Italy - First opened in 1961 to celebrate the centenary of the Unification of Italy, Turin's Palavela has recently come to new life after extensive renovation works, in time to host the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Designed by Gae Aulenti and Arnaldo De Bernardi to host the figure skating and short track speed skating events, the Palazzo del Ghiaccio (Ice Palace) has turned out to be the first of a series of major Olympic construction projects to be completed in Turin: the complete renovation of this historic building has produced a truly magnificent architectural and technological gem, at a total cost of 35 million Euros. The prestigious venue was deservedly inaugurated in style with a spectacular opening ceremony, followed by the European Short Track and Figure Skating Championships.Coemar, as always, played its part in the success of the event with a lighting rig supplied by Mixer, for light designer Giovanni Pinna. The rig included batteries of Flex iSpots capable of illuminating with the most striking effects a structure with a total covered area of 7,000sq.m and a track measuring almost 1,800sq.m.
(Lee Baldock)
