New DAR museum and LD 72 SRL office building 

What is the sound of a thrill? And what colour is it? It's hard to say and complicated to describe: running fast, on two wheels, skiing down a mountain at breathless speed. Exploring space. There is something legendary and mythological in the search for the limit, a boundary that people have always tried to test in various ways. Then someone clothed this aspiration in armour. Because Lino Dainese's idea, born almost 50 years ago, was precisely that of giving shape and substance to the armour that the modern speed heroes had to wear for the challenge. From motorcycling to mountain biking, from alpine skiing even into space.

Say Dainese and your mind wanders to the suits of the motorcycle giants who forged the history of motor sport. It is one of the most recognisable Italian brands and is easily linked to a sport. A story that began in 1972 has accompanied hundreds of sportsmen and women in their endeavours. Real masterpieces of equipment and a mix of design and technology, the result of study and experimentation.

Authentic pieces of not just sports history, collected as precious relics and rightly available to the public who want to admire them in the DAR - Dainese Archivio. A museum that Dainese actually calls an Archive, a real multimedia and multisensory experience, through which you can experience and touch with your own hands the technologies and innovations that have made the advances in the world of design, safety and sports performance.

The excellence and the research of avant-garde solutions have made it possible to create an almost seamless link between Dainese and Zumtobel, who were called in to give light to the new DAR museum and to the LD 72 SRL office building in Via dell'Economia in Vicenza West.

The DAR museum was created using an 830 square metre space from the old warehouse adjacent to the Dainese shop in the Vicenza West area. A modern and avant-garde setting, where the enthusiast can enjoy an immersive experience, a real journey through the history and evolution of Dainese and sport in 19 dynamic and exciting areas.

Lighting such an attractive and fascinating space was an exciting task for Zumtobel, who focused on accent lighting using two specific products: Vivo and SuperSystem II. There are helmets, bikes, suits, explanatory panels, monitors: in all it is a living, pulsating environment. Without a doubt, the most fascinating section of the DAR is the "forest of suits"; 400 used, worn and damaged suits of riders, above all that of Valentino Rossi.

Vivo (‘living’), really. Like the Zumtobel spotlight system installed on the DALI three-phase tracks. These are improved optical systems for homogeneous and precise distribution, high-quality LED modules with perfectly calibrated lenses. The Vivo M930 are LED spotlights with stabilised colour temperature (3–4000 K), optimised for efficient and intense accent lighting, to highlight the objects being lit. The colour rendering is excellent (Ra > 90), the luminous flux 2100–3300 lm.

Zumtobel has also used another leading product: SuperSystem II. A multifunctional LED lighting tool that guarantees excellent, flexible and efficient light quality. These spotlights are specially designed for complex lighting applications like museums and art galleries. The combinations of LED plates, lenses and films generate a uniform and concentrated distribution, soft edges without scattering the light cone. High colour rendering > 90, 3000 K (LED930: warm) or 4000 K (LED940: neutral) colour temperature, with a luminous flux per head up to 145 lm (3.3 W) or 350 lm (5 W). All this for an evocative result of excellent quality.

As mentioned, Zumtobel's work also involved the 1950s building next to Dainese's Black Cube, which together with the LD72 company was transformed into the D-Air Lab. Three products were used to light these spaces: Lincor, Ondaria and Onlite Resclite. Lincor is a pendant LED luminaire, providing direct and indirect light, consisting of a compact aluminium frame, a closed optical system with LED modules combining energy saving and glare limitation (L65 < 1500 cd/m² at 65° in each direction). Ondaria is an LED luminaire for extensive lighting, which improves the feeling of well-being and makes rooms appear larger and more spacious. Round and harmonious in shape, they adapt perfectly to the environment where they are installed. And last but not least, Onlite Resclite, innovative optics for emergency lighting, which combine a minimalist design with the highest technical standards.


Foto: Michele Girardi