Chiara Carucci is the Founder and Principal Lighting Designer at Noctua, a unique lighting design firm focused on light & shade to preserve heritage sites and natural resources while enhancing visitors’ experience after dark.
The Collepardo caves are a natural wonder in the Lazio region of Italy. Noctua was selected by the Lazio region to create the lighting design for the Collepardo Caves, home to five different species of bats. Noctua worked in collaboration with local managers, guides, and a chiropterologist (a bat research scientist). The resulting lighting design contributed to raise awareness and protect this delicate ecosystem. The team collaborated with three researchers for an environmental impact assessment, including minimizing Lampenflora, a complex community of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, and ferns which can proliferate with exposure to artificial light sources within caves. The construction was carefully timed around the bats’ phenological phases (their seasonal life cycle stages).
The project served as a full-scale field experiment, verifying research protocols and best practices. Effective mitigating measures integrated into the lighting design include controlled light direction, restricted operating times, and the principle of reversibility. The team ensured minimal ecological impact, reduced energy and maintenance costs, while enhancing the visitor experience. After one year, the site had an increase in visitor numbers and improved conservation metrics. The team created a sustainable and economically viable system where heritage management and tourism support the welfare of the natural environment.
More information on Noctua, the Italian lighting design firm, can be found here.
images: Noctua.life
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