The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Verona is a sacred space with a precise and strong identity, a place where the congregation can find beauty and spirituality. Light is a revealing element of the places; spaces and elements. In the project a series of measures were adopted to “form” the space with both natural and artificial light.
The light inside the nave is only from above and therefore easily controlled to avoid glare for the celebrants; upon entering the Church the light can be seen to intensify toward the altar. In the ambulatories, the high, narrow openings which characterize the sides of the Church allow light to enter where it is filtered by tall wooden blades so that diffused light reaches the nave. Light falls from above in the lantern tower to illuminate the sanctuary.
Natural lighting is integrated with artificial LED lighting able to blend in with the architecture and bring out liturgical moments and elements along with the entire iconographic program. The light emphasises the texture of the wall panels and structure, exalting the verticality and the spirituality of the liturgical space. For the artificial lighting, the designers relied on the LED technology of PERFORMANCE iN LIGHTING products, which ensured energy efficiency as well as guaranteeing a high quality set up of the lighting design.
The ARCHINGEGNO studio and PERFORMANCE iN LIGHTING technicians implemented a series of measures aimed at improving the overall perception of the light. On the ceiling of the nave there is a plasterboard soffit above the side walls with a slight inclination towards the centre of the nave so that both natural and artificial light – made with a continuous line of LEDs - falls softly without direct glare. At the side of the soffit, in the vertical spacing of the side walls 18 FOCUS + 3 projectors with 34° optics are located to direct light toward the assembly below. An electrified track with AS448 LED projectors was installed in the upper sanctuary to illuminate the altar area and key liturgical areas. Entering the Church, there is no lighting change between the nave and the sanctuary. Instead, a harmonious intensification of light can be perceived towards the sanctuary.
The weekday chapel and the sacristy are located in a second volume to the north and connected to that of the liturgical nave, with a separate entrance from the porch. The altar of the weekday chapel features natural light from above which washes the wood and metallic gold-colour finishes, while the artificial lighting in this area is supplied by AS442 LED projectors. In the areas of the sacristy the general lighting is efficiently furnished by DL220 LED recessed luminaires.
All lighting is controlled with DALI technology that allows the modification of values of light emission of the different lighting scenarios and the grouping of different light sources, making the control and direction of the lighting systems easy to use.
