SEARCH RESULTS

The night has the power to invoke a myriad of emotions — from fear to romance, melancholy to excitement. Whatever your feelings, the fact remains that the nighttime consists of half of our time on this earth, and that means half of our time in our cities as well. What can we do to ensure that our cities are truly taking advantage of their 24-hour needs? What does it mean to design for nighttime? In this episode we talk with Leni Schwendinger, an expert on nighttime design and Director of NightSeeing (and so much more!), on the many types of light, what to do on a light walk, and how to take a holistic look at our cities’ daily light cycles. The 54-minute podcast: Episode 36: Nighttime Design w/ Leni Schwendinger (link) Here, a six minute audio lesson on nighttime design urbanism: an interview by Monocle: The Urbanist, while at reSITE, in Prague, June 2017. “We can look back to Guy Debord… The freedom to wander… looking for the ambience. Nighttime design is the broader discipline where urban lighting leads the way…” We caught up with Schwendinger, one of the world’s leading voices on the impact lighting can have in our cities. (link) #publicspace #podcast #International #publiclighting #economicdevelopment #publichealth #sustainable #innovation #cities

Nighttime design and its concomitant Shades of Night analysis were born out of the NightSeeing™ Program During the dark hours, a nexus of walking and observing living city streets  — at once intuitive and self activated — merged into a performative and philosophical practice. 2009: I have been testing “nighttime design” as a descriptor for a new urban illumination fortified by expertise and input by fellow urbanists, urban designers, social researchers, geographers, economic consultants, landscape architects, just to name a few. In Cities of Light the phrase was committed to print for the first time. As you have read in this blog – urban nighttime is illuminated by public, private and found lighting. Public lighting is provided by the city or utility as the very basic in safety lighting. It is augmented by private sources of lighting – significantly, cars themselves with their headlights. Additionally shop windows, displays and various types of commercial buildings provide light on the sidewalk to help pedestrians find their way cheerfully and safely. Finally the phone booths, bus shelters, light billboards and even ATMs provide what I call “found” lighting. 2009 The phenomenological – reflections and sparkle – glint as figures of found light against the background of mono-typical fields of sodium yellow streetlighting, and more recently as a blinkingly, blindingly white-grey saturation. 82nd Street NightSeeing™/Envisioning 2012 How long does it take to synthesize disparate focuses — lighting, city life, community engagement — into a meaningful body of work? Three years, five years? A decade? Smart Everyday Nighttime Design, international research accomplished with Arup, and partners such as London School of Economics, Despacio and iGuzzini, among others, was a recent culmination of the Light Projects’ 2012-2013 82nd Street Partnership Lighting Strategy: A Roadmap for Illumination and Community-Building. Smart Everyday Nighttime Design, Cartagena Envisioning the future of nighttime design. What does your city – or neighborhood – need? Near future vision: nighttime design teams composed of urbanists and city activators will form bespoke core consultant groups for specific urban regeneration projects. For example, those agencies, developers, associations revitalizing the nighttime economy in one district may need, along with urban lighting, public health and retail consultation. Another neighborhood might benefit from urban and landscape designers, policy experts and sustainability consultants. Perhaps night visibility, traffic and pedestrian conflicts are a primary concern.  What about addressing the district’s upgrade to LED streetlighting along with a digital platform for seasonal lighting transformations, or for a cultural nighttime district where tourism and branding awareness is important…there is a team for that! Sydney nighttime strategy Cities and districts may desire to create broad nighttime guidelines such as the excellent OPEN Sydney Strategy and Action Plan (pdf). It addresses nighttime economy, tourism, and diversity, among other important issues for international cities. London’s Night Tube and Night Time initiative Another current example is the concerted effort by the London Mayor’s office and Transport for London.  Transport rolled out the spectacular “Night Tube” campaign in August 2016, followed by the inauguration of a Night Time Commission which resides in the Mayor’s office. Here, I have shared the process of envisioning a practice and the lurching tiny, and grand, steps that must be made in service of growth. A new understanding of illumination combined with urban design is becoming official, ensconced in city governance, which for theorists and practitioners alike establishes a context for the varied ways to improve lives — in our turbulently urbanizing world. #urbandesign #urbanplanning #city #London #transportation #economicdevelopment #transit #public #NewYork #urbanlight #Infrastructure #sustainable #innovation

