[Image: rendering of how Imperial Forums would look like at night with new lighting project.]
The Imperial Forums of Augustus, Trajan and Nerva in Rome are set to be lit at night as part of a lighting project designed by three-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro and his daughter Francesca, Rome mayor Ignazio Marino announced this week.
"The area of the Imperial Forums is the only one of its kind in the world, and it's unbelievable that it's not illuminated at night in order to make it more visible," Marino said on September 16 during the presentation of the project at the Promoteca at the Capitoline Hill.
The goal is to create a permanent art lighting system encompassing the forums of Augustus, Nerva and Trajan that will develop as a "wave of light rising from the Earth, wrapping the Temple of Mars Ultor with great intensity and then, gradually attenuating, rising from the bottom to the top to embrace the entire perimeter of the wall that delineates the Forum of Augustus”.
The mayor said completion is scheduled by April 21, 2015, Rome's birthday, although the total sum required for the project, between 1 and 1.5 million euros, has not been secured yet. He added he expects to obtain the needed money by the end of September thanks to a few sponsors that have expressed their interest.
The initial funding of 100,000 euros was donated by multinational consumer goods company Unilever.
Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro is the project’s artistic supervisor; he won three Oscars for his work on “Apocalypse Now”, “Reds”, and “The Last Emperor”. His daughter Francesca, an architect, is the lighting designer and artistic director of the project. She said during the presentation the lights will be LED, which will also guarantee energy savings.
The lighting will also serve as an extra safety measure in the area.
