In Trieste, one of the city’s symbolic locations is the famous Molo Audace, which gives Piazza Unità d’Italia access to the sea. Its name comes from the destroyer Audace, the first ship of the Italian Navy to enter the harbour of Trieste in 1918, at the end of the First World War, and to dock at the pier, which was called San Carlo at the time.
RESTORATION OF THE ORIGINAL POSTS AND NEW REPRODUCTIONS
Over more than a century, the Molo has been lit by two different types of cast iron lamp posts, both with the same type of swan neck.
The most recent type was created at the beginning of the 1900s by the Siry, Lizars & C. foundry, a French gas distribution company. This is the type that Neri restored and installed on Molo Audace. The same type of lamp posts is also found in other parts of the city. These were also renovated.
Upon request of Acegas, a city’s municipal undertaking, Neri reproduced the suspension bracket, that has been installed also on the Neri lamp posts chosen to light up the promenade and the city’s most important squares, thus creating a harmonious and coordinated project.
At the Verdi Theatre, on the other hand, the 4 lamp posts with multiple lights on the terrace over the entrance portico were also restored.
Along the promenade that follows the harbour, Neri lamp posts were adopted again. However, a different swan neck bracket was used, which reproduces the wall lamp version already found in Trieste.
In particularly wide spaces, like Piazza della Libertà, in front of the railway station, Neri lamp posts have been equipped with a group of 6 suspension brackets with lighting fixture.
The most distinguishing feature of lighting in Trieste is the copper fixture, which has been reproduced by Neri and enhanced its lighting effect by inserting a reflector. All the lamp posts with suspension brackets in the city are equipped with this specific luminaire.
The city brings pleasant surprises, with its original lamp posts and brackets that were preserved and can be unexpectedly found on the streets and bridges, like the four lamp posts with big lanterns, decorated with human faces, that light up the bridge on the Canal Grande. This was the first renovation, performed by Neri in 2000. The photos were taken in 2015: a quality proof of the renovation work.
Recently, two important elements were restored:
1) The brackets in the tunnel in via Silvio Pellico, which now are equipped with ‘Light 500’ luminaire.
2) The two majestic posts at the base of the famous lighthouse of Trieste.
Neri contributed to this great heritage with its know-how, saving it and installing new lighting fixtures. Where there were no original lamp posts, Neri installed lamp posts from the Sheliak system, with ‘Light 801’ and ‘Light 804’ and the Castore system with ‘Light 801’ and ‘Light 804’.
We would like to dedicate the last part of the presentation to urban furniture: the Nyssa series of bollards, in fact, direct and control traffic in many parts of the city, and are perfectly integrated with the design of the historical lamp posts.