The Palace of Culture and Science (Pa?ac Kultury i Nauki, or PKiN) is the tallest and most dominant building in Poland, constructed between 1952 and 1955 as a gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland. The 231m-tall building currently serves as an exhibition hall, office complex, radio and television broadcasting centre, plus it holds cinemas, theatres, museums, and a conference hall for up to 3,000 people.
The main attraction of the Palace of Culture is its observation deck on the 30th floor, from which the whole city can be viewed on a clear day. In 2010, a new lighting installation on the building was begun in order to revive the city skyline with a colourful centrepiece - a project developed with financial support from the European Commission. The central tower of the building, previously lit in white, is now completely illuminated in colours in order to offer a more modern and dynamic lighting concept to tourists and visitors.
When it came to selecting the lighting system, the Griven Powershine D RGBW was chosen to illuminate the 168mof the main tower building. Additional Powershine D RGB+W units were also installed on the decks of the four lower turrets in order to floodlight the corners of the tower that were left uncoloured. In order to create a contrast between the interior and exterior parts, 48 Danube 45° units were positioned within the windows of the main tower and of the four turrets. The project was completed in February 2011.
To successfully reach all lighting equipment around the building, W-DMX by Wireless Solution was selected and supplied. Four W-DMX WhiteBox F-1 and 14 WhiteBox R-512 were used. Wireless Solution provided on-site support with advanced cell planning to choose the right antenna solution to be able cover all four sides of the building. Griven has been a long-term partner with W-DMX in several installations around the world, including Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and now in Poland.
Lighting and W-DMX equipment was supplied by Prolight based in Warsaw. Rados?aw Zacheja, sales director for Prolight said, "W-DMX made this installation possible. The product has always delivered very reliable results and allows designers to bring the beauty of lighting to situations like this."
Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution said, "Prolight has been an extremely strong resource for creative and stunning projects in their region. We were very happy working with them to realize this vision. The palace looks incredible and we're happy we could be a part of it."
(Jim Evans)
