28 Septmber 2007 Night Gazing in Yokohama …by: natsuko ueda It has been a long time since the Lighting Detectives have been walked Yokohama. This autumn evening 24 members participated in the walk, along with member of the Yokohama City & Urban Design Group. Our first stop on the tour was the Yokohama Marine Tower, not usually open to the public, but with special arrangements our group climbed to the top to view the night scene. The industrial area along the bay had an orangish glow from low-pressure sodium lamps, in contrast with the residential area, which had a whiteish glow from mercury lamps. The lighting surrounding Minato Mirai is a large part of the whole lightscape with signature lightmarks like the Landmark Tower, the colorful lights of the ferris wheel, and flood lights from the baseball stadium. Every direction in our 360-degree view presented a different story for the city. After climbing the tower and jumping aboard a boat to see the best of Yokohama nightscape from the water, our last stop was the newly opened commercial complex, Yokohama Bay Quarter, followed up by the all-important post-walk dinner and discussion. The Lighting Detectives were able to hear straight from Yokohama City & Urban Design Group about invaluable topics concerning the city and how the nightscape can become even more dramatic and dynamic. My impression was not just of a typical waterfront city with dots of light everywhere across the…

A mysterious installation of light called the Labyrinth of Light was announced by the Milano Salone 2021. https://www.nitto.com/jp/en/products/raycrea/ In collaboration with Nitto Electric Industry, LPA incorporated Raycrea, Nitto Electric Industry`s newly developed material, into a light and space design.  The installation was well received by visitors with the attention that defied our expectations.  Hosted in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, there were admission restrictions in place, but a number of visitors lined up to get in.  Today, September 8th,  I am headed back to Tokyo early and raising my glass in a solo toast of relief.  I am very happy with the result, almost a perfect execution.  As architectural lighting designers, this kind of installation work is a whole different world of design.  The relationship between light and people is very close, for a very intuitive and stimulating result.  Especially in the case of this installation, the design is associated with axes of time, so the venue is similar to a theatre without an audience.  Visitors are free to roam throughout the labyrinth of light and follow what catches their eye.  However, while they are moving, scenes and lighting effects are changing, creating multiple-layers of light and confusion.  On a sunny day, visitors to the Salone experience the autumn sunlight of Italy, measured at 100,000 lux, before entering the building.  Upon entrance, a black wall directs visitors to the beginning of the labyrinth, where everyone seems to stop, look,…

Manhattan is a sleepless city of luminous spectacles, a city everyone dreamed of in the 20th century could have imagined. The energy of the people is transformed into the bright lights of the nightscape, as lights dot the skyscrapers all day and night. The beauty nightscape at New York City is best seen in its skyline from across the river. Looking down on Manhattan from the Empire State Building at dusk. The Streets and Avenues present a rock-solid, ridged foundation. The RCA Building glows a bright white, Fifth Avenue is a yellowish-gold, and the point of the Chrysler building can be seen. Walls of light surround Times Square with the latest technology incorporated into the different interactive lights. The Empire State Building, a well-established icon in the Manhattan skyline with a 360°view from the top.

This column was written on June 3, 2017 and recently found while I cleaned my PC. Barcelona`s La Rambla basks in the spring sunshine. It has been awhile, but I am just wondering today with limited cash, a credit card, and iPhone in my pocket. I usually have a backpack slung over my shoulder with various pens and paper, PC, laser pointer, wallet, date book, and a collapsible umbrella inside. I noticed that without the burden of carrying a bag, one`s way of walking is different and things that catch your eye are different. Today I even have the freedom to take a second glance at the women walking by. I didn`t bring anything with me today because La Rambla is a very vulnerable place for tourist carrying stuff. I suspect blending in like a local, elderly gentleman is a better option. There are many great places to visit in Barcelona and the Market La Boqueria is one of them. In any city, a trip to the market will reveal rare ingredients or hints to the local food life, but you can also find various emotions among the people, like delight, anger, sorrow, or pleasure. Of course, the products and items for sale are interesting in themselves, but the exchange between vendor and customer is also very interesting. Every day is business as usual at the market, but each city has its own style. From the use of a butcher…

～Let’s Go Search for Darkness～2023.09.26　Shinichi Sakaguchi ＋ Tomoya Furukawa＋Ryuji Hatta ＋ Ryuma Shiota＋Noriko Higashi This time, our night walk survey was themed “Exploring the Darkness of the City,” taking us through the green paths of Setagaya in Tokyo and visiting shrines in Kyoto where darkness lingers. Typically, our walks focus on the lights of the city, but this time we decided to take a different approach with the theme “Let’s Search for the Darkness of Tokyo”. While parks, shrines, and cemeteries are places with inherent darkness, we thought there wasn’t much room for discussion. Instead, we focused on Setagaya’s green paths, which are commonly used at night for commuting, school, and jogging. Although these paths are very pleasant during the day and popular for strolls, we wanted to see what the nighttime environment is like, so we divided into three groups to explore. (Noriko Higashi) ■ Group 1: Ikejiri-Ohashi to Sangenjaya The first group walked along the Meguro River Greenway and the Karasuyama River Greenway from Ikejiri-Ohashi to Sangenjaya, which are connected by a single greenway, and we were able to feel the various expressions of the greenways from different places. The atmosphere, brightness, and sense of safety when walking at night seem to vary greatly depending on the surrounding environment. The atmosphere of the tall streetlights and security lights was greatly influenced by the surrounding trees. I got the impression that places with thick trees and narrow greenways were…