Lighting designer Mario Nanni is in London tonight to talk about his recent project All Along Forever, which saw the Italian create a 'poem of light' on the facade of the new Gucci museum in Florence.
The spectacular light show first took place earlier this year as a celebration of the Florence-born fashion house's 90th birthday. It was such a success, however, that Florence City Council decided to bring it back for Christmas.
Taking pace from 24 December to 6 January, the project involves a series of images and colours projected onto the façade of the Palazzo di Mercanzia, a Gothic brick building in the city's Piazza della Signoria. The light show runs for 13 minutes on a continuous loop and represents a narrative inspired by the Quattrocento - the cultural and artistic epoch of Italy's 15th century - as well as the history of the Gucci fashion house itself, which was founded in 1921.
Nanni, who has pioneered the use of what he calls a 'variable image lamp' to project colours, images and words onto the facades of buildings, has also worked with architect Peter Zumthor on a project in London to light the structure Zumthor designed as part of the Serpentine Gallery's summer pavilion project.
Tonight he will present a video of All Along Forever at the London headquarters of lighting manufacturer Viabizzuno.
