Lighting project for Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi

The Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, an UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its ancient frescoes of worldwide preciousness made by several artists including Giotto, is also one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage. The biggest challenge in achieving these goals is to find a strong common theme to illuminate the three very dif-ferent parts of which the basilica consists: Crypt, Lower Basilica, and Upper Basilica. For the first part, the Crypt, we are dealing with the replacement of a simple system of graz-ing light whose difficulty lies mainly in maintenance aspects: it stays turned on 24/7 and therefore needs stable and energy saving luminaires. On the contrary the existing system of the other two parts, Lower and Upper Basilica, is inadequate and needs to be com-pletely redesigned, following an a univocal philosophy into two environments with diverse morphological characteristics. The upper Basilica stands out against the sky, its bright and spacious interior develops a significant height, while the lower Basilica was designed as an enormous crypt with ribbed vaults and dark frescoes and represents thus a compressed and gloomy space. The main unifying element between the two is the division of the nave into four bays with cross-vaulted ceiling, a transept and a polygonal apse, starting from this we chose, for the new lighting, a common typological element: a central, suspended chandelier dedicated to each section.