Light on Tigris

The Archaeological Institute of Zurich University is hosting a unique exhibition following completion of its partial renovation. On the occasion of its 175th anniversary, the University of Zurich is staging an impressive presentation entitled "Kings on the Tigris - Assyrian royalty and its media" which includes ancient Mesopotamian cultural exhibits which have never before been on public view in one place. Items which are on loan from various museums have been transported to Zurich where various stone relief slabs have been brought together in a magnificent tribute to this ancient culture. The lighting was also redesigned shortly before the exhibition opened. This makes it possible to experience the precious sculptures in all their beauty.

The renovation concept placed special emphasis on the best possible lighting quality and exploiting every opportunity to save energy. The bowl-reflector lamps which had previously been used were unable to meet the requirements placed on modern museum lighting. Those responsible for the decision-making process quickly realised that Zumtobel’s Tempura LED spotlight offered the best solution. Besides the facility to precisely define colour temperatures in the white spectrum from 2700 K to 6500 K, it is also possible to set the colour to any point in the colour triangle. The luminaire’s incredibly long service life of around 50,000 hours minimises maintenance costs and, at the same time, takes full advantage of potential energy savings. A DALI control option allows precise and extremely convenient colour-temperature adjustment in the white spectrum and setting of any colour within the colour triangle. The Luxmate Emotion lighting management system, which allows accurate remote colour-temperature setting to within a degree, is used to achieve this.

Superlative lighting plays a decisive role in heightening visitors’ enjoyment of precious historical exhibits. Explains PD Dr. Elena Mangoe, the curator of the Collection: "Light can guide and light can seduce. We aim to enhance our visitors' enjoyment of art as much as possible. LED spotlights enable us to illuminate these historical relief slabs and sculptures in a multifaceted, highly appealing manner. This way, works of art exert an even stronger emotional impact on visitors. The fact that these LED spotlights don't produce any UV radiation which could harm valuable exhibits is an equally important consideration."

More than 140 Tempura spotlights have been installed on a special version of the Tren track system. Approximately 450 m of track has been split up into rectangular elements. Upward pointing 54 W and 80 W fluorescent lamps are fitted in the TREN section which was specially adapted for this application. This allows indirect illumination of the ceiling, pleasantly underscoring the room architecture. Both the indirect lighting and the LED spotlights can be controlled via the Luxmate Emotion lighting management system. It was possible to slash energy consumption by more than 50% whilst also significantly improving lighting quality compared with the previous lighting. The need to use the existing supply points posed a particular challenge. The section had to be adapted accordingly and also had to incorporate the necessary emergency lighting.

A Luxmate Emotion lighting management system was installed in order to make the most of the huge flexibility of the spotlights. The system is divided up into three areas, thus allowing convenient personalised colour-temperature and brightness adjustments from the control panel. Every luminaire can be individually adjusted and set to a specific colour temperature almost accurately to the degree. The Tempura spotlight also allows personalised adjustment throughout the colour spectrum as required at the push of a button. When the exhibition opened, the first floor was immersed in warm red light redolent of the special lighting ambience of sunset in ancient Mesopotamia.