The Louvre’s First LED Exterior Lighting Sets the Pyramid Aglow

 


Toshiba Corporation has completed the first stage of renewing external lighting at the Louvre, the world’s most popular art museum.
The lighting ceremony took place in Paris on 6 December in the presence of 450 invited guests from across Europe. The countdown numbers for the illumination were projected onto the Palace’s Cour Napoleon façade and at the flick of a switch by Louvre Director Henri Loyrette and Toshiba’s President Norio Sasaki, the Pyramid, Pyramidion and Pavilion Colbert were all simultaneously illuminated. The space, now bathed in new light, was filled with loud cheers and applause.
After speeches by Loyrette and Sasaki ,a reception commenced with the traditional Japanese Kagami-biraki barrel opening. Pools, evocative of the ponds surrounding the Pyramid, were set up within the event venue, and elicited exclamations from guests at the beauty of the ceiling lights reflecting on their surface. The display set up within the event area featured a number of exhibits including the LED lighting installed in the Louvre Museum for this project; a “making of” video of the LED lighting installation through to completion; and the history of Toshiba’s lighting technology.
As the conventional exterior lighting of The Louvre was reaching its end of life, the museum recognized the value of replacing the old, high-energy xenon lighting with energy-efficient LEDs. Toshiba has delivered and installed its latest LED products and fittings and designed the lighting to bring out the intrinsic beauty of the museum. Fittings include high-beam lamps that illuminate the Pyramid and the palace walls.
Work on replacing the museum’s old lighting will continue: the remaining facades of the Napoleon Court will be completed in the first half of 2012, and the courtyard will follow in 2013. Toshiba will provide a total of 3200 LED luminaires to replace 4500 xenon lighting fixtures and will cut annual power consumption for the exterior lighting by 73%.