History
1988/2008 - Spacecannon: manufacturing light with a craft philosophy and global image
Spacecannon was set up in December 1988 as an idea of the engineer Bruno Baiardi who could see not just the technical aspect of lighting, but also its aesthetic side. Colouring and giving shape to light has been the goal on which spacecannon, right from the outset, has focused its full attention and research efforts.
Bruno Baiardi was the founder of spacecannon and its president until 2007, making the Fubine company a global leader in architectural and major events lighting.
Now, just over 20 years after its incorporation, the list of spacecannon success stories includes some of the greatest events and important installations in the world. Spacecannon has brought light to many high-profile sites: from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur to the Colpatria skyscraper in Bogotá, from the Winter Olympic Games in Turin to those in Salt Lake City, from the lighting system for Podium, the mobile dais for the Pope, to the Sanya Buddha, from the carnival in Rio to the millennium celebrations in Berlin, from the Dexia Tower in Brussels to the Rundle Lantern in Adelaide - dynamic LED architectural lighting - and from the Peace Tower in Reykjavik to the beams of light which have been installed on the site of the Twin Towers and have contributed to making spacecannon part of the history of the third millennium.
The spacecannon brand is linked increasingly to architectural lighting and LED technology, even though major events are still one of the company's strengths due to the experience gained over the years and the magic and excitement created by its high-power spotlights. The architectural lighting projects for period buildings and modern structures, monuments and museums, fountains and bridges, small buildings and stadiums and breathtaking skyscrapers are countless and located all around the world.
Although one hundred years have passed since the time when Henry Ford claimed that there is no real progress until the benefits of a new technology are available to everyone, this idea is more topical than ever at spacecannon, where the future was yesterday and where "innovation is never an end in itself but instead the result of an in-depth analysis of the user's needs and hence the search for solutions to meet these needs. Thus lighting has moved on from being a purely technical factor to being an aesthetic one".
SPACE CANNON JOINS THE ZUMTOBEL GROUP
May 2008 - new horizons for products made in Italy
On 5 May 2008 spacecannon became part of the Zumtobel Group, a global player on the international lighting scene, in the LED Lighting division headed by the Ledon company.
Creativity, innovation, expertise and cutting-edge technology have without doubt been some of the key factors which led the Zumtobel Group to include Spacecannon within its team.
This acquisition comes in the year of spacecannon's twentieth anniversary and the company firmly believes that the experience gained in new technologies (LED) and in special technologies (xenon and metal halide) as well as the numerous lighting installations on all five continents will enable new and ambitious goals to be achieved with the support of Zumtobel.
1 May 2009 - New spacecannon management
The spacecannon brand adds new spirit and depth to Zumtobel's projects and business, contributing creativity and know-how, no longer within the LED Lighting division but now directly integrated within the Zumtobel brand.
For the Zumtobel Group, spacecannon was the ideal addition for continuing to expand its application know-how and technology in outdoor LED lighting, the market of the future, providing access to new sales channels and new market segments such as those of major events and lighting shows, thanks to 3000-75000 W xenon spotlights, to become an integral part, with products of excellence, of the Zumtobel brand.
The foundations were also laid for optimising the use of innovative solutions with LED and expanding the product portfolio.
5 November 2009 - Spacecannon, a Zumtobel Group company
A new sales structure for spacecannon which will also use the Zumtobel channels for the distribution of its control systems and units within Europe.
Becoming part of the Zumtobel Group is an important opportunity for spacecannon, offering the possibility of consolidating and incrementing its standing on the international lighting market. With this operation, spacecannon benefits from important strategic advantages which will enable its bases to be improved and strengthened for more aggressive marketing and its competitiveness level to be boosted, without affecting its creative and innovative personality which has always been a unique feature of its work.
The installations by spacecannon in synergy with the Group include the opening ceremony for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai which, with its height of 828 metres, is today the highest skyscraper ever built, the Dornier museum in Friedrichshafen and the art gallery in Wolfsburg, where the famous American artist James Turrell has staged a monumental lighting installation, and the very attractive Fuente de Plaza Venezuela in Caracas.
Zumtobel Group
Based in Dornbirn, in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, the Zumtobel Group operates in the global lighting industry. It started out as Elektrogeräte und Kunstharzpresswerk W. Zumtobel KG in 1950 and today employs a work force of around 7000.
The Zumtobel Group comprises the Zumtobel, Tridonic, Thorn, Spacecannon and Ledon brands.
