Alien 02 Attraction at Lyon School of Lighting Design

The Lyon School of Lighting Design is a first of its kind in many respects. As the first dedicated educational institution in France for lighting design and lighting technique, the new school is also the site of one of the first Alien 02 installations in France.

Martin France and Sonepar collaboration
Located in a historic area of Lyon, the building was recently refurbished as part of its conversion into an educational facility, Assumption-Bellevue, a school for young lighting designers. Sonepar, Martin’s architectural supplier in the area, has not only supplied a range of Martin architectural lighting products for the unique illumination project, including the new Alien 02 color changer, but sponsor the school as well.

Martin France completed the Lyon school illumination project in conjunction with the Sonepar group, a project that fulfilled Sonepar’s desire and enthusiasm to create an acknowledged example of dynamic architectural lighting. “It is going to be a famous reference for dynamic lighting, and an example of what can be done with this new technology,” stated Roger Monami, Sonepar’s southern district head.

Alien 02 play of light and shadow
“There are really two aspects of the installation, one on each side of the building,” states Xavier Richard of Martin France, who, along with Sonepar personnel, was responsible for the lighting design. “The most interesting aspect is on the back and side of the building where the glass façade allows one to see into an interior stairwell area. There we have placed 16 Alien 02 CMY color changers on three levels to illuminate two columns and an indoor common area.

“Although the Alien 02s are installed inside the building, the architectural lighting experience occurs when viewed from the outside. The installation was designed to be viewed from the outside looking in. The philosophy behind the installation was to illuminate the indoor architectural elements from different angles thereby creating a play of light and shadow. When certain fixtures are on, you view certain architectural elements inside in a certain way. When other fixtures are on, other architectural elements are seen. This play of light and shadow gives the impression of movement. Also, each level is sometimes illuminated a different color which gives the impression of color moving up and down.”

MiniMAC Maestro color
The second aspect of the lighting project occurs from the front of the building, a classical façade that faces out to a busy avenue. Like the backside, the façade itself is not illuminated, yet inside eight MiniMAC Maestro moving heads equipped with color filters are installed in the ceiling near a classroom area.

The beam sweeping illumination is visible from the outside sidewalk and road, the colorful effect a powerfully attractive and curious component to the busy street life. A tasteful touch has also been added by more Alien 02s used to colorfully backlight unique metal and glass artwork on the front façade. The entire lighting project is controlled via two Martin 2510 playback control units.

A third lighting element is yet to be realized but will include the use of nine Martin Exterior 200 color changers to illuminate the building’s façade.

Architectural lighting enthusiasm

“The Lyon school illumination is an excellent way for Sonepar to demonstrate the possibilities inherent in dynamic lighting in an architectural application,” Xavier comments. “Their enthusiasm for dynamic architectural lighting and its future has really shown through in this project.”

The project was inaugurated on October 18th with top dignitaries in attendance including some of Lyon’s top lighting designers and architects. “Their reaction was fantastic,” Xavier concludes. “They were very positive using expressions like ‘magic’ and ‘marvelous’, which it is.”

Compact and powerful, Martin’s new Alien 02 is a new concept in lighting design, a modular and programmable architectural light with full range color mixing. The fixture houses a CDM 150 discharge lamp and features full range intensity control.