Project: AEM Headquarter

AEM - Azienda Energetica Municipale (Municipal Electricity Company) is situated in Milan’s city centre. Both as an electricity producer and provider, AEM wanted its headquarters to project an image of luminous - rather than illuminated - light at night. The building, designed in the 1950s by architect Cassi-Ramelli, has a smooth lower façade with a large glass triple-height entrance and a distinctive upper section decorated with a tightly knit pattern of architrave-framed windows. Here, a new concept of light and architecture was tested out. Working on the web of intradoses, the lighting is taken to the very edge of the façade. A twin-bulb fixture was specially designed and custom produced in small batches, equipped with a special optical device to generate and control a 120º fan-like emission. The fixture was then "industrialized", patented and manufactured by iGuzzini. The first version was originally called “Edge” and featured halogen bulbs, followed by “Radius”, which also used metal halide lamps.