BERGAMO, Italy – The 5th Edition of I Maestri del Paesaggio (the masters of landscape), which ran from Sept. 5-20, 2015, tied into some of the same agricultural, horticultural and earth-friendly themes that prevailed for this year’s Milan Expo. Clay Paky’s Glow Up range provided the scenic lighting for various functions linked to the main event.
More details from Clay Paky (www.claypaky.it):
Bergamo hosted the 5th Edition of “I Maestri del Paesaggio” (the masters of landscape) from Sept. 5 to 20, 2015. This well-known event is devoted to high class landscape architecture and has been held in the most enchanting parts of Bergamo’s upper city since 2011.
Every year the association Arketipos brings internationally renowned landscape architects together and invites them to present their most significant experiences at an international meeting held in the evocative setting of the old Teatro Sociale.
The fringe events attract a wide, varied audience, especially thanks to the now famous “green makeover” of Piazza Vecchia, which is transformed radically for the event and renamed Piazza Verde (Green Square). The design of the square is entrusted to a different internationally renowned landscape architect each year. This year the idea for Green Square was inspired by the British designer Andy Sturgeon, assisted by Lucia Nusiner and Maurizio Quargnale.
The result was sixteen days entirely devoted to nature and beauty, whose leitmotif was “Feeding Landscape. Le colture agrarie fanno paesaggio” (Feeding Landscape. Agricultural crops make landscape). The title was in keeping with the theme of Expo Milan 2015 and expresses the unbreakable bond between mankind and the land and recalls our rural past, rich in charm and traditions that reach our meal tables from the soil.
However the real new feature this year was that the show was extended beyond Piazza Vecchia. Piazza Mascheroni was transformed for the first time thanks to an idea devised by students from the 2014 Summer School, while another three venues were dressed up by the companies sponsoring the event.
Among these, the 25 companies from the wood industry created a charming exhibition inside Palazzo dell’Ateneo, with teasers in various other parts of the city.
Clay Paky was one of the technical partners of the show and provided the scenic lighting for various events, which highlighted the versatility and efficiency of its Glow Up range.
A battery of six Glow Ups was used to enhance the entrance to the “Il legno, dalla natura alle cose” (wood, from nature to things) exhibition in the evening. Clay Paky’s LED colour changers were used in wireless mode for the whole duration of the event and were placed without any power supply cables in special wooden boxes decorated with gold paint. The result was a sort of iridescent sign, which attracted no less than 5000 visitors.
However, Clay Paky’s Glow Ups were also the stars of a unique private dinner reserved to forty landscape architects and held for the first time ever in a fantastic restaurant located inside Porta di Sant’Alessandro. The historical rooms took on new life for the occasion and played host to a dinner full of atmosphere and charm, thanks to Clay Paky’s lights.
Lastly another 24 Glow Ups illuminated the ceiling of the portico of Palazzo della Ragione with an intense emerald green during the “Green Dinner”. This dinner was attended by over 500 people and marked the official closure of the show. On these occasions, Clay Paky’s battery-powered lights showed just how versatile they are by working for over twelve hours without being recharged. They were installed by the architect Maurizio Quargnale.
During the event, a fringe vertical acrobatics show was held on the historic Campanone (great bell tower) in Piazza Vecchia. Several performers were tied to a rope and lowered down from above while walking and dancing on the walls of the building. Four Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330s illuminated the show. The same lights were then used to paint the Angelo Mai Library with light. “The amazing thing,” said Giorgio Gagliano, technical manager of Suono 1981, the service company that provided the lighting equipment, “is that there were only four lights, installed on a balcony 65 yards from the bell tower and 55 yards from the library. Yet they covered all our lighting needs perfectly.”
The whole show enthused visitors and immensely satisfied the organizers. It is estimated that at least 20,000 people visited Piazza Verde in fifteen days. Clay Paky is pleased to have contributed to this success by illuminating the beautiful evenings with its Glow Ups.
