Ornamental lighting of the Cathedrals of Plasencia.

Ornamental

Agencia Extremeña de la Energía. Ayuntamiento de Plasencia

2019

This is the ensemble of two cathedrals: The Old Cathedral, which is a very interesting example of transition from Romanesque to Gothic, and the New Cathedral, whose construction spans the 15th and 16th centuries in the Gothic-Renaissance style.
Intervento won the contest of ideas for the design and remodelling of the ornamental lighting of the cathedrals, as well as the technical direction of the installation.

The new lighting has a hermeneutic approach and is constructed avoiding flooding techniques as far as possible in order to seek a balance between perception at a certain distance and close-up. The sum of partial illuminations enables an appropriate appreciation of the morphology of the buildings, even adding particular highlights that help to better understand this historic architecture.
One of the most important elements is the great brick dividing wall, the border between the two cathedrals, to which we wanted to draw attention with lighting of different tones. Highlighting the unfinished architecture helps raise awareness of the construction process over the centuries.
Special care has been taken to ensure that the lighting does not disturb the bird species that live on the roof of the cathedral, ensuring that the light does not reach the areas closest to the nests. In addition, all the equipment installed on the architecture is hidden from view and has been installed with strict reversibility criteria.

Work carried out: Project and technical direction of the exterior lighting.

Photographs: José Luis de la Parra.