MAT’Electrique: a founding partner
Every year since 1999, MAT’Electrique, the city of Lyon and EDF, the founding partners, have taken part in "Lyon 8 December – Festival of Light". The 2007 event offered conviviality, friendly encounters, excitement and advanced technical innovations at the heart of the city, thanks to the illuminator's art.
Garden of lights
In this spirit, MAT’Electrique, an affiliate of Sonepar South-East, brought its technological display-window and lighting-centre expertise to bear in illuminating Place Antonin Poncet. Some 2,000 phosphorescent flowers, all fitted with tiny lamps, danced in the breeze over the square, blooming and fading and blooming again… Every evening, planters took turns in setting out 500 more flowers in the garden. At the end of the fourth day, 4,000 flowers had been planted.
From the culture of light to the "high culture" of Alain Benini
After "Cube of Light" in 2005 and "Curiosities" in 2006, Alain Benini, architect of the Hospices Civils de Lyon, again called on the Comptoir Lyonnais d’Electricite, an affiliate of Sonepar South-East, to deck the Hôtel-Dieu for the Festival of Light. Plunged into semi-darkness, the Hôtel-Dieu courtyard was transformed into a flowering paradise. Participants were invited to stroll through, where they could see luminous vines in the centre of the courtyard, watch the plants mature with the seasons, and listen to the soundtrack provided to accompany the walk. Some 7,500 lamps with 1-W electro-luminescent diodes flowered within this work of art.
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport
For its first participation in the Festival of Light, the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) transformed Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. To colour an event of this size, the CCI called on Philippe Losilla, the Greater Lyon manager of lighting design for Comptoir Lyonnais d’Electricite.
The facades of Terminal 2, which have recently been revamped, were illuminated on 6 December, to last for a month. Innovation and technology were the driving forces behind the project. Dynamic LED projectors were used to provide the exceptional illumination. The light created a warm atmosphere for airport passengers, who were welcomed with messages translated into various languages and projected onto the floor.
There’s a chance that the illumination may not in fact be temporary, given that the response to this very exciting project has been very positive.
The hidden face of Fourvière Basilica
In all, some 70 projects lit up the city for four days. Fourvière Basilica, unlike other
sites, was illuminated from the back with 140 projectors attached to the edges of the building, giving it a halo and revealing its contours only. Even more unusual, the equestrian statue of Louis XIV in Place Bellecour was set under a bell – like a snow-globe with floating flakes.
In this day of mobile phones, what is to become of telephone booths? That’s easy – they can be turned into aquariums! This slightly crazy idea was made real by Benedetto Bufalino and Benoît Deseille, two designers from Lyon who work on unusual displays. For the festival, they filled a booth with water, light and real, exotically coloured fish – a project of astounding simplicity that delighted Lyon.
This 2007 event challenged the imagination – what on earth will 2008 bring?
* The Festival of Light is anchored in the very history of Lyon, which has been under the protection of the Virgin Mary for two centuries. On 8 December 1852, the people of Lyon spontaneously set lights in their windows to mark the inauguration of the statue of the Virgin Mary on Fourvière Hill, which dominates the city. This celebration of religious origin has become a wildly popular, major artistic event over the years, extending well beyond the city of Lyon.
