A Lightbox for Art workshop.

In Fall 2014 a 4-day workshop was offered to the students at Kent State University, Florence Program, organized by Paola Giaconia (Kent State University) and Franco Pisani (ISI Florence). The collaborative design workshop challenged students to engage -though briefly- in the study of issues, ideas and practical problems in the field of lighting design for exhibition purposes.

Students from Lawrence Tech University and Miami University (attending Kent State University, Florence program), from Marywood University and University of Hartford (attending ISI Florence),
and from the Università di Firenze took part in an intensive design charrette. Their task was to pick an art piece – be it a painting or a sculpture – from the immense Uffizi Gallery’s collection and conceive the best possible way to exhibit it inside a small pavillion (3 meters by 4 meters by 5 meters), taking advantage of natural light. Each team was asked to root its design in the art piece it chose: they analyzed it, its meaning as well its aesthetic characteristics of materiality, geometry, composition. A series of drawing and modeling exercises culminated in their design strategy to best exhibit the art piece, taking advantage of natural lighitng conditions.

A series of lectures further supported the students in their investigations.

The students’ focused and sustained effort was celebrated in a public presentation of their proposals and in a small publication.