projects | Viabizzuno progettiamo la luce

the old-village centre of pentedattilo, perched on a crag between the rivers s. elia and melito, is located 250 m above sea level and just 36 kilometres from reggio calabria. founded in 640 b.c. by the calcidesi people, it stands on an area once known as 'ancient greece'. a strongly disunited area where, in some places, traditions and language are still preserved directly inherited from the greeks, who in ancient time colonised a large part of southern Italy.these lands of calabria were the most affected by natural disasters and the most exploited by a handful of rich landowners. the environmental catastrophes often reaped victims: the earthquake of 1908 seriously damaged the old town centre, making it almost uninhabitable and, in 1961, the number of residents had fallen below two hundred. in 1968, the town, threatened by landslides, was declared dangerous and was finally abandoned in 1971. in recent years however, the restructuring of a number of buildings has slowly begun to bring the old village back to life.the aim of this artistic lighting project is to enhance the old dwelling centre of pentedattilo, so that it might emerge in the context in which it finds itself, in view of its dominating position over the surrounding environment.the lighting system has been split into areas, each of which has been identified so as to make it independent from an electricity viewpoint, and generally speaking an attempt has been made to create groups based on homogeneous types of areas to be lit up.the entire system has therefore been split up into 14 ‘dedicated' environments.