Rome (Italy)
Sep 2006
2019: Retrofitted to LED
Rome seems to be a lot like Venice in that at some point the whole city seems to have been changed out for a new system, with little of the old system left. In this case, the old system has been replaced with luminaires that seem to match the old ones externally, but have tubular HPS lamps. They are still open bottomed though. Some of the main post mounted and suspended types can be seen below. In they types with the aluminium plate round the lamp, there seems to be a mechanism for moving the lamp up and down, thus directing more light down below the plate, or up through the top of the glass shade. I couldn't read any manufacturer's name anywhere.
Rome seems to be a lot like Venice in that at some point the whole city seems to have been changed out for a new system, with little of the old system left. In this case, the old system has been replaced with luminaires that seem to match the old ones externally, but have tubular HPS lamps. They are still open bottomed though. Some of the main post mounted and suspended types can be seen below. In they types with the aluminium plate round the lamp, there seems to be a mechanism for moving the lamp up and down, thus directing more light down below the plate, or up through the top of the glass shade. I couldn't read any manufacturer's name anywhere.
Update Jan 2009: There are
several Italian manufacturers producing similar fixtures, three I found
are the Ghisamestieri 'Cosenza', the Fivep (Cariboni) 'Antares', and
the AEC Illuminazione 'Rome'. 2 of these 3 I definitely saw in Rome,
although they don't directly match what's here. Given that many Italian
lighting companies amalgamated or closed over the past few decades,
it's possible that the companies listed here in an earlier incarnation
did make the 'original' fixtures...
Update May 2018: Looking at this year's Giro d'Italia coverage on TV, it seems that a lot of the lighting pictured here is unchanged, 12 years on from my visit. It's possible that, like Venice, Rome might be putting LED modules in its old architectural fixtures, but I doubt that, I reckon it's still all HPS.
Update Jul 2024: Latest GSV shows that sometime in 2019 many of the fixtures pictured here were indeed retrofitted with LED modules.
Update May 2018: Looking at this year's Giro d'Italia coverage on TV, it seems that a lot of the lighting pictured here is unchanged, 12 years on from my visit. It's possible that, like Venice, Rome might be putting LED modules in its old architectural fixtures, but I doubt that, I reckon it's still all HPS.
Update Jul 2024: Latest GSV shows that sometime in 2019 many of the fixtures pictured here were indeed retrofitted with LED modules.
From looking at the Phozagora site, these fixtures I believe are Neri Roma.
2019: Retrofitted to LED
During the daytime they really look fantastic, especially the multiple head ones, but at night the look is bad, with lots of glare and spill. The lamps are too large, don't know if they are 400W but if these fixtures were relamped with MH a couple of sizes smaller, it would do wonders for the night time look of the city.
These fixtures are Fonderia Romana Roma.
During the daytime they really look fantastic, especially the multiple head ones, but at night the look is bad, with lots of glare and spill. The lamps are too large, don't know if they are 400W but if these fixtures were relamped with MH a couple of sizes smaller, it would do wonders for the night time look of the city.
These fixtures are Fonderia Romana Roma.
2019: Retrofitted to LED
These last 3 pics are near the Colisseum, on Via dei Fori Imperiali and at the Piazza del Colosseo- the arms seem to have almost impossibly large sweeps here, bigger than the rest of the city.
These last 3 pics are near the Colisseum, on Via dei Fori Imperiali and at the Piazza del Colosseo- the arms seem to have almost impossibly large sweeps here, bigger than the rest of the city.
