Speakers
Description
Over the past years, the focus on public spaces and the need for well-designed outdoor environments has been a key focus for those professions working in the sector. There is increasingly a push for more pedestrian-oriented spaces which support movement and activity and also have an extended use after dark. It is increasingly more apparent, however, where the divide exists between areas that are in well-off areas than those in more deprived areas. This is particularly apparent after dark where the lighting design more often than not, creates the most apparent social divides. Lighting becomes cooler, glare is abound, playgrounds are unlit and any sense of human scale is lost with a blanket lighting, or lack of lighting, approach becoming dominant. These spaces of course are not those featured in magazines, blogs or awards
ceremonies. These are the spaces that continuously fly under the radar and hinder a bigger positive change. And although, in some cases, best practice guidelines are followed, the end result does not create inviting spaces after dark. We still regularly encounter pedestrian and residential spaces that are lit primarily with bulkheads or streetlights or where the only play areas are dark at 3pm in winter in Northern Europe. These spaces lack atmosphere and character, the very things pedestrian spaces require. With this in mind, we question how lighting design as a profession can evaluate a successfully lit outdoor space. Is it time to develop a new approach that takes into consideration the everyday user experience, not just the technical successes? And can this approach/methodology better inform best practice guidelines for the future and begin to close the gap of lighting inequality by raising the bar? Through our studio’s work we have been exploring new methods to engage with the public on topics of lighting both in the UK and in Europe. A number of cities and municipalities are also increasingly working towards a more engagement-oriented approach that demonstrates lighting design in easy to understand terms and installations in situ which in turn helps us as designers better design outdoor spaces for the end users by creating a common language and understanding.
