Jahnplatz, Bielefeld (DEU)

Lighting also played a central role in the redesign of Jahnplatz in Bielefeld. It had to ensure both safety and a pleasant atmosphere and bathe the square in a special light on important occasions. The lighting design studio ENVUE HOMBURG LICHT developed the concept for customized ewo luminaires.

25 "night suns" of different sizes now hover above the city's central traffic junction—suspended from a cable system that is as complex as it is delicate. Each night sun is the result of a special craftsmanship process. The outer shell is made of multi-layered fiberglass, which has been elaborately painted to play with the daylight through reflections.

The fiberglass shell is supported by an internal metal structure into which spot lenses with different symmetrical and asymmetrical light distributions are integrated: AG03 Symmetric Flood 50°, AH02 Symmetric Wide Flow and Asymmetric Side Throw. These provide accentuated yet standard-compliant lighting for Jahnplatz. The indirect RGBW lighting of the fiberglass shell provides the colorful and dynamic illumination of Jahnplatz on important occasions, such as the Bielefeld Night Views, Christmas or the traditional local Leineweber Festival. With the intelligent control system from connexx, the smart lighting brand from ewo, each luminaire can be controlled individually. This creates everything from purely functional lighting to a pulsating play of colors with every conceivable lighting mood.

"The result of these customized, intelligent lighting fixtures is characterized by a harmonious and flowing color transition from white to colored light and envelops the Jahnplatz in a fascinating ambience. On a technical level, our innovative, interconnected hardware components and a user-friendly graphical finish are crucial, enabling immediate commands and thus reactions," says Michele Santuari, Head of ewo.digital.

The intelligent lighting infrastructure from connexx was also requested for other areas of the city. In order to standardize the lighting system, 75 connexx technical luminaires from a third-party provider were installed along the side streets of Jahnplatz in. These luminaires can now also be controlled synchronously with the night suns and integrated into lighting scenes. The city's central on/off signal, which is used to control all of the city's lighting, has been integrated into the connexx control panel system. This standardizes and simplifies control considerably and enables significant energy savings.

Sascha Homburg, partner responsible for the project at ENVUE HOMBURG LICHT on the project: "The square has a highly concentrated use of different participants and differentiated urban spaces: vehicle traffic, cyclists, pedestrians, subway exits, waiting and recreation areas and temporary events. The challenge: different lighting requirements and expectations in each case. Our proposal was a high-quality lighting theme in terms of design, which formally combines the existing individual lighting themes and solves all the lighting requirements on its own. The special project luminaires designed and developed specifically for the square each have their own light emission characteristics and light intensity—so each night sun is unique in its own right. The total of 25 luminaires gives the square a finely tuned functional light depending on its usage zones.

The indirect lighting of the ring-shaped structure creates a special night scene at Bielefeld's Jahnplatz: floating rings of light bridge the important urban axis between the new and old town!