Media facade for the Archaeological Museum of Istria

The first museum collections in Pula began to arise with collecting the stone monuments in the Temple of Augustus in 1802 by Marshal Marmont. It continued with the discovery of stone, ceramic and metal objects in Nezakcij (lat. Nesactium – an ancient fortified town and hill fort of the Histri tribe) and this was the basis for the foundation of the City Museum in Pula in 1902. After several transformations it went through, including moving into the current building as far back as 1925, this important cultural institution is now called the Archaeological Museum of Istria.

  • Client: The Archaeological Museum of Istria
  • Date of project: 2022

Since 2013, the magnificent museum building has been the subject of a comprehensive reconstruction, which is coming to an end, and which included the adaptation and extension of the main building, as well as the reconstruction of the Little Roman Theatre. Although spatially displaced in relation to the main building, the Little Roman Theatre is its integral part thanks to the large digital display screen located at the back of the building, with which it will be connected.

 

The delivery, installation and setting to operation the screen represents one of our most technologically complex and challenging jobs so far.

Its dimensions alone - 34.56 x 9.45 m - speak in support of the previous statement. This 320m² Nexnovo XRW10 transparent LED screen, with a resolution of 3312 x 900 pixels and transparency over 77%, is composed of 356 LED modules and placed on the inside of the glass facade. Due to the way in which the metal structure and supports of the glass facade were made, just placing the LED modules and then obtaining the complete image represented a challenge that we successfully faced.

This indoor LED transparent screen is placed at a distance of only 6 cm from the glass wall of the facade in order to reduce the reflection of the glass to the minimum possible extent.

It features 7500 nits brightness, which is ten times higher value than the one typically found with standard indoor LED screens offering at maximum 800 nits. Such a high brightness was necessary both because of the overpowering of the ambient light and because of the green shade of the facade glass itself.

 

The entire system is controlled via Novastar NovaPRO UHD Jr. central controller and the computer for playing video material.

 

The installed indoor transparent LED screen and the renovated The Little Roman Theatre will form one entirety – a modern and attractive location intended for a wide variety of interactive presentations and projections for around 1,500 spectators.

Unlike all other and only at first glance similar LED screens, which as a rule serve the purpose of displaying advertisements, the transparent LED display of the Archaeological Museum of Istria is intended to present cultural content which makes it rather unique in the world. The role of "background" for various events enables the museum to be the organizer of events such as the International Festival of Ancient Theatre.

 

In any case of use, we are sure that the new media facade of the Archaeological Museum of Istria will "transform" this building into a unique and extraordinary dynamic world that will not only passively communicate cultural messages, but also invite the audience to interact, thereby making them active consumers.

 

Photo: Dusko Marusic CiCi