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Russia - Light for the historic façade of the Yekaterinburg Arena

Yekaterinburg Central Stadium, now officially known as Yekaterinburg Arena, is a multi-purpose sports venue, which boosts a long story of successes having hosted in the course of the years thousands of sports and entertainment events. Built in 1957 on the very same ground which had hosted in 1900 the Velodrome, in 1928 the Regional Stadium and in 1936 the Metallurg of the East, the Central Stadium underwent, among the others, a major reconstruction in 2017 on the occasion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. One of the 12 venues in 11 host cities chosen for the world football championship, Yekaterinburg Arena was the eastern-most among the 2018 World Cup sites, the only one in Asian Russia and, by the way, also the only venue, which was not specifically built for the 2018 World Cup

The general reconstruction completely changed the appearance of the sports venue, which had to comply with the FIFA requirements and safety measures in order to be able to host the football matches. The newly built structure hosts a modern multipurpose complex outstanding for its technical, engineering and organizational features. Its capacity was temporarily extended to over 35.000 spectators, reduced after the world championship to around 23.000 seating. However, this huge renovation did not affect the architectural layout of the main historic façade, recognized as a cultural heritage of the 20th century.

Architecture of the "Central" stadium

Left untouched by the many renovations, the main façade of the Central Stadium is, as a matter of fact, an example of Stalinist neoclassicism. Located in the eastern pavilion, which features the main entrance to the stadium from Repin Street, the old façade is a symmetrical composition where a four-story glazed central part, marked by a six-column portico in Doric style crowned by a straight parapet wall, is completed by sloping side walls featuring minor entrance doors.

The walls of the descending side parts are characterized by niches topped by high relief arches. Architectural and decorative elements typical of the Soviet neo-classicism are clearly recognizable in the layout of the façade, as well as monumental and decorative artworks of the period, expressed in the use of sculptures, various kinds of decorations and stucco details. Moreover, the sculptures - representing a steelworker, a girl with a torch, a football player, a shooter, a skier and a worker – have been accurately restored. Bas-reliefs and flowerpots, which previously existed only on paper, were added according to the original layout. The original yellow color of the walls was replaced at the final stage with a tobacco shade of grey so that the stadium could harmoniously fit into the surrounding urban environment.

Lighting up the historic façade

The main façade undoubtedly plays the lion’s share within the architectural and artistic lighting of the arena. The front columns are the starting point of the development of the lighting concept involving the whole arena. Owing to the many different opinions concerning the final colour of the façade, tunable white fixtures were chosen in order to keep different doors open. In-ground LED fixtures of the DUNE MC series in Dynamic White configuration were embedded in couples at the base of the six columns.

Delivered in a custom-made version with a specifically developed flange, the DUNE MC units are featured in the new RDM version, which allows to control the units via the Remote Device Management (RDM) protocol, making life much easier for professionals who design and operate a control system. Without leaving the control room, the operator has the possibility to configure the devices from the general panel to remotely assign DMX addresses, and to obtain online information about the state of the devices at any time.

The installed DUNE MC units evenly enhance the columns in their entire height. The planned reduction in illumination at the highest point of the columns allows to focus the attention on the thematic sculptures crowning each of the six massive pillars.

Moreover, in order to harmonize the architectural image of the whole front façade, the high relief columns which characterize the sloping sides of the arena have also been illuminated with the help of DUNE MC, installed at the base of every single column. The dimming option of the installed fixtures allows to choose the optimal intensity of illumination, depending on the height of the illuminated element.

The elegant and quite classic white light used on the historic part of the arena visually divides the building into two parts mirroring two completely different epochs, perfectly woven together and harmoniously coexisting in an optimal blend of styles. The capability of adjusting the color temperature contributes to seamlessly connect these areas, whereas the rich history of the past elegantly matches with the futuristic metal structures of the newly built part of the arena.

Products installed:

44 x GRIVEN DUNE MC DW SPOT OPTICS

Credits:

Concept, lighting design, supply and installation of equipment: MT Electro, Ekaterinburg

Photo: press-service of FSUE "Sport-In", TASS, E1.RU