Reichstag Building

ReichstagBuilding
Architect:FosterandPartners,London
Lightingdesigner:ClaudeEngle,ChevyChase(CL)
Photographer:RudiMeisel,Berlin;AnettStuth,Berlin
Place:Berlin
Atnight,theilluminateddomeoftheReichstaghasbeenthenew
symboloftheGermancapitalsince1999:TheReichstag,built
between1884and1894followingtheplansofPaulWallot,was
renovatedbyLordNormanFostertobecometheseatoftheGerman
Bundestag(thelowerhouseoftheGermanParliament).Sinceits
reopening,avisittotheReichstagandanascentofthedomehas
beenafirmpartoftheprogramofeveryBerlintourist.
ForERCOasthemainlightingsupplier,therenovationofthe
Reichstagpresentedthechallengeofdevelopingatailoredlighting
conceptinclosecooperationwitharchitects,lightingdesigners,and
specialistengineers.
ThenewPlenaryChamberundertheglassdomeconstitutesthe
heartofthebuilding.Inhisdesign,Fosterfollowedtheconceptof
addingthecomplexfunctionsofmodernparliamentaryworkasa
contemporarylayertothecarefullyexposedhistoricalsubstance.
Withhisgeneroususeofglass,heopenedupnewvisual
relationships,givingthebuildingapreviouslynon-existentquality
oftransparencyandpermeability.
TheReichstagisequippedwithcontemporaryart,theacquisitionof
whichwasentrustedtoaspecialparliamentarycommission.Among
others,thosecommissionedwithitincludedSigmarPolke(top),
MarkusLüpertz(bottomleft),GeorgBaselitz(bottomcentre),and
JennyHolzer(bottomright,talkingtoLordFoster).
AspecialplaceamongtheartisticcontributionsintheReichstagis
occupiedbytheprayerandreflectionroom:Itwasdesignedand
laidoutinitsentiretybyGüntherUecker.Washlightsfortungsten
halogenlampsensureanevenillumination,withawallaperture
lettinginalateralglimmerofdaylight.
Theresult:Asoftandevenilluminationofthe'politicalarena',
providingahighluminousqualityforthemediademocracywithout
anyhardshadows.
Thankstotheircompactform,thelightproducedbylow-voltage
halogenlampscanbecollimatedverywell,makingthemidealfor
accentlighting.Furtheradvantagesofferedbythislightsourcesuchasbrilliantwhitelightandexcellentcolourrendition-have
meantthatithasincreasinglybeenusedforambientlightingover
thepastfewyears.ERCOconstructeddownlightsandwallwashers
fortungstenhalogenlampswith150W/24Vforthefirsttimeever
fortheReichstagproject.Thismeantthathigh-qualityhalogen
lightcouldbeusedtoilluminateroomsofupto4minheightand
more.
Lightingtheplenarychamberprovessomethingofabalancingact,
owingtoaconflictofinterestsbetweenthetechnicalrequirements
forTVtransmissionsandthevisualcomfortneedsofthemembers
ofparliament.Therefore,ClaudeEnglehadalargenumberof
spotlightsinstalledonacircumferentialgalleryinordertoreduce
glarebydistributingtherequiredluminousflux.Eachspotlightwas
individuallyfocussedandfixedtoavoiditbeingmovedduringlater
lampreplacement.
Whilethequalityofthehalogenlightwasthetoppriorityinthe
moremajesticareasofthebuilding,thefactorsusedtoselectthe
lightsourcesforthestairwayescaperouteswerecompletely
different.Thecontinuousoperationoftheluminairesmeantthat
thelowestpossibleenergyconsumptionwasofgreatimportance.At
thesametime,itwasessentialtoguaranteethattheluminaires
wouldfunctionperfectlyindirectcurrentoperationincaseofa
powerfailure.Lightcastdownlightsforcompactfluorescentlamps
fittedwithelectroniccontrolgearmeetalloftheserequirements.
TheAvalonlightstructuresusedonthegroundfloorsolvecomplex
lightingtasks:thelightinginstallationhadtobeintegrated
discreetlyintothehistoricvaultedarchitectureand,atthesame
time,becapableofholdingloudspeakers,emergencyluminaires,
escaperoutepictogramsandsensorsfordaylight-dependent
lightingcontrol.IntheReichstag,one-lampAvalonluminaireswith
60%indirectand40%directlightwereused.
DeutscherBundestag
PlatzderRepublik1
11011Berlin
Telephone:+4930/227-0
Fax:+4930/227-36878or227-36979
www.bundestag.de
E-Mail:mail(at)bundestag.de
Thoseinvolved:
Buildingsponsor:FederalRepublicofGermany
Architects:FosterandPartners
(SirNormanFoster,DavidNelson,MarkBraun,ChristianHallmann,
UlrichHamann,DieterMüller,IngoPott)
www.fosterandpartners.com
Designofsupportingstructure:LeonhardtAndrä&Partner
Lightingplanning:Amstein&Walthert/KarnaschIngenieurges.
mbH,Zurich/Berlin
Architecturallighting:ClaudeR.Engle,ChevyChase/Maryland
Technicallighting:IngenieurbüroHolk&Kaletta,Berlin
Electricalinstallation:Elektro-AnlagenbauWismarGmbH
Visitinginformationat:
www.bundestag.de/interakt/besuch/index.html
Furtherinformationonthebuildingat:
www.bundestag.de/bau_kunst/index.html