The ambitious project to re-illuminate one of the most captivating sites in the world combines technology, respect for history, and environmental consciousness, making the Trajan Markets even more evocative and accessible at night.
The Trajan Markets are now bathed in a new light thanks to an innovative and sustainable lighting project. Curated by Areti and promoted by the Dipartimento Infrastrutture e Lavori Pubblici di Roma Capitale, in collaboration with the Dipartimento di Architettura dell’Università Roma Tre and the Lighting Design Master's programme at Università La Sapienza, the initiative aims to enhance the extraordinary architecture of the monumental complex through cutting-edge technological solutions.
The technology employed includes a projection lighting system on the external walls, which diffuses a soft, uniform glow across multiple levels, creating a sense of great depth and allowing the monument to be perceived as a striking urban backdrop.
Elements such as the Torre delle Milizie (Tower of the Militia), the niches, and the internal corridor (ambulacro) have been accentuated with semi-radial lighting – a technique that uses gentle, directed beams to highlight the most important architectural details, creating a play of light and shadow that enhances their beauty and complexity.
The work involved not merely replacing existing fixtures but a complete reconfiguration of the lighting system, including the integration of previously under-lit areas, to achieve a more harmonious, functional, and historically respectful result. The warm colour temperature of 2700 Kelvin was chosen to maintain a welcoming atmosphere and to ensure continuity with the existing lighting on the opus latericium monuments, helping to create an environment that respects and celebrates the original aesthetic. Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art LED technology, 259 fixtures have been installed, with a total power of approximately 7.5 kW – a significant reduction compared to the 107 previous fixtures, which had a combined power of 11.5 kW.
This innovative setup allows for substantial energy savings, reducing environmental impact and operational costs. Furthermore, the intelligent control system enables precise calibration of each individual light point, further optimising consumption and allowing the lighting to be adapted to different atmospheres and needs, ensuring an aesthetically striking and highly functional result.
The new lighting has transformed the Trajan Markets into an even more evocative and sustainable stage, uniting past and future in a luminous embrace that makes one of Rome’s most treasured monuments even more captivating and accessible.
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