Lighting Master Plan in Ghadames, Libya.

Client:

Ecou

Year:

2009

Lighting design:

Light Cibles - Project leader: Emmanuel Clair. Project Manager – Senior lighting designer: Marta Coda

Reform:

Photography:

Client

Ecou

Year

2009

Lighting Design

Light Cibles – Project leader: Emmanuel Clair.

Project Manager – Senior lighting designer: Marta Coda.

Ghadames is an ancient pedestrian town in the middle of the desert between Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The first settlements date back 4000 years as it was a passage and rest place for nomads travelling by camel. The typical adobe architecture has been preserved since then. There is a perfect engineering in the natural ventilation, the main alleyways that connect the most frequented points by the inhabitants and also the secondary paths of the city. The roofs of all the houses are passable and connected between them, since in the past women were not allowed to circulate on the streets at ground level, and they moved from one place to another in the city through the roofs. Nowadays, the land and houses still have owners, but nobody lives in them. It has been put at the mercy of tourism. The lighting concept tries to recover the life that once held this place. Everything is lit simulating candle light in the niche used for oil lamps in the past. Light and shadow projections on the walls in the main squares and strategic points, which recall the life that existed; the market, the school, walking paths etc. At the entrance, the tourist is given an LED lantern that reminds the ancient local lanterns, to follow the tour. Everything is accompanied by the typical sounds of the daily life of the Libyan inhabitants from the past. A magical place is created that transports tourists about 2000 years ago, making them live an unforgettable experience.

Ghadames is an ancient pedestrian town in the middle of the desert between Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The first settlements date back 4000 years as it was a passage and rest place for nomads travelling by camel. The typical adobe architecture has been preserved since then.

There is a perfect engineering in the natural ventilation, the main alleyways that connect the most frequented points by the inhabitants and also the secondary paths of the city. The roofs of all the houses are passable and connected between them, since in the past women were not allowed to circulate on the streets at ground level, and they moved from one place to another in the city through the roofs. Nowadays, the land and houses still have owners, but nobody lives in them. It has been put at the mercy of tourism.

The lighting concept tries to recover the life that once held this place. Everything is lit simulating candle light in the niche used for oil lamps in the past. Light and shadow projections on the walls in the main squares and strategic points, which recall the life that existed; the market, the school, walking paths etc. At the entrance, the tourist is given an LED lantern that reminds the ancient local lanterns, to follow the tour. Everything is accompanied by the typical sounds of the daily life of the Libyan inhabitants from the past.

A magical place is created that transports tourists about 2000 years ago, making them live an unforgettable experience.