The stadium’s three- dimensional sail-like canopies created a challenge for the lighting designers
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THE NEW 34,000-capacity Bunyodkor Stadium was inaugurated at the end of August last year to coincide with the 21st celebration of Uzbekistan’s Independence Day, on 1 September. For several days Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, held numerous sports events, folk shows, musical productions and craft fairs, all enhanced
by fireworks and breathtaking city lighting.
As a part of this, Bunyodkor Stadium – the biggest sports facility in Uzbekistan and home to the local football team, FC Bunyodkor – required a lighting system that would be able to overcome the many structural challenges this pioneering arena posed.
Supported by 64 columns,
the three-dimensional sail- like canopies that embellish the entire exterior perimeter of this bowl-shaped stadium were identified as a core element of the whole structure. According to the lighting designers, sails and columns had to be enhanced by perfectly even colour shades, smoothly cross-
fading in a faultless alternation of soft pastel hues and matching tones. They also had to stand out from the background walls of the stadium, thus offering a further element of optical contrast. This was achieved using LED lighting fixtures, dimmable and individually manageable via a W-DMX
LIGHTING GRIVEN ZAPHIR RGBW WIDE LED colour changers GRIVEN DUNE MK2 RGBW MEDIUM LED colour changers GRIVEN POWERSHINE S RGBW LED wall washers W-DMX receiver W-DMX transmitter
A striking new stadium needed a lighting system to match its impressive design, as James Christopher discovers