Light & Engineering 33 (3) 2025

Volume 33
Date of publication 06/18/2025
Pages 12–17

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Artificial Lighting Systems in a Medieval City Using the Example of Ani L&E, Vol.33, No.3, 2025

Articles authors:

Olga V. Baeva, Armen Yu. Kazaryan

Olga V. Baeva, Doctor in Art Study, Advisor of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Fundamentals of Architecture and Artistic Communications. This Department is the main place of her work since 2024. She has experience in managing and participating in scientific projects. In different years, she was the head and executor of the topics of the Fundamental Scientific Research Plan of the Ministry of Construction of Russia and the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, implemented within the framework of the State Program of the Russian Federation “Development of Science and Technology”

Armen Yu. Kazaryan, Doctor of Art Study, Academician of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Acting Director of the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning in NRU MGSU. Since May 2022, he was invited to work as a full-time employee at the National Research University Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, where he heads the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (IAU), established in the same year, and the new Department of Fundamentals of Architecture and Artistic Communications formed within it. Since 2022, he has also headed the Scientific and Educational Centre for the Theory and History of Architecture (SEC THA), established at the institute, where fundamental scientific research is carried out under a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF)

Abstract:

The article explores artificial lighting technologies and their role in the life of the medieval city of Ani, most important one in Armenia of the 10th‑11th centuries. Based on the analysis of architectural monuments, written sources and archaeological materials, the authors reveal the relationship between light and architecture, emphasizing its functional and symbolic significance. It is shown that artificial lighting in Ani not only shaped the aesthetics of architectural space, but also reflected social hierarchy and cultural traditions. Special attention is paid to church complexes, where light emphasized the status of power, acted as a tool for visual communication, and conveyed religious and social meanings. The results of the work contribute to the reconstruction of the medieval city’s environment and can be used in the projects of reconstruction of the medieval buildings focused on authenticity.

References:

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Keywords

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33383/2025-030