Robe at the Temple of Divine Providence
- Details
The Temple is in the final throes of construction bringing to fruition an idea that was first inspired in 1791 - shortly after the adoption of Poland’s first constitution.
The building project got properly underway in the trendy developing Wilanów district in the south of the Polish capital in 2002 - designed by architects Wojciech and Lech Szymborski.
Its capacious interiors – based on an 84m square base with four entrances - and imposing 60m high reinforced concrete columns that form the nave, culminate in a rotunda gallery and a central glass dome at the top, all making high visual impact and defining the space.
The pale coloured render of the columns and other interior features is perfect for lighting, so the Temple’s management company, The Centre of Divine Providence, reached out to lighting specialists Prolight Sp. z o.o. to design and specify a scheme that would transform a somewhat cold and austere interior into a dynamic, warm and interesting space.
Lighting was seen as an ideal way to reflect the changes in the church calendar and shift the mood accordingly.
In addition to being an important place of worship and a national religious symbol, cutting edge acoustic treatment makes the 3000 capacity Temple suitable for concerts, choral and orchestral recitals and televised music events, so it is a truly multi-purpose venue.
It also contains a museum dedicated to Pope John Paul II and Stefan Wyszyński leader of the Catholic Church under Communist rule and a Pantheon of great Poles.
Prolight’s Tomasz Adamski created the lighting design which includes a substantial quality of DMX controlled LED fixtures, and his colleagues Michal Kaczmarek and Rafal Rzeczkowski helped co-ordinate the installation process and the team.
The 16 x Actor 6s – a static version of Robe’s legendary LEDWash 600 – are installed on special outrigging brackets so they can illuminate a circular rotunda at the lower apex of the dome.
They were chosen for their robustness and reliability. Being placed in a position that it is not easily accessible, they needed fixtures that were virtually guaranteed to keep going and need minimal maintenance.
Above these, the 80 x PARfects are installed at the base of the curved dome walls – which stretch upwards for 60m to the top of the glass dome, complete with alternating variable height windows.
A series of LED colour changers were also installed at the base of the 26 arched columns as part of the scheme, so different surfaces in the Temple can be illuminated, bringing the environment alive with depth, character and a real sense of occasion.
All lighting is run through a Pharos controller which can be accessed remotely via iPad.
224 years after the first cornerstone of the current Temple building was laid, a Russian invasion and two World Wars later, an inaugural Mass was celebrated, attended by Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and President Andrzej Duda in a high profile event.
(Jim Evans)
