Italian luxury fashion house Bulgari recently relied on the power, brightness and reliability of Digital Projection’s TITAN and M-Vision range to give Dubai’s iconic Gate Building a serpentine makeover in celebration of the 75th anniversary of its Serpenti iconic collection.
Founded in 1884, Bulgari is famous for its luxury jewellery, watches and accessories. This year, the brand celebrates the 75th anniversary of Serpenti, a snake emblem that has exalted almost every Bulgari watch and piece of jewellery, with a worldwide tour. Between 15th and 24th September, Dubai played host to Serpenti: 75 Years of Infinite Tales, a celebration of the grandeur of Serpenti’s heritage.
At the heart of the milestone event held at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) gate, was an immersive projection mapping show, implemented by Dubai-based projection mapping expert company Artabesk LLC and brought to life by Digital Projection’s award-winning laser projectors.
Standing at 72 metres high and 66 metres wide, The Gate Building in DIFC, an iconic national landmark that symbolises the flow of investments into and out of the region, was turned into a monumental canvas for the occasion. Bulgari entrusted Artabesk with the task of projecting onto the building to carry out the captivating celebration of the serpent motif.
Our aim for this projection mapping show was straightforward: to give the audience a total luxury experience, leaving a lasting impact, says Mounir Harbaoui, managing director of Artabesk.
He specified ten powerful Digital Projection TITAN Laser 37000 WU 3-Chip DLP projectors, suitable for even the most demanding large-venue applications, complemented by eight 1-Chip DLP M-Vision 23000 WU projectors to achieve a mesmerising show for spectators.
The 75th anniversary show featured a stage platform, created by Artabesk, to rig the projectors and angle them towards The Gate Building. The company also double stacked 1-Chip DLP M-Vision laser projectors in order to reach similar brightness levels as one TITAN 37000. The Colorboost+Red Laser technology built into the M-Visions meant that the colour reproduction was closer to that of a 3-Chip than was previously possible. “We didn’t have enough TITAN 37000 projectors, so we decided to double stack the M-Vision 23000 WUs, which was very straightforward thanks to their integrated stacking mechanism, meaning we didn’t have to use any additional rigging frames”, explains Harbaoui. “Once we stacked the projectors we aligned them and adjusted the brightness with the help of our media server”, he adds.
Mounir Harbaoui knew that the projectors would be put under extremely harsh weather conditions, running every night for over a week under 80% humidity and would have to content with the high levels of ambient light in the area, making the proven, reliable and bright projectors from the British manufacturer the perfect choice. “Light pollution always affects projection mapping shows, this is why we opted for the Digital Projection TITAN projectors”, he explains. “We asked the surrounding venues to try and reduce the light around The Gate Building and even though there was still a significant amount of light pollution, we anticipated this challenge and were ready for it with the bright TITAN projectors”.
Alongside Digital Projection projectors, Artabesk chose Dataton WATCHOUT media server to deliver the video content for Serpenti: 75 Years of Infinite Tales. The video content was also created by Artabesk’s creative team, who developed a detailed storyboard in collaboration with the Bulgari creative team to create the show, interpreting the concept of Serpenti’s metamorphosis throughout the years.
The Artabesk team was pleased with how the project turned out: “Serpenti’s 75th anniversary projection mapping show not only provided us with the privilege to work with an iconic luxury brand but also challenged us technically to project content from the ground to The Gate Building at a short distance, seamlessly accomplished by Digital Projection’s projection technology”.
He emphasises that feedback from the audience and the Bulgari team was “overwhelmingly positive” and the “end result was a resounding success by delivering the project’s ultimate goal to leave a powerful luxury experience to the guests who came to celebrate the brand”.
Matt Horwood, director of sales, EMEA at Digital Projection is thrilled that Artabesk used the company’s products for this project:
Artabesk’s choice to rely on our TITAN and M-vision laser projectors is a testament to our commitment to delivering exceptional quality and performance. We are really proud to have played a part in bringing Bulgari’s vision to life.
