The project was conceived when Alessandra Toscani made an offer to a priest in Parma who wanted to project a nativity scene onto the façade of his church (known as the Oratorio dei Rossi). Following this, the city council (through its appointed bodies Gecc and CCN) assessed the possibility of replacing the traditional festive illumination with projected Christmas scenes.
The artistic design was funded by the shops in the street, sponsored by IRES (the power company) and Parma city council, and was entrusted to Alessandra Toscani's agency ....And Arts, with the technical support of Giuseppe Cavatorta's Top Service and Italo Bellocchi's Brait Acoustic. Equipped with these luminaires, the creative team decided to innovate the concept of street lighting on Strada Garibaldi (a main thoroughfare through the old city centre) between the railway station and Piazzale della Pilotta. It is a strategic section of road for people entering or leaving the centre of town.
Twelve VIP 300s with special rain shields were installed along the street in order to cover the façades of all the overlooking buildings with their beams. The projected images were of Christmas themes: stars and snowflakes.
Alessandra Toscani, art project manager, comments: "we were able to get a soberer and more polished result using these lights than we would have if we had used traditional illumination. There is much less light pollution: street lighting shines out in three dimensions, whereas projected images only affect the façades."
(Jim Evans)
