'Stalingrad Battle Heroes' ('Mamayev Kurgan') Memorial Complex, Volgograd

As a part of the reconstruction of the “Mamayev Kurgan” memorial complex – one of the icons of the city of Volgograd, it was essential to develop the new comprehensive lighting concept of the complex and the sculptures including the central one – the 85-metre “The Motherland is calling!” monument.

“Mamayev Kurgan” complex was designed by the famous soviet sculptor - E. Vuchetich in 1959 and constructed in 1967. The well-thought out sculptural composition of the memorial complex gives the chance for the viewers to discover new hidden “dimensions” of it from each viewpoint, so it was a challenging task for our lighting architects to create the brand new lighting scheme of the complex to be glare free for the visitors to enjoy.

The lighting concept proposed that the total replacement of existing lighting elements and the development of a completely new lighting concept. We started the lighting project from in-depth analyses of the history and the creator’s design intentions in order to follow and to enrich his vision. Lighting in this project plays an important role to enhance the emotional feelings of the people throughout their way from the Lenin boulevard (the so called “gates”) up to the “Motherland is calling!” monument located on a top of the hill.

The lighting contrast between the lit sculptures and other elements of the complex and the dark sky, created the desired strong dramatic effect. The culmination of the lighting composition is the “Motherland is calling!” monument, theatrically lit creating the grandeur and monumentality of the statue.

Please see the video of the project - http://youtu.be/ulMi9o4d22w