Philips Lighting not only illuminated  the entire art collection with LED lighting, we also illuminated the whole exterior of the building with LED.  And the Rijksmuseum is no small building — looming over the Amsterdam horizon with unparalleled majesty on a grand scale — yet composed of exquisite details such as mosaics, sculpture, and rich materials in a red-tan-gold palette.

My colleagues in the marketing department at Color Kinetics setup a Rijksmuseum project page for the exterior lighting.

We used Color Kinetics eW (“essential white”) Powercore series of products, including the Blast, Reach, Burst G2 and Graze products — all in a monochromatic 2700K warm white.  We worked hard to keep the fixtures close to the building, resulting in a predominantly grazing effect, which helps to “pop” the carved relief of the integral art on the facades.  As part of the Philips Design Iconic Projects Team, we created the basic lighting concept, and my colleague Petra Hulst in the local Philips Lighting Netherlands team executed the final detailing and installation.  The result is spectacular:  The artistic richness of the building really “pops” at night, with an overall golden tone.