The social character of a lighting project

Susanna Antico's lighting design studio is responsible for the lighting project of the Antwerp Station building, the Cathedral of Binarios (the Cathedral of Our Lady or in Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal)

Light. It completes the aesthetics and functionality of our homes and the spaces, interior and exterior, that are part of our everyday life. And it designs, without us almost being directly aware of it, the urban backdrops and public spaces of our cities, making them more beautiful, scenic and easy to experience at any time of the day or night.

We can therefore easily attribute aesthetic and functional qualities to light. There is, however, a further quality of light that often remains hidden in the shadows - pardon the pun, it was inevitable: it is that linked to its social aspect. We talk about this - and much more, always on the subject of light - with Susanna Antico, of the international lighting design studio of the same name.

Susanna, exploring the portfolio of your design studio, I see that you deal not only with specific lighting projects, but also with Lighting Masterplans, i.e., documents that contain guidelines for lighting design on a territorial scale and that outline the possibility of carrying out certain interventions that are coordinated and consistent with the political and social vision shared by the administration. Are your studio's projects for Antwerp the result of a Masterplan designed for the Flemish city?

“Yes, my relationship with Antwerp and its virtuous and open-minded administration started many years ago and still continues today, with some recent projects such as the one for the Cathedral and the Station. In fact, in 2009 the Lighting Masterplan was approved, the Plan of Light, within which the guidelines on the basis of which we have developed our various projects can be found. In general, the city invests a lot in the concept of beauty and scenic character of its spaces and the buildings that enclose them, also in relation to the specificity of the local architecture, which plays a lot with monumentality and the surprise of ‘chiaroscuro’, an Italian term which can be translated as light-dark, and refers to the balance and pattern of light and shade in a painting or drawing.”

Last year, with an official inauguration on 4 May 2023, the new façade lighting of Antwerp Station was completed by Studio Antico. The construction on site took only a very short time, following a selection of possible designers through a two-stage competition, which ended in 2020. The construction covered the three main facades and excluded only the one facing the railway tracks. The current appearance of the building, constructed between 1895 and 1905 on the site of the previous one, is the brainchild of Louis Delacenserie, a Belgian architect from Bruges. Between 1998 and the early 2000s, the architecture, which was in an advanced state of decay and was at risk of demolition, was renovated and adapted to the new functional requirements of public transport, transforming it from a head station to a through station.

With the new lighting project, the Station - a true jewel of the city's architecture, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady - now returns to its former glory and also plays a new and unprecedented social role. Susanna, can you tell us which one?

“The station area in Antwerp is quite problematic and this, as you can imagine, is in line with what happens in other European cities. The use of the building is varied, conspicuous and fragmented and this, at different times of the day and especially at night, can cause situations of possible risk. Illuminating a building, such as the Station, which overlooks a large square and is in immediate visual and spatial connection with other places of interest (the Zoo, which is very well known and frequented, and the ‘Koningin Elisabethzaal’ (Queen Elisabeth hall)) means enhancing not only the building, but also the space it overlooks. In this sense we can speak of the social aspect of light, that is, of an architectural tool which, going beyond its purely architectural, functional and aesthetic qualities, becomes a real starting point for a possible redevelopment of the place and the activities that take place in it at different times of the day. The Station Square, strengthened by the new lighting of the building that dominates it, becomes therefore no longer just a space of passage, but a real place to be.”

What kind of lighting did you use to bring the project to life? Are there any tricks to match what you need to emphasise the architectural and decorative aspects of the building with what you want to achieve regarding the safety of the place?

“The project favoured vertical lighting, which made it possible both to highlight the specific features of the Station building and its monumental character, and to define a well-lit and safe environment in terms of perception. The vertical lighting, in fact, is not dazzling and allows one to see against the light, reassuring those who use it. The intervention on the Station, moreover, is a prelude to the larger one that sees in the immediate future the redevelopment of the public space of the square in front of it.”