AEM
The Azienda Energetica Municipale (Municipal Electricity
Board) is situated in Milan city centre and, as both a generator and supplier of electricity,
it wanted its headquarters to project an image of luminous, non-illuminated light at nighttime.
The building, designed by the architect Cassi-Ramelli in the 1950s, has a smooth lower facade
with a wide glass triple-height entrance and distinctive upper section decorated with tightly-knit
pattern of architraved windows. A new concept of light and architecture was tested out. Working
on the web of intradoses, light is taken to the very edge of the facade. A twin-lamped appliance
was custom-designed in small numbers with a special optical device to control the fan-like 120°
emission of light. The appliance was then "industrialised", patented and manufactured by iGuzzini
(originally called "Edge" in its first version with a halogen lamp and then "Radius" that also
used metal iodide lamps).
Milan, Italy