Designed to withstand very strong winds and earthquakes, this twisted flame tower symbolizes the intimate connection of this country with fire. Azerbaijan has long been called "the land of fire" owing to its many gas fields causing the phenomena of "burning hillsides". The flame also represents Azerbaijan’s success as an oil and gas producing nation. Every night, since the end of last year, a giant burning flame has been celebrating this ancestral bond with a dynamic game of light, fire, water and music, where different articulated patterns display an unforgettable eye-catching show.
The structure's modular design allowed it to be manufactured in sections and subsequently fitted with over 1,500 banks of LED lights fixed directly onto the tower body and concealed behind specially manufactured glass rod cladding rails that allow an even diffusion of the light coming from the LED profiles. The LED lighting fixtures required for this extraordinary project needed to be first of all highly flexible, modular and fully reliable being installed onto a 30 metre high structure sited in a harsh weather beaten location. Moreover, a full digital control over all functions was a vital requirement in order to seamlessly manage the complex lighting scheme of the flame sculpture, which was also required to harmonize with the water jets choreography of the three surrounding fountains. GRIVEN was able to offer in a record time a fully custom made independent pixel modular bar that could comply with all the required features of this project and, at the same time, compete with different solutions coming from other lighting companies. Tailored versions of the newly engineered Graph-i-Code were therefore chosen by Baku’s Municipality to comply with the need to perfectly adapt the lighting modules to the twisting shape of the tower. Graph-i-Code is a newly conceived versatile and powerful architectural lighting solution that features numerous configuration set-ups for the maximum application flexibility in the pixel lighting industry. Mounted on large surfaces, this high impact IP65 full colour LED module can be used to screen low resolution video-footage, or display a boundless layout of graphic patterns. Moreover, Graph-i-Code adaptability is further enhanced by the number of LEDs this profile can host and by the custom length it can consequently feature. In this case, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 independent pixel modules were slotted together on the triple helix shaped sculpture in order to guarantee an optically seamless general perception of the delivered images.
Some figures: 1,572 Graph-i-Code banks, featuring a total number of 8,688 single pixels corresponding to 26,064 DMX channels, are managed by a software and hardware lighting control system, which is made up of 30 DMX Output interface units (AL2026) and 1 Lighting Media Server (AL2025). Each DMX line has been insulated by 60 DMX insulators (AL2085). Along with the lighting and control system, GRIVEN has also delivered a dedicated control board for the management of both electrical connections and lighting effects. A dedicated on-site programming has been optimally developed directly by GRIVEN’s engineers.
