ENG | ITA

By now the studio-laboratory in Via Presolana 5 is the point of reference of a lifetime; Piero’s father Livio bought it in the 1950s, when - while still working on radio, television and sound - he loved above all else to experiment and play around with available technologies, assisted by a technician/guide and a faithful secretary. Livio worked with Piero on developing what would become the “Scintilla” system; together they analyzed the quality of light emitted by new halogen light sources and their potential uses. Back then, halogen bulbs were available only by importing them to Europe. They were astonishing for their brilliance, lifespan, reduced sizes and availability both at standard wall voltage as well as in very low-voltage options. They could be arranged in series or parallel configurations, offering infinite combinations; but above all, they allowed architectural spaces to be used as huge reflecting elements. Art galleries, historic buildings and temporary exhibitions were the first places where experimentation with these new light sources took place. Over the years, unprotected (“naked”) halogen bulbs, installed either on special support-power cables or on tinned copper rods, became fully fledged systems for cables, walls, ceilings, tables and floors, under the name of “Scintilla”, and after years of been produced by hand in the Via Presolana studio-laboratory, the model was licensed for industrial production at the beginning of the 1980s, a production that continues even today after more than three decades. After Livio’s death in 1979, it was up to Piero alone to continue developing the business; it was around the same time that Chiara Baldacci joined the studio. With the opening of the first courses in lighting design at the faculty of architecture at the Politecnico di Milano University and the commission for the lighting of Musee D’Orsay, the professional figure of the lighting architect was born; this marked the start of a lifelong journey, in which many workgroups have been formed in the studio, featuring young architects collaborating together on various lighting projects, including exhibitions, museums, galleries, theatres, offices, shops, schools, private residences, parks, gardens, monuments, squares, boulevards, archeological areas and installations, but also greenhouses for cultivating maize and lighting systems for fur selection: a truly collective workshop that has continued throughout the years. New technologies, applied to both architecture and light bulbs, the appearance of new light sources, innovations in information technology and the formalization of regulations that pay more attention to the developing ecological awareness provide constant stimuli for updating, researching and finding new and original solutions. Former young collaborators often develop their own professionalism, moving on to open their own studios and – having become "colleagues" – become "temporary partners" for particularly resource-demanding projects. Each commission has different origins and its own unique story: private individuals, public institutions, architects and lighting appliance manufacturers are our customers but also our partners and interlocutors, who participate in the projects’ development: they raise questions, expect functional solutions to the visual needs of their projects and aim for an integrated image of space, architecture, light and visual comfort. They push for innovative solutions, new fixtures, specially executed one-off appliances and integration. Throughout the years, from project to project, a network and a system of internal and external collaborations have been formed which have made and continue to make up the history of the Via Presolana studio-laboratory.