Link here for Design Trust for Public Space updates on Under the Elevated, Phase 2

It was cold, it was dark…normal site study conditions. Arup staff and I braved the night with cameras, illuminance meters, laser measurement tools and paper plans to parse the high-pressure sodium nighttime environment. Here, an informal outcome, a 61-second video of the monumental Gowanus Expressway intersection, Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Marvel at the many illuminated phenomena – the blinks, the blurs, the limited color range…industrial building lantern effect, crosswalk retro-reflectivity, the glare of under-bridge fixtures and hazy baby-aspirin colored blanket of light…everywhere. … and imagine, if you dare, the future of this site, a pilot project to allow humanity to explore, with pleasure, perhaps fascination, the monstrous forms above and street level destinations that may develop through the taming process of light, green infrastructure and urban design. UNDER THE ELEVATED: PHASE II is a Design Trust initiative. The website spells out the background, process and profiles the three Fellows. #urbandesign #publiclighting #Bridges #landscape #NewYorkCity #Infrastructure #LED #underpass

Nightwalking, A Nocturnal History of London, by Matthew Beaumont. The book arrived bedside and surely it “…shines a light on the shadowy perambulations of poets, novelists and thinkers…”(from the publishers, Verso Books). In the  484-page tome the writer investigates the intrigues of night culture from the renaissance to mid-19th century or in authorial time — from Chaucer to Dickens. With his own poetic voice, Mr. Beaumont examines the darkness of penury and ‘houselessness’, the roguish elite — ramblers, wanderers and vagrants — and introduces the reader to the “noctambulant and the noctivagant, or common nightwalker”. He ends the book with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe that starts many of my talks, which I now share with you. Then we sallied forth into the streets, arm in arm, continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far and wide until a late hour, seeking amid the wild lights and shadows of the populous city, that infinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can afford. For more bibliographic resources link here. Guy Debord’s Theory of the Dérive has been instrumental for my life as a citizen-walker. From the Bureau of Public Secrets,  “… dérive, a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiences. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll. An assembly of posts highlighting a facet of 21st century night walking – and passage: Islington After Dark, A London Light Walk Leni Schwendinger Lights the Way Public Lighting Theory – developing the nexus of lighting and urban design Mexico City,  Las Calles y Luz de “La Capital” Public Lighting Walk with Leni Dérive, a Cultural Week in Manhattan Dérive, a Cultural Week in Manhattan #urbandesign #urbanplanning #streetscape #streetlight #Lighting #derive #cities

Do you read? Here, this list is for you: publications on urban design, historical light, stories of sleep, nocturnal narratives, the power of disorder and heterogeneous spaces and places, wrapped in a frame to consider when designing illumination for cities. Two more books released in 2015 Cities of Light, Two Centuries of Urban Illumination can be purchased from Routledge Press. For a free download of Rethinking the Shades of Night, visit the Arup night-time website. #urbandesign #urbanplanning #streetscape #LinkedIn #CitiesofLight #streetlight #Lighting #cities

