Review of Kyoto & Sangenjaya Night Walk
2023.10.27 Yuki Ito
Today’s salon was a review of the night walk surveys focusing on the darkness of the city. It was a hybrid session with online participants from Kyoto as well. There was a friendly atmosphere in the LPA studio even before the session started, so much so that the students from Kyoto who participated online might have felt a little left out. Under the theme of darkness, we discussed what kind of darkness lurks in each area and what kind of light lurks in the darkness.
For the Kyoto city walking review, the presentations focused on historical buildings and cityscapes unique to Kyoto. While some participants commented that they felt a sense of calmness in dimly lit spaces with only streetlights lining the precincts, they also discovered that some streetlights were too bright and were harming the darkness of the precincts. The LPA office was impressed by the keen perspective of the surveyors in Kyoto.
In the Sangenjaya Night Walk Survey review, each group walked mainly along the greenway and talked about the various dark spots they found along the way.
The opinions of each group were divided about the streetlights lining the greenway. Some said that the light blocked by the trees was not good for illumination, while others said that the trees hid the luminous surfaces of the streetlights, which was good because they did not cause glare.
All groups seemed to have a common impression that spaces with strong contrasts between bright and dark areas are not good. Many said that the lights from the houses lined up along the greenway were remarkable, and some said that it could be better to use only the lights from the houses. Personally, I am intrigued by the idea of a greenway plan that makes use of the lights from the houses.
This time, we conducted a night walk survey under the theme of darkness, and found that each person has a different perception of darkness. By focusing on the darkness, we were able to more delicately feel the light that exists within it. I had the impression that there was not much beautiful darkness in Sangenjaya, so if there is a town in Tokyo where we can feel beautiful darkness, I hope we can hold the “2nd Night Walk Survey in Search of Darkness” again in the next time. (Yuki Ito)
