GE Lighting Italy products were recently specified and installed in two contrasting projects: museum exhibitions regarding animal life, and a vehicle production line.
"Amori Bestiali" (Animal Love) and "Vivere al Limite" (Living on the Limit) are the names of two compelling exhibitions at Rome's Zoological Museum. Alessandra Reggiani, an architect and LD who specializes in museum lighting, designed the exhibit spaces and dedicated lighting systems for both. He explains, "For the first exhibition, about reproduction in the animal world, the 100 lamps chosen (following a careful study of beam widths) were various versions of GE Lighting's Precise ConstantColor low-voltage halogen lamps--the FNV, EXZ, and EXN models (all 50W lamps) with 55, 27, and 40-degree beam angles respectively, and some 13-degree 20W EXS types, all fitted with protective glass. I designed the lighting in such a way as to stimulate visitor curiosity and attract attention to the information displayed on the colorful placards, the showcases containing some of the museum's collection of five million animals, and films."
All the exhibition's vertical surfaces and flooring are black or dark gray. White drapes are also used, so the ability of light sources to emphasize colors and shapes, and to create eye-catching shadows, is of key importance. Besides beam spread, reflector finish, and constant light quality, emission and color over time were considered when selecting the lamps, as the exhibitions will run for a couple of years.
"Vivere al Limite" offers numerous examples of biodiversity in extreme climatic and environmental conditions, such as deserts, ocean abysses, deep grottoes, and polar regions. Dorcas gazelles, fishing frogs, and many other species are described and exhibited, lit by another hundred GE ConstantColor lamps, this time with the addition of 20W BAB lamps with a 40-degree beam spread.
The second GE installation is part of the reorganization and modernization of a vehicle factory in Suzarra, Mantua, where the Industrial Vehicles Corp. (IVECO) division of the Fiat Group is renewing the lighting on part of its production lines. Designed by Teksystem and installed by Turin's Salice Tecno, the system comprises over 530 GE Lighting Eurobay fixtures fitted with 400W (4000K) metal-halide lamps, and 220 watertight, ceiling-mounted fixtures with MAC fluorescent tubes fitted with energy-saving electronic starters and high-efficiency aluminum reflectors.
IVECO reports that the GE lamps give "good-quality illumination at a competitive cost, and we expect the Eurobay fixtures to contribute toward productivity, with a savings of about 35% in energy when considering the same level of lighting." The new system replaces one based on mercury vapor sources that lit a highly automated zone, so IVECO had no great requirements as far as lighting quality there. But the new production setup is in an area with cabin and chassis assembly workers, requiring a higher level of illumination to ensure a uniformly lit, pleasant working environment. The Eurobay has a die-cast aluminum body and is designed to exploit its metal-halide lamp's output with a high rendering, anodized faceted reflector. It is also sufficiently compact to suit applications in industrial premises that use overhead cranes.
Architect Piero Palermo, recently appointed marketing manager of GE Lighting Italy, says, "The extreme versatility of GE Lighting lamps and fixtures enables designers and installers to offer systems as different as a museum with very particular specifications and a production line, where staff safety has to be taken into consideration."