Here, the Arup description: “In the past, the attitude of ‘the more light the better’ has led to a general abundance of light, especially in urban areas, but both light and darkness are equally important to our health and well-being,” said Florence Lam, global lighting design leader at Arup. “With the shift towards 24 hour cities, we should not aim to simply recreate the day at night, but instead, we need to carefully consider the role of night-time lighting. We need to design our cities to change depending on the time of night and the different usage patterns of the public realm after dark – articulating what we call the ‘different shades of night’.” The report highlights that we need to make human centered night-time design a priority in urban development, and one that should be considered from the earliest planning stages. It proposes that night-time lighting should play a more active role in shaping sustainable cities that are more enjoyable, more sociable, safer, healthier and easier to get around. “Night-time is fundamentally different from daytime,” said Leni Schwendinger, lighting designer and urbanist at Arup. “In many hotter climates, it provides the best conditions for people to use outdoor urban spaces. So it deserves its own design approach, and thinking harder and smarter about street lighting is a vital part of this.” The report was collaboration between the Foresight + Research + Innovation and Lighting teams at Arup. Involving a range of internal and external experts. Link to download Rethinking the Shades of Night.  And here, more about the nighttime design philosphy. Reference to “shades of night“. At a moment when the entire world is being reshaped by new lighting technologies and new design attitudes, the longer history of urban lighting remains fragmentary. Cities of Light aims to provide a global framework for historical studies of urban lighting and to offer a new perspective on the fast-moving developments of lighting today. I have been testing “nighttime design” as a descriptor for a new urban illumination fortified by expertise and input by fellow urbanists, urban designers, social researchers, geographers, economic consultants, landscape architects, just to name a few.  In Cities of Light the phrase was committed to print for the first time. Read about, and purchase Cities of Light, Two Centuries of Urban Illumination #urbandesign #urbanplanning #London #International #publiclighting #streetscape #NewYorkCity #LinkedIn #CitiesofLight #Lighting #cities

City Light Guide, a free mobile app by Philips has just been released. Link to Android City Light Guide  &  Apple City Light Guide apps Here, visitors and inhabitants of Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo are invited to follow routes — through  photographs and narrative — put together by lighting designers including Paula Rainha from Portugal, Thomas Wensma from Netherlands and myself. This is a new approach to describing  international cities through lighting: written, photographed and mapped, or as the City Light Guide App describes; Unlike any other guide, this will show you the location, give advice on how to get there and give you a history of some truly inspirational lighting productions…Featuring light installations, buildings and works of art… My contribution New York City — a sliver of Manhattan– is an easy walking tour.  No fuss, no transportation. A 360-degree view of Times Square and its private light phenomena and then on to Bryant Park. Times Square: North end: TKTS, Buildings, billboards Times Square: South end; Buildings, billboards View of One Bryant Park (Bank of America Tower) 42nd Street grand stair entrance to Bryant Park – Torchere, American Radiator Building Bryant Park -the northern path: View east to the Chrysler Building/1930, South to the Bryant Park Hotel (American Radiator Building/1924)… … and Empire State Building/1931 Look South – 42nd street view corridor. Bryant Park: East Allee: view southward to Bryant Park Hotel (American Radiator Building). Bryant Park: Le Carrousel Bryant Park: Fountain with view upwards to the… … Moonlights mounted on the 1095 Avenue of the Americas building, built for New York Telephone in 1974 The app narrative is rigorously to the point and brief, here, some beloved outtakes: New York City’s borough of Manhattan has been celebrated and embellished in the all of the arts, high and low – song, cinema and poetry. Consequently much of the world “knows” this uniquely dense metropolitan island. With a population of over 16-million within 59 sq. kilometres, historically, the city has attracted immigrants worldwide, leading to a richness of cultural diversity reflected in distinct neighbourhoods, cuisine and languages spoken. Prior to the appearance of the Dutch in 1609, “Manna-hata” was populated by the Lenape Indians. Since the late 19th century the Manhattan skyline’s iconic skyscrapers have shaped its identity. Today, the city is known for architecture, fashion, the arts, and financial activities. As the “city that never sleeps” it is a perfect candidate for a Light Guide. Times Square has been called the “crossroads of the world”. Perceptually there are now two crossroads within Times Square.  One, the actual crossover of Broadway and Seventh Avenue (between West 44th and West 45th Streets), by the diagonally crossing avenues, and, two, a folly, a grand stairway of glass at West 47th Street. The observation deck doubles as a rooftop for the TKTS discount Broadway theatre ticket booth. This landmark employs cutting-edge technology for lighting and mechanical systems (including geo-thermal heating). LED arrays concealed in the steps create a saturated unmistakable red glow. The grand “stairway to nowhere” is a huge success, fully occupied by New Yorkers and tourists alike. In 1686 the area which is now Bryant Park was designated as public space. Subsequently a graveyard (1823) then Reservoir Square (1847), it was renamed Bryant Park in 1884 for newspaper editor and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant. In 1899, the Reservoir structure was removed for the construction of the adjacent and underground New York Public Library. The park was re-designed in the 1930’s as a Great Depression public works project. In 1969, a famous rally was held as part of the nationwide Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, and then in the mid-seventies the park became derelict. In the 1980’s through advocacy and formation of a Business Improvement District the park was redesigned and renovated. ———————————————————– Pivot to a recent think-tank experience with LAND Studio to discuss the visitor experience of this great industrial, mid-western city. I arrived the evening before and commenced photographing – this is what I do! My handy iPhone, iMovie editing-app called out: “try me“. So I did.  And the next day eyes opened to the vernacular and artistic figures of light in Cleveland. ———————————————————– For other cities’ subject videos, photos and text; see articles in this blog: CITIES! #urbandesign #urbanplanning #streetscape #globalcities #public #interactiveinstallation #lightingdesign #NewYorkCity #publicspeaking #LinkedIn #NightSeeing #LED #cities

