Light for moving stories
Lukas Palik
Bespoke ERCO lighting solutions showcase art and remembrance with exceptional color accuracy and flexibility
With Fenix Museum, Rotterdam has not only created another architectural landmark, but also an extraordinary place for art and remembrance. The art and cultural center is dedicated to the global history of migration. It occupies a restored 1923 Holland-America Line warehouse on Rotterdam’s Katendrecht peninsula. Millions departed from here for the USA – or arrived here, hoping for a new life.
The museum was designed by Chinese architecture firm MAD Architects. They capped the former warehouse with the "Tornado", a mirrored double-helix staircase featuring a viewing platform. It rises prominently above the building and offers visitors a panoramic view over the city and harbor. The diverse and impressive exhibition spaces within the museum, which opened in 2025, are perfectly staged by ERCO LED track spotlights.
Lukas Palik
Within the 172‑metre-long building, approximately 7,000 square meters across two levels were outfitted with ERCO lighting tools; around 1,000 LED track spotlights were installed. "Part of the brief was to integrate as few installations as possible into the historic architecture," explains lighting designer Juliette Nielsen of Beersnielsen Lichtontwerpers. "Therefore, we utilized existing openings in the concrete structure for cable trays and tracks." All tracks in the exhibition areas are aligned uniformly; yet the varied exhibits appear freely placed - and will be rearranged for each future exhibition.
From paintings to passports: A versatile range of spotlights masters a wide array of exhibition scenarios
On the upper floor, the opening exhibition "All Directions: Art That Moves You” brings together a wide variety of works: Alongside a decommissioned bus turned walk-in sculpture and a section of the Berlin Wall, the exhibition features paintings such as a Rembrandt behind glass, photographic and video works, and small exhibits like a passport in a showcase. To address this diversity, the lighting designer implemented a continuous lighting concept combining diffuse general lighting with flexible accent lighting. And with the consistent choice of a particularly versatile LED spotlight from ERCO that provides all the necessary light distributions and illumination levels in a uniform design.
The upper floor maintains the open, expansive atmosphere of the former warehouse. The lighting concept, combining gentle ambient illumination with bold accent lighting, reinforces this sense of spaciousness. — Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
Track-mounted Parscan LED spotlights, available in 8W, 24W and 48W and featuring interchangeable beam distributions, deliver a contemporary, energy-efficient lighting scheme with outstanding color rendering. A consistent housing design across all units ensures a sleek and cohesive aesthetic. The “Standard Silver” finish blends seamlessly with the existing cable tracks throughout the exhibition spaces. — Lukas Palik
"Parscan from ERCO is a product line that impresses with its flexibility and range," says the lighting designer, who personally handled the placement and fine alignment of each spotlight in the lead-up to the museum opening. Parscan spotlights, in two housing sizes and wattages from 8W to 48W, were employed uniformly in neutral white 4000K.
Colors like daylight: High color temperature and excellent color rendering index (CRI 97) enable precise color presentation
As part of the “ERCO individual” service, all Parscan spotlights were customized to deliver an enhanced CRI 97 (rather than the standard CRI 92) at Beersnielsen Lichtontwerpers’ request. Combined with the 4000K color temperature, this results in vivid and highly accurate color reproduction. "The customized Parscans with 4000K/CRI 97 emit a bright, neutral light, that blends well with daylight,” explains Juliette Nielsen.
Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
She also worked with high illuminance levels to accommodate the special daylight situation in the upper-floor exhibition spaces, with high ceilings and large glass surfaces in the facade and the shed roofs. "From a curatorial perspective, there were no concerns/no lux restrictions, so we were able to use the larger Parscan (48W) version here," explains the lighting designer.
Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
To ensure optimal display of each exhibit and consistent illumination across artworks in rooms up to six meters high, the decision was made to predominantly use spot and narrow‑spot distributions. For the sharply defined illumination of very small exhibits, such as the passport behind glass, Optec contour spotlights (28W) were used.
The “Suitcase Maze” installation on the museum’s ground floor consists of a labyrinth of some 2,000 suitcases that visitors can explore. Information points placed throughout the space recount personal escape stories. Given the lower ceiling height and reduced daylight in this exhibition room, a smaller (24W) Parscan model was used. Spotlights with oval‑flood distribution provide ambient lighting, while those with narrow‑spot distribution draw attention to specific details, such as the info points. — Lukas Palik
In the adjoining room, nearly 200 black‑and‑white photographs from the “The Family of Migrants” exhibition are on display. These images, printed on transparent gauze and suspended throughout the space, can be appreciated from both front and back. There is deliberately no general ambient lighting in this room. Each photograph is individually highlighted by Parscan spotlights set to spot and narrow‑spot distributions. The spotlights are precisely aligned to prevent any shadowing on photographs positioned behind.
On the ground floor, the current exhibition “The Family of Migrants” features nearly 200 black‑and‑white photographs. These images, printed on transparent gauze and suspended throughout the space, can be appreciated from both front and back. Each photograph is individually highlighted by Parscan spotlights set to spot and narrow‑spot distributions. The spotlights are aligned to prevent any shadowing on photographs positioned behind. — Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
Lukas Palik
“The challenge was to balance differently sized and lit photographs by varying the light intensity”, explains the lighting designer. “That’s why nearly every image received its own spotlight”, she adds. “We chose ERCO spotlights not only for their customization options and flexibility, but also because they are easy to install, robust and long‑lasting.” Longevity is critical in museum operations to minimize both energy usage and maintenance demands: ERCO luminaires, featuring advanced technology, sturdy components and bespoke opto‑electronics, are engineered for long‑term operation.
©Fenix Museum, Jorrit Lousberg
About the author:
Kristina Raderschad has run an editorial office in Cologne since 2005. A qualified interior designer (Dipl.-Ing.), her articles, reports and interviews on architecture and design are published worldwide – in magazines such as AD Architectural Digest, ATRIUM, ELLE DECORATION, HÄUSER, AIT or WALLPAPER*.