Arms and Armor Hall Renovation, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (1992); Exhibit Designer: Stephen Saitas Designs,
Architect: Kevin Roche John Dinkelo Architects. This project was started while Steven Hefferan was the resident lighting designer
for the Met, and received the Inernational Association of Lighting Designers 1994 Award of Excellence.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Arms & Armor Hall Renovation

The main challenges associated with renovation of the Arms & Armor Hall were to restore the dilapidated Pierpont Morgan Wing of the Met to its former glory, to provide the appropriate lighting solutions for the mirror-like surface of the metallic armor, and to create pleasing brightness perceptions for low-light display of sensitive textile-based Japanese armor. The solution for the metallic armor of the main hall emphasized lighting the surrounding architectural surfaces to create detail-revealing reflections. Uplighting of the vaulted ceiling continues this strategy into the evening. Objects in the display cases located in galleries around the perimeter of the main hall use similar strategies on a smaller scale.

For this project, lighting design criteria based on the unique optical characteristics of the collection led to solutions that responded to the needs of the architectural restoration of a historic wing within the museum.