Clay Paky

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Claypaky
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded
FounderPasquale Quadri
Headquarters,
Key people
  • Marcus Graser (CEO)
ProductsProfessional lighting systems
Number of employees
About 200
Parent
  • Independent (1976–2014)
  • Osram (2014–22)
  • Arri Group (2022–present)
Websitewww.claypaky.it

Claypaky is a developer of professional lighting systems for the entertainment sector (theatre, television,[1] concerts,[2] nightclubs and outdoor events [3]) and for architectural applications. The company is based in Seriate, near Bergamo, about 40 km from Milan, Italy.

It operates from a modern facility housing its R&D labs, main production plant and quality control, sales and administration departments. At present Clay Paky exports 95% of its production through a global sales and service organization represented by a dealer network active in more than 80 countries around the world.

On December 20, 2022, Osram sold the company to the Arri group.[4]

History[edit]

The Astrodisco by Clay Paky, a widely used disco light of the 1980s.

The Claypaky company was founded in August 1976, taking its name from the shortened, anglicized form of the name of its founder, Pasquale (Paky) Quadri, one of the first entrepreneurs to realize that technological developments in lighting would have an enormous future in the show business and entertainment world.

In 1982 Claypaky presented the Astrodisco, which used a single lamp to project multiple rays of colored light across ceilings and dance floors. Five years later it launched Brilliant, a digitally controlled moving head and forerunner of a new generation of “intelligent” projectors. This was followed in 1988 by the programmable Golden Scan, a moving mirror projector and the first luminaire to implement stepper motor technology instead of servo motors.[5]

Acclaimed by the specialised press as “the world’s most popular and best-selling projector”, the Golden Scan became a commonly used lighting effect at nightclubs and rock concerts during the late 1980s and the 1990s.[5] The London rock band Klaxons claimed the projector was the inspiration behind their light-themed, hit single Golden Skans.

Since 2000, Claypaky has also been developing its offer for indoor and outdoor architectural applications. In 2002 it moved its headquarters to a new industrial complex in Seriate (Bergamo), achieving certification for compliance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 quality standard that same year.[citation needed]

Claypaky has experienced constant growth, reporting revenues of more than 50 million euro for 2011, up by over 50% from 2010 (33 million euro). It has a workforce of nearly 200 people.[citation needed]

Just before its founder passed away in 2014, the company was sold to Osram. Afterwards, Claypaky was acquired by the Arri Group in December 2022.

Awards[edit]

