Clay Paky


Claypaky is a developer of professional lighting systems for the entertainment sector 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. The company was then later sold to EK Lights.
WWW Official Site

History

The Claypaky company was founded in August 1976, taking its name from the shortened, anglicized form of the name of its founder, Pasquale 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.
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. 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, achieving certification for compliance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 quality standard that same year.
Claypaky has experienced constant growth, reporting revenues of more than 50 million euro for 2011, up by over 50% from 2010. It has a workforce of nearly 200 people.
Just before its founder died in 2014, the company was sold to Osram. Afterwards, Claypaky was acquired by the Arri Group in December 2022.
On 13 May 2025 Claypaky announced that Arri's share in the company had been purchased by Chinese company EK Lights.

Awards

YearAwardAward nameNominated product
2019Best Debuting Product in LightingLDIProduct: XTYLOS
2019Best Advancement in Lamp TechnologyPLSNProduct: XTYLOS
2019Outstanding Lighting Product InnovationPALM Sound and Light AwardProduct: Sharpy Plus
2017Best Hard Edge LED SpotPLSN Goldstar Product AwardProduct: Axcor Profile 900
2017Award for InnovationPlasa AwardsProduct: K-EYE
2017Lighting ProductWorld ShowProduct: Scenius
2016Award for InnovationPlasa AwardsProduct: Scenius Profile
2015Indispensable TechnologyParnelli AwardsProduct: Mythos
2015Best Debuting Lighting ProductLDI AwardsProduct: Spheriscan
2015Lighting Product of the YearLive Design AwardsProduct: Mythos
2014Indispensable TechnologyParnelli AwardsProduct: A.leda B-EYE
2014Best Debuting Lighting Product - Honourable MentionLDI AwardsProduct: Mythos
2014Award for InnovationPlasa AwardsProduct: Mythos
2014Best Lighting ProductPIPA AwardsProduct: A.leda B-EYE
2013Best Debuting Lighting ProductLDI AwardsProduct: A.leda B-EYE
2013Award for InnovationPlasa AwardsProduct: A.leda B-EYE
2012Best Debuting Lighting ProductLDI AwardsProduct: Sharpy Wash
2012Lighting Product of the YearLive Design AwardsProduct: Shotlight Wash
2011Empresa de iluminación del añoPremios Producciόn AudioCompany: Clay Paky
2011Most Creative Use of LightingLDI AwardsCompany: Clay Paky
2011Best Debuting Lighting ProductLDI AwardsProduct: Alpha Spot 800 QWO
2011Indispensable TechnologyParnelli AwardsProduct: Sharpy
2011Rock Our World AwardsPlasaProduct: Sharpy
2011Lighting Product of the YearLive Design Broadway Master ClassesProduct: Sharpy
2010Best Debuting Lighting Product - Honourable MentionLDI AwardsProduct: Sharpy
2010Award for InnovationPlasa AwardsProduct: Sharpy
2010Award for Innovation - Special CommendationPlasa AwardsProduct: ALPHA PROFILE 700
2010Important contribution to the development of the club industryCiribelli AwardsCompany: Clay Paky
2008Award for InnovationPLASAProduct: ALPHA BEAM 300
2002New Lighting ProductLIVE AWARDSProduct: Stage Profile Plus SV
2001Design ExcellencePLASAProduct: CP Color
1999New Product of the YearBEDAProduct: Stage Line
1999New Lighting Fixture of the YearLIVE AWARDSProduct: Stage Line
1999Club Lighting Effects of the YearETAProduct: Stage Line
1999Budget Lighting Effect of the YearETAProduct: Stage Color 300
1998Al Miglior ConcertoTELEGATTO TV Sorrisi & CanzoniCompany: Clay Paky
1998The Art and Technology of Show BusinessEDDY AWARDProduct: Stage Line
1998Luminaire of the YearEN TECHProduct: Mini Scan HPE
1998Innovative Lighting Product of the YearETAProduct: Stage Line
1997Club Lighting Effect of the YearETA Disco InternationalProduct: Golden Scan HPE
1997Lighting Product of the Year Entertainment: Most Promising PrototypeLDIProduct: Stage Line
1997Honourable Mention: Best Big BoothLDICompany: Clay Paky
1997Light Product of the YearTCIProduct: VIP 300
1997Award for Product ExcellencePLASAProduct: Stage Scan
1996Best Light Show of the YearLIGHTING DIMENSIONProduct: CP Show
1996New Lighting Product of the YearLIVE AWARDSProduct: Golden Scan HPE
1994, 1996Full Sized Moving LightEN TECHProduct: Golden Scan 3
1993, 1995, 1996Light Product of the YearBEDAProduct: Golden Scan 3
1995Innovative Light EffectDISCO INTERNATIONALProduct: Golden Scan HPE
1995Lighting EffectDISCO INTERNATIONALProduct: Golden Scan 3
1995European CompanyLIVE AWARDSCompany: Clay Paky
1994Club Lighting EffectDISCO & CLUBProduct: Golden Scan 3
1994Automated LuminaireLIVE AWARDSProduct: Golden Scan 3
1993Club Lighting ProductDISCO & CLUBProduct: Golden Scan 3
1992Manufacturer of the YearDISCO & CLUBCompany: Clay Paky
1992Lighting AwardBEDAProduct: Golden Scan 2
1990, 1991Lighting EffectDISCO & CLUBProduct: Golden Scan 2

The MoMS - Museum of Modern Showlighting

A project conceived by Pasquale Quadri and formally opened in 2015 — the UNESCO International Year of Light — the 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.