Vol.000 – Coffee Break with Mende and Me

Symbiosis of beautiful starry sky and light environment 2024.03.10　Noriko Higashi The Yaeyama Islands became the first island in Japan to be certified as a starry sky protected area. However it’s still only tentatively certified because about 2% of the outdoor lighting still needs to be improved. How should we think about the nighttime scenery in order to protect the starry sky and to make the night comfortable for local residents? We had a discussion with the citizens along with the Mayor of Ishigaki. Thank you for joining us, Ishigaki! The Yaeyama Islands, including Ishigaki Island, are the first area in Japan to be certified by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA, Arizona) as a starry sky protection area. The Yaeyama Islands are provisionally certified because there are still some outdoor lights that need to be renovated. Through the symposium and walking around the town with local people, we explored what kind of nighttime scenery is needed in Ishigaki, where the night sky remains precious dark and tourism is a major industry. ■Symposium “Symbiosis of beautiful starry sky and light environment” was the theme of the lecture by Mr. Mende and tripartite discussion with Mr. Yoshitaka Nakayama, Mayor of Ishigaki City and Ms. Yoko Akagi, General Manager of Ishigaki Island Beach Hotel Sunshine, who is practicing hotel construction in consideration of light pollution. Looking back on the past light pollution countermeasures in the Yaeyama Islands, they exchanged opinions on how to…

Global Nightscape survey in Melbourne 2014.11.11-11.15　　Misuzu Nakamura+Haruka Sakoda　 For 4 years running, Melbourne has been chosen as the best place in the world to live. City planning has successfully focused on public space to build one of the world’s leading and charming cities. The cityscape is harmonious balance of old and new buildings. Main avenues lined with trees and lampposts are beautifully maintained, along with smaller alleyways, and even the waterfront along the river flowing through the middle of the city is carefully planned. We surveyed the Melbourne nightscape in search of the secret to its coziness. We can clearly feel the difference of lighting atmosphere between CBD area which is occupied with blacked-out buildings and surrounding local area which is covered by twinkling warm-colored street lights, when we look down from “Eureka Sky Deck”. The lighting plan of the city seems to have intent to differentiate business districts and cozy alleyways, using different color temperature as public lights. The waterfront area was well-maintained with designed pole lights and façade lighting from the surroundings, but some of tree lightings were by glaring spotlights. Many people were enjoying their walk along the river. We found a lot of “catenary downlights” in the city. Instead of pole lighting, catenaries covered large squares, wide intersections and narrow pathway between the building. When the night falls, the downlights looked like a starry sky. As we can see that so many people were gathering at…

September 20th-21st 2013 @ Xue Xue Institute Transnational Tanteidan Forum 2013 in Taipei http://www.xuexue.tw/tnt/ Theme: Taipei Nightscape and Lighting Identity Venue: Xue Xue Institute, Taipei, Taiwan Program: City Walk, Workshop, Exhibition, Pecha Kucha Night, Symposium Organized by: Lighting Detective　office@shomei-tanteidan.org Co-operated with Xue Xue Institute http://www.xuexue.tw/ Tainan Excursion Supported by Coretronic Fundation Schedule: September 1st, pre-workshop September 20th, Forum Day 1 September 21th, Forum Day 2 September 22th, Tainan Excursion September 1st, pre-workshop: workshop orientation and children`s workshop Pre-workshop: city walk Pre-workshop: measuring lux levels Pre-workshop: lighting hero and villians Pre-workshop with Mr. Mende Working on group panels Homework Review TNT members give advice during review. Presentation at Forum Presentation at Forum Panal Discussion during presentation TNT members at Taipei Forum 1. Pre-workshop Orientation　（5 groups ×9 people) ・Mr. Mende introduced the lighting detectives and how we conduct a city night survey. ・Each group decided which area they would like to talk about. ・Mr. Mende gave assignment to attendees to find their Hero & Villain of each location and make two panels; Panel 1: Introduce team members and survey area Panel 2: Evaluate their findings at survey area. . All members went to XinYi Area (Area 1) to see how we conduct a night survey. After a short introduction of the Lighting Detectives, Mr. Mende conducted a simple city walk orientation and explained the schedule up until the TNT Forum presentations. 45 participants were divided into 5 teams and each team decided…

16 January, 2009 During the year 2008-2009 the Lighting Detectives hosted a three-part salon series focused on “Residential Lighting: Past, Present, and Future.” Part 3 of the series was titled: “Looking Forward into the Future of Residential Lighting.” The Lighting Detectives, who through fieldwork, continue to investigate the subject of lighting by using our own eyes and bodies to experience light, prepared to discuss the future of residential lighting from not just from a visionary and dreamy perspective, but by reflecting on current residential lighting and realistic possibilities for the future. by: misa fuji Report from the Lighting Detectives: “Lighting for Tomorrow and Our Lifestyle’s of the Future.” The Lighting Detectives decided to tackle this subject from the three following directions. 1. Light Source: LED 2. Light Fixture: The Home 3. Light Recipients: Occupants of the Home In the future, LED`s and Organic EL technology will most likely become mainstream items making available various options for luminous furniture, other luminous products, and opportunities to incorporate colored lighting into our living spaces. As for the home, the technology to use daylight more efficiently is developing fast; along with systems that couple more elaborate motion sensors with lighting are a possibility. With all of the lighting possibilities present now and being developed for future use, people will be able to pick and choose a lighting environment most suitable for their individual homes. In the near future, increasingly unique lighting will, most likely,…

Date: October 13-16, 2009 Program: Workshop, City Survey, Symposium Venue: Central Acadamy of Art, Gouzijian 8th Annual Transnational Tanteidan Forum Beijing 2009 Workshop: 2009.10.13-15 Central Academy of Art No.8, HuaJiaDi Nanjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing Forum: 2009.10.16 GuoZiJian (The Imperial College during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties) The 8th annual Transnational Forum was held in Beijing in October 2009, a year after Olympic hype! The theme for the workshop and forum: “Enjoy Eco Lighting.” TN Tanteidan Forum Under Reconstruction The Transnational Tanteidan Forum tour of core member cities ended in the autumn of 2008 with the Belgrade Forum and a new chapter in forum history began. A year before the start and in the midst of Olympic enthusiasm, the lighting detectives were searching for new and exciting ideas for the 2009 Beijing Forum. Guidelines for the Beijing Forum include: 1. Joint theme for workshop and forum 2. Workshop: a city walking tour in the form of “Lighting Heroes and Villains” 3. Forum: Instead of core member presentations a more improvisational discussion Core members from Japan and Europe were slightly concerned about irregular mishaps or events in China, but the new Beijing Chapter offered passionate and dedicated local support for a very productive workshop and forum. Workshop: Light and Shadow Search in Beijing WS Day 1: Out on the Streets of Beijing 87 students from Tokyo, Stockholm, and all over China gathered for a 2-day workshop. Under the joint workshop-forum theme,…