Year Award Award name Nominated product
2019 Best Debuting Product in Lighting LDI Product: XTYLOS
Best Advancement in Lamp Technology PLSN Product: XTYLOS
Outstanding Lighting Product Innovation PALM Sound and Light Award Product: Sharpy Plus
2017 Best Hard Edge LED Spot PLSN Goldstar Product Award Product: Axcor Profile 900
Award for Innovation Plasa Awards Product: K-EYE
Lighting Product World Show Product: Scenius
2016 Award for Innovation Plasa Awards Product: Scenius Profile
2015 Indispensable Technology Parnelli Awards Product: Mythos
Best Debuting Lighting Product LDI Awards Product: Spheriscan
Lighting Product of the Year Live Design Awards Product: Mythos
2014 Indispensable Technology Parnelli Awards Product: A.leda B-EYE
Best Debuting Lighting Product - Honourable Mention LDI Awards Product: Mythos
Award for Innovation Plasa Awards Product: Mythos
Best Lighting Product PIPA Awards Product: A.leda B-EYE
2013 Best Debuting Lighting Product LDI Awards Product: A.leda B-EYE
Award for Innovation Plasa Awards Product: A.leda B-EYE
2012 Best Debuting Lighting Product LDI Awards Product: Sharpy Wash
Lighting Product of the Year Live Design Awards Product: Shotlight Wash
2011 Empresa de iluminación del año Premios Producciόn Audio Company: Clay Paky
Most Creative Use of Lighting LDI Awards Company: Clay Paky
Best Debuting Lighting Product LDI Awards Product: Alpha Spot 800 QWO
Indispensable Technology Parnelli Awards Product: Sharpy
Rock Our World Awards Plasa Product: Sharpy
Lighting Product of the Year Live Design Broadway Master Classes Product: Sharpy
2010 Best Debuting Lighting Product - Honourable Mention LDI Awards Product: Sharpy
Award for Innovation Plasa Awards Product: Sharpy
Award for Innovation - Special Commendation Plasa Awards Product: ALPHA PROFILE 700
Important contribution to the development of the club industry Ciribelli Awards Company: Clay Paky
2008 Award for Innovation PLASA Product: ALPHA BEAM 300
2002 New Lighting Product LIVE AWARDS Product: Stage Profile Plus SV
2001 Design Excellence PLASA Product: CP Color
1999 New Product of the Year BEDA Product: Stage Line
New Lighting Fixture of the Year LIVE AWARDS Product: Stage Line
Club Lighting Effects of the Year ETA Product: Stage Line
Budget Lighting Effect of the Year ETA Product: Stage Color 300
1998 Al Miglior Concerto TELEGATTO TV Sorrisi & Canzoni Company: Clay Paky
The Art and Technology of Show Business EDDY AWARD Product: Stage Line
Luminaire of the Year EN TECH Product: Mini Scan HPE
Innovative Lighting Product of the Year ETA Product: Stage Line
1997 Club Lighting Effect of the Year ETA Disco International Product: Golden Scan HPE
Lighting Product of the Year Entertainment: Most Promising Prototype LDI Product: Stage Line
Honourable Mention: Best Big Booth LDI Company: Clay Paky
Light Product of the Year TCI Product: VIP 300
Award for Product Excellence PLASA Product: Stage Scan
1996 Best Light Show of the Year LIGHTING DIMENSION Product: CP Show
New Lighting Product of the Year LIVE AWARDS Product: Golden Scan HPE
1994, 1996 Full Sized Moving Light EN TECH Product: Golden Scan 3
1993, 1995, 1996 Light Product of the Year BEDA Product: Golden Scan 3
1995 Innovative Light Effect DISCO INTERNATIONAL Product: Golden Scan HPE
Lighting Effect DISCO INTERNATIONAL Product: Golden Scan 3
European Company LIVE AWARDS Company: Clay Paky
1994 Club Lighting Effect DISCO & CLUB Product: Golden Scan 3
Automated Luminaire LIVE AWARDS Product: Golden Scan 3
1993 Club Lighting Product DISCO & CLUB Product: Golden Scan 3
1992 Manufacturer of the Year DISCO & CLUB Company: Clay Paky
Lighting Award BEDA Product: Golden Scan 2
1990, 1991 Lighting Effect DISCO & CLUB Product: Golden Scan 2

The MoMS - Museum of Modern Showlighting[edit]

A project conceived by Pasquale Quadri (1947-2014) and formally opened in 2015 — the UNESCO International Year of Light — the Museum of Modern Showlighting (MoMS) is the first European museum that specifically covers all the sectors where show lighting plays a vital role.

The museum investigates the chronology of advances in lighting technology in parallel with the development of the socio-cultural context.

After a brief historical excursus on stage lighting beginning in ancient Greece, the exhibition focuses attention on the 1980s and the development of lighting effects that have become part of our collective memory through musicals such as “Saturday Night Fever”. It then comes to the present and the complex motorised projectors available on today’s market.

The museum has a library consisting of an historical archive of reviews and a multimedia room.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Clay Paky At Dancing On Ice" Archived 2016-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, Live Design, June 2008
  2. ^ "Clay Paky lights the AC/DC tour" Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Total Production International, February 2009
  3. ^ "Clay Paky at the XIX Commonwealth Games" Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, mondo*dr, November 2010
  4. ^ "ARRI acquires Claypaky". Arri. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  5. ^ a b Rushton-Read, Sarah. "Alpha Males", Lighting and Sound International, June 2009

External links[edit]