The disused blast furnaces of Luxembourg’s biggest ironworks in Belval on the border to France are an unfamiliar view. The complex structure of cylinders, tubes, pipes, stairs and beams rises up to 100 metres. In summer 2014, the conservation works on the two blast furnaces has been concluded and Ingo Maurer’s lighting concept, commissioned in 2008, was subsequently implemented.

For Ingo Maurer and his team, it was essential to capture the spirit of the place and to underline the role of the furnaces in the new surroundings. Accordingly, one of the first decisions in the design process was to use mainly white lights in various nuances. The use of gaudy coloured illumination of landmarks that was popular at the time did not seem appropriate. Instead, he chose to use distinct contrasts of bright and dark areas, inspired by black and white movies by Fritz Lang and Sergej Eisenstein. Large parts of the furnaces are left in darkness; others seem to be lit up randomly. Their shadows appear on large tubes behind. Only the lower part of the furnace glows red. Depending on the viewpoint, only glimpses of the red cylindrical building are visible. Here, orange lighting is used to emphasize the rust.

For the inauguration and other special occasions in the future, a powerful searchlight and a fog machine are part of the installation. On the public space around the blast furnaces, five outdoor lighting objects by Ingo Maurer have been installed. The lighting concept offers several settings. Apart from the festive lighting with search light and fog machine, the slightly reduced ‚everyday‘ version captures the monumental structure of the blast furnaces from all sides, putting emphasis on selected elements. For visibility and impact from afar, the bleeders on top of the furnaces are highlighted, and one of the chimneys is illuminated to underline its full height.

In the renovation process of the blast furnaces, Ingo Maurer and his team also provided consulting concerning the colours and varnishes to be used on the tubes. Many of them have been painted in a warm grey tone. A special clear varnish has been used to conserve some of the rusty pipes, which is particularly difficult given the complex structure and the huge surfaces.

Esch-sur-Alzette is on the border to France, a short drive from Luxembourg city. An extensive urban regeneration programme has been carried out to transform the industrial wasteland into a lively scientific and cultural centre.Apart from the ‘street lights’ and lighting of the blast furnaces, Ingo Maurer has realized two other projects nearby: a light installation for the entrance area of an administrative building and an extraordinary object for the foyer of a concert hall for Rock music, the Rockhal, finished in 2006 respectively 2007. During summer and autumn, one of the blast furnaces is open for visits in the day time, on the weekend, an additional guide tour is offered. Further information on www.fonds-belval.lu