[ GALLERY ]

New light on the Nevsky Prospect

The Nevsky Prospect is the main thoroughfare of St Petersburg, a busy place, and the traditional centre of city life. By reputation, St Petersburg is one of the few European capitals to retain the perhaps rather provincial concept of a town centre. Locals and tourists alike congregate there: Gogol described the Nevsky Prospect as Petersburg’s universal point of convergence.

The central character of the place has precise historical connotations. In 1737 a special town planning committee was set up to rule on how the city would develop around a central location - the Nevsky Prospect of today. So it was that the nobility began building fine palaces, although none of these was permitted to exceed the Winter Palace in height. Since the Nevsky Prospect took shape over a relatively long period of some 150 years, it is lined by buildings in different styles, from baroque to modern, and a stroll along its 4.5 km offers what amounts to a potted course in the history of Russian architecture.

The lighting design implemented along the avenue aimed at rendering the illumination visually homogeneous on what is such an important arterial route through the city. Different fixtures are used, combining to produce various effects. Linealuce units are mounted on cornices, Radius fittings throw blades of light onto windows, whilst Platea and Maxiwoody floods are used as wall washers.