Dark design: lighting strategies
Dark Design: Lighting Strategies
The Gallery, London, 13th February 2008
An evening discussing the lighting of public spaces may not be immediately appealing, and yet the audience at the Gallery really was enlightened by the presentations made by members of the Professional Lighting Designers Association (PLDA). This voluntary federation – similar to the UDG – brings people from varied disciplines together with an interest in the effective lighting of the public realm. Several members have a background in theatre which partly explains their approach to public spaces, relating to spectacle and choreography. Sharon Stammers began by explaining about the association and its inseparable relationship with urban design.
Mark Ridler, associate lighting designer at BDP, explained his passion in lighting the public realm and is justly rewarded by the effect that it has on people. He follows a careful methodology to understand who the design is to be for. Referring to a Swedish example, Mark explained that a good lighting scheme can reduce electricity consumption, and at the same time increasing socialising in the public realm and reducing crime rates. Careful observation of how people react to light and the dark (both are important in order to provide variety and legibility) helps achieve the desired objectives of increased interaction between people.
Anticipating potential worries, Mark broached the subject of the environmental impact of lighting – a significant contributor to CO2 emissions - and did not give simple answers. On the contrary, he admitted that the issue is delicate and complicated as there is insufficient research to prove the effectiveness of some of the solutions proposed. However with examples he showed that there are ways of lighting the public realm dramatically with a very low or neutral carbon footprint. A particularly effective scheme in Eastside, Birmingham used wind generated by passing trains to illuminate a station approach. Taking a holistic view, he indicated that the night time economy could not develop without lighting and that legibility was much helped by it. The issue of maintenance – or lack of it – was also discussed during the questions and this was seen as an unresolved problem. In each case discussed it was clear that the skills of the light designer were fundamental to a successful scheme. Sam Neuman, Senior Lighting Designer at NDYLIGHT gave a pocket history of public realm lighting, using before and after images of some of London’s well known spaces. He ended the evening speculating on how our cities may be lit in the future…
Sebastian Loew
