During the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix weekend, Piazza San Babila in Milan became the beating heart of “Domenica Italiana”, the initiative by Barilla organised in collaboration with 2night to celebrate a passion for motorsport, conviviality and Italian taste. At the centre of the set-up stood a large table designed in the shape of the Monza circuit, where the public could taste Barilla Gran Ruote Racing Edition, follow the races live and enjoy show cooking and themed activities throughout the event.
To engage the spectators queuing outside the pavilion even more, the organisers decided to place at the entrance a traffic light system like the one on the starting grid of an F1 Grand Prix: the sequence of red lights that come on one after another and then all go out together, signalling the start of the race. In the same way, the traffic light was to start each round of access to the pavilion, turning the moment of entry into a small “start” at a fixed time and making it visible to everyone, even those still in the queue, when the next round was about to begin. We were therefore contacted to supply a Stagnoli traffic light system capable of faithfully replicating that visual logic, turning the wait into a shared moment of spectacle.
The request
The technical brief for the traffic light control system was precise and inspired in every respect by the start of a Formula 1 race. The format called for five traffic lights arranged in sequence in front of the pavilion entrance. One was to light up every five minutes, until the row of five lights was complete. At the thirtieth minute, all five traffic lights had to go out at the same instant, replicating the exact moment in F1 when the lights go out and the race begins.
This visual signal had a precise function: to tell the spectators queuing outside the pavilion that the activity inside was about to begin, creating the same thrill of anticipation that precedes the start of a Grand Prix. A scenographic detail capable of telling the story of the event even before the public crossed the threshold.
The technical solution
To meet this request, we provided five ERA200 traffic lights with two red lights, the most immediate configuration to visually replicate the starting lights of a race.
The coordination of the entire sequence was entrusted to a SATURNO control unit, the Stagnoli control system designed to manage up to 10 traffic light points in a synchronised way. The control unit works according to a master/slave architecture: a master board governs the overall timing logic, the switch-on times, the sequence and the moment of simultaneous switch-off, while five slave boards, one dedicated to each traffic light, directly drive the lights of their own point. This distributed structure makes it possible to scale the system (adding or removing light points) without having to redesign the control logic, and ensures that each traffic light remains perfectly synchronised with the others, an essential requirement when the scenic effect depends on a simultaneous switch-off accurate to the millisecond.
A key aspect of the project was thinking about the installation from the point of view of those who would physically assemble it on site. A temporary event in a city square leaves little time and requires solutions that minimise on-site operational complexity. For this reason, the master control unit, the five slave boards and all the control connections were integrated into a single custom panel, wired and tested before delivery. The installer on site only had to position the five ERA200 traffic lights and connect them to the panel, without having to work on the programming logic or the wiring of the control unit, drastically reducing assembly times and the margin of error during set-up.
The result
The light countdown of the event traffic light system accompanied the public’s wait, making it part of the show. Each light coming on, every five minutes, built up the tension of those in the queue, until the moment when, at the thirtieth minute, all five lights went out together, officially starting the Barilla experience in Piazza San Babila. An effect that was simple in its execution but had great scenic impact, made possible by a reliable control system and an installation designed to be quick and trouble-free even in a temporary context such as a city event.
This project shows how Stagnoli traffic light systems can move beyond their original context to become tools for set design, communication and timing at events with a strong visual impact, offering the same reliability and the same intelligent control logic even off the road.