150 PROLIGHTS Fixtures Light John Howe's Works at the Tour du Fanta...

The Tour du Fantastique in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, now has a permanent PROLIGHTS lighting system, integrated by Studio Corium, with 150 fixtures spread across the building's four floors. The goal was to show John Howe's original works on paper at their best while respecting a protected medieval prison.

Housed in the city's former prisons and medieval tower, the Tour du Fantastique is a cultural venue dedicated to fantasy art. Its exhibition Voyage dans les mondes de John Howe covers more than 600 square metres and brings together over 250 drawings and paintings by the Neuchâtel-born illustrator, conceptual designer for The Lord of the Rings. Howe is also one of the project's founders and has his studio inside the tower.

The building posed clear constraints. The 13th-century prison has no false ceilings, its floors are lined with irregular stone walls and narrow passages, and heritage regulations ruled out any lasting impact on the historic structure. The artworks, all originals on paper, needed precise lighting that would also protect them.

"Deploying this installation presented significant technical challenges, which we successfully navigated thanks to a premium partnership," Mika Ventura of Studio Corium.

John Howe's drawings are lit by EclDisplay DATVW and EclDisplay DATFC fixtures, which combine high colour fidelity and fine beam control with low heat output to protect the paper. Gallery WashDATFC units bring out the medieval architecture, from the bare stone and vaults to the narrowest staircases, and mark the route between floors.

The entire lighting system is integrated via DMX and Netgear AV and managed through a unified Millumin interface alongside the video system. This keeps the technology in the background, so the artwork remains the main focus of the visit.

"Prolights fixtures delivered exceptional performance across the board, characterized by their high-precision engineering, this technical excellence was perfectly mirrored by Plusmusic AG's outstanding, precise support and reliable service delivery."
Mika Ventura of Studio Corium.

AV integration was carried out by Studio Corium, with logistics by Impact Vision and scenography by Élodie Wismer and Salomé Guillemin-Pœuf. The fixtures were supplied by Plusmusic AG, PROLIGHTS' distributor in Switzerland.

At the Tour du Fantastique, PROLIGHTS fixtures guide visitors through the tower's four floors, from John Howe's original artworks to the stone walls of the former prisons. The project confirms the precision of PROLIGHTS museum lighting, designed to bring out the artwork while preserving the architecture around it, even in the most sensitive heritage settings.

For more information, please contact: marketing@prolights.it.