Municipal Art Society’s “Jane’s Walk” West Village, May 5th 2012,was fun and invigorating. I was the “official” photographer and took my mission seriously, running ahead, falling back, click click click.  Get the shot. Joan Schechter  is a pro tour-guide and she covered the architecture and history of the Village by the lights of Jane Jacob. How did it happen that Michael Levine, Charlie Anderson and I veered of the path of the official walk and viola! began a sensational wander? It started outside of 555 Hudson – do you recognize that address? It was Jane’s last home in the US, before leaving for Canada as a protest of the Vietnam War, and a way to save her son from the draft.  The kind current owner showed up at the front door – perhaps she heard the sounds of our group of 75 determined tour-ists? As the group moved on to the wonders of West Village, some of us stayed on to discuss the building and her apartment.  Michael had visited Ms. Jacobs in 1967 and wondered about details: were the rooms still configured the way they had been, what about the roof garden?  Soon, the house owner offered a home view. Up we tramped on the narrow creaky staircase. Oohs and aahs, the original planked floor, the window where Jane made her observations, Micheal’s memory of cockroaches that lived there too (whose apartment did not have roaches at that time?).  All were discussed and photographed. By the time we reached the sidewalk again our tour group had gone.  We tried to guess their track, and turned up Bleecker.  There, we discussed the merits of “obstructions” (the remnants of slate-sidewalk past), embedded relics of railings and tiny trap doors for coal. We bemoaned the endangered species of Village life… Our conversation unqualifiedly animated to find like-minds appreciative of the “nature” of urban accretion, we retired to Cafe Angelique for refreshment. What was learned?  Urban planner Michael conflated my interest in Found Lighting to Found Seating. Architect Charlie shared his quest to walk all over the city at all hours of the night shooting photos of doors, building materials, people of all stripes and his upcoming blog on the same. An all together satisfying New York City, nay, Manhattan experience, was had by all. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The walk according to the New York Times: “One Jane’s Walk tour starts at the Christopher Street subway station in Greenwich Village, where Jacobs arrived after moving from Scranton, Pa., to pursue a writing career. Another sticks to Roosevelt Island, focusing on how it evolved from a purely institutional setting of mostly almshouses and hospitals into a planned residential community. You can explore the Rockaways in Queens or visit “Main Street U.S.A.” in Tottenville, on Staten Island.” The listing by sponsor Municipal Art Society: Jane Jacobs’ West Village Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Walk Host: Joan Schechter Meeting Place: 7th Ave. South & Christopher St., in front of Village Cigar Accessibility: Partially Accessible – curbs, uneven terrain, busy sidewalks Description: In 1934, 18 year old Jane Jacobs arrived in NYC from Scranton to pursue a writing career. While exploring her new environs, she found herself at Christopher Street Station, and immediately began her love affair with Greenwich Village. Our tour will include the history of the area, woven with stories and relevant sights of Jane’s epic battles with city bureaucracy and the powerful Robert Moses to preserve her beloved Village. Walkers will visit Hudson Street, where she lived for 20 years, observing its daily ‘intricate sidewalk ballet’ that was the inspiration for her acclaimed first book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, as well as see several other historic sites that would not exist today if it were not for her successful grassroots activism. Selected dérive posts in this blog: Islington After Dark, A London Light Walk Leni Schwendinger Lights the Way Public Lighting Theory – developing the nexus of lighting and urban design Mexico City,  Las Calles y Luz de “La Capital” Public Lighting Walk with Leni Dérive, a Cultural Week in Manhattan (July 2009) Dérive, a Cultural Week in Manhattan (May 2009) *dérive One of the basic situationist practices is the dérive [literally: “drifting”], a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll. In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones. — Theory of the Dérive by Guy-Ernest Debord #urbandesign #urbanplanning #city #streetscape #walking #preservation #NewYork #NewYorkCity #LinkedIn #derive #cities

