Badia Fiorentina, Florence
Church of St. Maria Assunta of the Badia Fiorentina, Florence, Italy
2002-2006
Client: Comunità Monastica di Gerusalemme, Firenze
Lighting Designer: Arch. Massimo Iarussi
Electrical Engineer: Ing. Mauro Garuglieri
The Church of St. Maria Assunta of the “Badia Fiorentina” (Florentine Abbey) is of particular importance in the Florentine artistic heritage, both for its architectural value and for the works that are kept there.
The project has tried to make the lighting fixtures invisible, and to obtain a disuniformity of lighting, such as to differentiate the volumes.
The apse, illuminated in a soft and indirect way to highlight the frescoes, acts as a background to the presbytery, which is illuminated in a more substantial way.
Luminaires with theatrical technology were used for the nave: fresnel spotlights for the basic lighting, and slightly blurred shapers for cutting out the rows of pews and for accent lighting of the main works housed in the church.
The Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem, which has its seat in the church, adopts a liturgy with moments of great intensity, for which different lighting scenarios have been designed, varying during the celebrations.