W, 120 V
halogen PAR38 lamp with extra long lamp life. A special fixture
with a 220–120 V transformer was developed to accommodate
this unique lamp. The same fixture is used for object lighting
in the galleries with medium height ceilings.
For the tallest spaces another fixture was developed for the
12 V PAR56 lamp. This capped filament lamp is superior to the
European line voltage version because it has excellent beam
control, lower glare, and a good choice of wattages and beamspreads.
A prime design consideration of this fixture’s clamping
system was the requirement to install the heavy objects by slipping
the clamps over the power-bars without fixture rotation.
Therein is the need for the square cross-sectional shapes of
power-bar and the clamps.
In the central atrium, the same PAR56 fixture delivers the
powerful, narrow beam intensity necessary to highlight art
sculpture and architectural features while providing exceptional
glare control. To balance the brightness of the skylight wells,
uplights are installed to illuminate the flowing white plaster
curves of the upper atrium. Metal halide and quartz uplights
are concealed on top of the tower elements and clamped onto
the upper level catwalks and structural nodes.
All three fixtures were designed with independent, lockable
rotation of the lamp and lens accessory assembly without altering
focusing or aiming alignment—an essential feature to
reduce maintenance time and maintain aesthetic integrity.
They also employ a coiled cord and plug, special clamp, and
safety cable for attachment to the power-bars.
Icing on the Cake
ERCO Lighting, a well-known European manufacturing
company, was ultimately selected to manufacture the 3000+
custom-made object luminaires. After exhaustive reviews of
shop drawings and several rounds of prototypes, full-size partial-Gallery
mockups were constructed near the architects’
office in Los Angeles. Approval for production on the customfixtures
was then released.
To round out the bag of lighting tricks, custom simple
shaped quartz wallwashers and
indirect pendants were developed
and manufactured by
Odelux, a Spanish manufacturer,
and used in the Galleries to
provide a soft, 2:1 uniform
wash of ambient light on the art
walls. All the special fixtures
satisfy functional, programmatic
needs with a neutral appearance
that does not compete
with the sculptural lines of the
galleries, just as Gehry envisioned them.
As a measure to conserve energy and lamp life, the entire
building lighting, motorized shades, and emergency system is
computer controlled by three linked Lutron 6000 series dimming
control systems.
Gehry does not prefer direct illumination on the exterior
facades of his buildings. In this museum the exception is the
uplighting of the Spanish limestone wall behind the polished
stainless steel letters of the main entry sign.
The building’s internal lighting emanates through the glazed
canyons and crevices of the outer envelope. The warm glow of
light is inter-reflected between the titanium, white plaster, and
Spanish limestone cladding. As night sets in, the museum redefines
itself with every changing cloud and hue in the sunset sky
and becomes another elegant expression of this international
landmark on the banks of the Nervion River.
On the east end of the building Gehry incorporated a tower
which is solely a sculptural element. After experimenting with
20–25 models, he settled on an open steelwork structure clad
with Spanish limestone. The stone cladding is bolted to the
steel structure arranged in a pattern with small slits between
the panels rather than mortar joints. This detail creates glimmers
of light that is visible both day and night. High wattage
metal halide fixtures are mounted on the structure of the tower
and provide internal direct and indirect illumination.
The success of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao can be measured
by the pilgrimage of art aficionados to the once little
known city in the Basque region. Today the the Guggenheim
Museum, the city of Bilbao, and Frank Gehry are household
names. Gehry achieved his mission “on time and on budget,”
and in so doing he also created marvelous spaces filled with
glowing and living light that provide a memorable experience
to the visitors who make the journey there.
For the designers at Lam Partners, Inc. it was a once in a lifetime
opportunity to participate in the making of this architectural
masterpiece.
The designers: Enrique A. Rojas,
Senior Associate at Lam Partners
Inc., has 25 years of experience in
architecture, interior design, and
lighting design for commercial,
institutional, hospitality and
urban projects of various uses and
scope. As project manager of the
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Rojas was recently presented with the 1997 GE
Edison “Award of Excellence” for lighting of the museum. Most recently Rojas
was presented with the IIDA Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award of Excellence for
lighting design of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, B.C.
Paul A. Zaferiou is a Principal at Lam Partners Inc. In his 14 years of lighting
consulting experience with Lam Partners Inc., he has managed scores of projects
representing a wide range of types and geographic locations. His professional
experience is complemented by his teaching and authoring of articles on
architectural lighting design. As Principal-in-Charge of the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao project, Paul was recently presented with the 1997 GE Edison
“Award of Excellence” for lighting of the museum.
For the tall galleries, a special fixture
was developed to accommodate the
GE Q250 W, 120 V halogen PAR38
lamp with extra long life.
The filament capped 12 V PAR56
lamp used in the tallest spaces was
superior to the European line voltage
version due to its excellent beam
control, lower glare, and variety
of wattages and beam spreads.
44 LD+A/April 1999