PROVIDENCE – In the 70-year-old Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab, Rhode Island School of Design this year upgraded to an “ultra–advanced” lighting system that “adapts the color temperature of the lighting indoors to reflect the natural outdoor light throughout the day.”
The lights adjust themselves from warm to cool hues, depending on the outside light, according to RISD.
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The lights were designed and installed by Austria’s Zumtobel, an international supplier of lighting applications for buildings.
“The generous donation from Zumtobel is really a testament to their commitment to excellence and innovation in learning,” Foundation Studies Dean Joanne Stryker said in statement announcing the installation. “The advanced system exemplifies the importance of preserving RISD’s amazing traditions and resources while bringing new technologies to campus that enhance those assets.”
The nature lab houses more than 100,000 specimens, including bobcats, bats, albino frogs and armadillo, RISD said. It’s in the 1893 Waterman Building, the first building built by RISD.
In a statement, the lab’s curator, Karen Idoine, said the old lighting was “antiquated.”
Rhode Island School of Design is a private arts and design school founded in Providence in 1877. Today, it has a staff of about 750, including 350 faculty and curators, and a student enrollment of about 2,200. To learn more about the school, visit www.risd.edu.
