iGuzzini displays ideal city at Light&Building

Dubai - This concept of the "Ideal City", expressed here by Basili, is at the centre of all iGuzzini's research.

A current imperative for global society is to rethink and redesign community areas in step with new concepts of social evolution. At Light&Building 2016, iGuzzini is presenting the ideal city redesigned by the singularity of light, the harbinger of social innovation, in its quest to call the world's Lighting Community - architects, town planners, lighting designers - to the task of redesigning the environs of our cities through light.
This year's booth concept confirms the use of the elements so instrumental in the success of previous editions: Culture, Innovation, Design, Technology, and Italian character. Once again at this year's Light&Building2016 exhibition - the international showcase for the latest lighting news - iGuzzini has entrusted its booth design to the cultivated creativity of Giancarlo Basili.
In line with previous exhibition installations inspired by classic artistic symbols of Italian culture, this year Basili has created a spectacular, theatrical backdrop featuring a reproduction of "The Ideal City", a painting kept at the Marche National Art Gallery in Urbino. In this context, however, the masterpiece has been transformed by Mekane, a team of highly skilled, set construction experts, into an immense, three-dimensional high relief, 14 metres long, 4 metres high, and 1.5 metres deep.
This concept of the "Ideal City", expressed here by Basili, is at the centre of all iGuzzini's research. Moreover, through his attitude to both this classic renaissance artwork and his own clients, Basili has deliberately returned to the roots of the development and identity of Italian design, namely, the very close bond between artists and patrons. "The Ideal City" is, therefore, a representation of the idea that a rational city plan can regulate the human and social relations within it by means of geometry and design.
The upside down trees (persimmons) that hang from the ceiling, on the other hand, symbolize an explosion of nature that shuns such rigidly geometric laws. The message is clear: nature is part of the global context in which the human race exists, and has always existed, thanks to its relationship with light. The dynamic effect of the trees is enhanced by ceiling-recessed luminaires that project shadows from their branches to create fascinating arabesques on the floor.
In today's world, though, what does the ideal city look like? What kind of features does a city need to satisfy the requirements of contemporary man? It is mankind who modifies space, but what influence does the organisation of space have on the sensations of well-being, safety and comfort of the city's inhabitants?
And what role does light play in all this?