The Sony Center in Berlin, Germany, is an international commercial, communication, and cultural hub that draws nearly 8.3 million visitors a year. The focal point of the complex is The Forum, a roofed public square. Constructed of steel, glass, and cloth streamers, the Forum's roof is the Sony Center's most prominent architectural element. At night, the roof comes alive with fascinating light shows, designed by Paris project artist Yann Kersale, in varying shades of cyan and magenta.
The Forum's original incandescent lighting system had been in place for twelve years. After constant operation, it was reaching its maximum life expectancy and had become too costly to maintain. The Sony Center was looking for a replacement system that was long-lasting, energy-efficient, and low-maintenance, but that could still create color-changing light shows.
The team from solution provider Alexander Weckmer Licht und Mediensysteme GmbH had to deliver a solution that could provide powerful and uniform illumination of the unique fan-like geometry of the roof. Since each individual "sail" of the fan had varying dimensions, slope, and shape, each luminaire would have to be individually positioned to achieve uniform illumination. They installed Color Kinetics ColorReach Powercore (now specified with
ReachElite) and ColorBlast Powercore floodlighting luminaires, which were powerful and flexible enough to achieve all of the project's goals.
With the new full-color LED luminaires and high-bandwidth digital control, the Sony Center can now choose from more than 16 million colors, and can create new light shows for special events such as film opening nights and holidays—all while cutting energy consumption by 73%.
