Posted: 16 November 2021

The Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) will be joined by Emmy award-winning Lighting Designer, Eleftheria Deko for an upcoming webinar on lighting the Acropolis of Athens, taking place online from 13:00 (GMT) and 23 November 2021.

Find out more and register today

Undoubtedly one of the most significant architectural landmarks in the world, in 2019 the Greek Ministry of Culture, with support from the Onassis Foundation invited proposals to redesign the lighting scheme for the Acropolis of Athens and its surrounding monuments. Athens-based, Eleftheria Deko and Associates Lighting Design were selected after proposing an entirely new lighting scheme.

The Society will be joined by Eleftheria Deko for a comprehensive look at this monumental project, looking at the previous scheme, the concept development, challenges and the final, multi-award-winning scheme.

Photo: Gavriil Papadiotis from the archives of Eleftheria Deko
The Acropolis of Athens is a living symbol that has stood the test of time as one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. Eleftheria Deko and Associates Lighting Design were tasked with designing new lighting for the Sacred Rock, the fortification walls, and the 17 monuments:

“The whole process of lighting Acropolis and its 17 monuments (among them The Parthenon, Erectheion, Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the ancient theatre of Dionysus), was a multidimensional journey for us. From the first visits onsite, we felt that we had to leave aside our existing knowledge and experience as lighting designers and first focus on ‘listening’ to the monument. It was as if we were listening to our ancestors, re-reading our history, baptised in our Ancient Greek culture. It was the greatest honour and responsibility.

We approached the monuments first with respect. Before applying our thoughts on “paper”, before deciding on the technology and the lighting fixtures, we observed the characteristics of this unique place, studied its history, the forms and materials, the visibility from different points of the city and the significance of this landmark. Our design approach was to highlight the beauty of the architecture, the timelessness of sculptures, the whiteness of the Pendelikon marble in contrast to the robustness of the Sacred rock and the heroism of the fortification walls.”

Photo: Gavriil Papadiotis from the archives of Eleftheria Deko

As well as discussing the initial site assessment, Eleftheria Deko will outline the successful bid for the project, including the development of a 3D model to demonstrate the proposed scheme to the stakeholders. She will outline the challenges and necessary restrictions faced concerning conversing and protecting the UNESCO World Heritage site and following an overview of the design approach for this multi-award-winning project, there will be a look back at the spectacular audio-visual launch event.

Find out more about this extraordinary project and the work carried out by Eleftheria and her team via arc magazine.

Additionally, the project was awarded ‘Best of the Best’ for 2020 and won the Structures – High Budget and the Event categories in the 2020 the [d]arc awards

Find out more and register for this webinar today

This webinar has been organised by the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL). If you have any quesitons or if you would like to find out about becoming a member of the SLL, please contact sll@cibse.org

https://www.cibse.org/news-and-policy/november-2021/lighting-the-acropolis-of-athens,-sll-announce-exc