Lighting is an essential element of our 24/7 world The world is urbanizing at an unprecedented pace. Once dominant, rural and agricultural populations are now city-bound as people seek new job opportunities and better living conditions. Click to enlarge Numeric projections and issues such as the speed at which large cities have burgeoned into mega-cities, the differentiation between”Mega” and “Global” cities and comparative economic, social and health statistics are numerous.* Dr. James Canton, a global futurist and social scientist, states that there are currently twenty-six mega-cities**. This designation is based purely on population; mega-cities are quantified as more than 10-million inhabitants. “Large Urban Agglomerations” consist upwards of  5-million inhabitants and thus include mega-cities. Global cities are those with highly-developed economies and institutions with a high degree of coordination.*** Thus, the urban night is a critical zone for study, design and application In 2003, I proposed the future malleable, responsive, illuminated city as part of my curriculum at New School/Parsons School of Design’s Designing Urban Nighttime Environments based on “shades of night“.  At that time urbanists and the real estate industry popularized the phrase “24/7” (hours/days per week) to invoke vitality.  It was my sense that as nighttime activities and flexible working hours increasingly redefined urban experience, greater emphasis should be focused on illuminating the after-dark environment. Now, “smart”, electronic systems for adaptable, sustainable cities are emerging.  These systems control illumination so that light is switched on and off, or dimmed, to save energy.  I propose to broaden the criteria to encompass social sustainability factors such as public health and economic development. Within this vision, local considerations  — real-time activities in the nighttime public realm such as shops open and closed, types of building usage — factor into lighting control plans.  The first step is to understand existing conditions in specific vicinities. In 2009, as an outcome of my guided student tours, the NightSeeing, Navigate Your Luminous City program was invented to present both an observational and critical review of “what is”, i.e. existing conditions of night-zones, through walking tours with the public, stakeholders, and professionals to encourage transformational public design palettes.  NightSeeing is a method of gleaning community needs and desires for districts undergoing revitalization. The program continues to develop globally, providing an opportunity to compare cultures of light and illumination, sharing with colleagues, friends, and strangers all over the world.  My objective is to walk all of the mega-cities in the near future. NightSeeing is a preparatory, experiential move. The intent is to raise awareness of all stakeholders that effect — and are affected by — light in the city. It aims to educate the populous, and the power-broker, with an aim toward safe and creative nights in the public realm. ### * Refer to World Population in 2050: Assessing the Projections, a text by Joel E. Cohen for the most current issues ** Mega-cities illustrated by photographs here in the order of Dr. Canton’s “Significance” article *** Refer to Megacities vs Global Cities: Development and Institutions, Lise Bourdeau-Lepage and Jean-Marie Huriot for the distinction between mega and global -cities Other Resources: Website NightSeeing, Navigate Your Luminous City Video NightSeeing Preview Part 1 and Preview Part 2 – Both online briefings for participants Video of the actual London LightWalk, Part 1 and here, Part 2. Night City with Leni Schwendinger, in Greenwich Village ###                 NightSeeing is a trademark of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects LTD               and is dedicated to co-creator, Mark Kramer, Light Projects’ former writer-in-residence #urbandesign #urbanplanning #internationalcultures #International #publiclighting #economicdevelopment #publichealth #globalcities #urbanlight #LinkedIn #NightSeeing #Lighting #Megacities #cities