Interviewer: Jio Yeung Jio： I always wanted to become a video game designer, unfortunately I had to give up my dream.  I am just a beginner when it comes to design so I am looking forward to learning a lot from our talk today.  First, I would like to ask; What does design mean to you? Mende：  If you look up the word design in the dictionary it is written: to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan.  But I think it is intent or purpose.  Little fixes or twists in everyday life.  There is also design without any shape.  Taste,  touch, hearing, sight, and smell, design can activate the five senses.  Cooking is also design.   Various materials all whipped together can really make people happy.  Jio：Ok.  Well, what do you think is good design? Mende ：Something that is an upgrade in daily life and universally stimulating.  Kind of  like the door to happiness.  Jio : Yes, I think so too.  Stimulating and makes people feel happy, these are important points.  However, design does seem to be a personal preference? Mende ：Of course, there are likes and dislikes.  For example, taking a very Japanese design and introducing it to China or India, it might not go over very well.   However, there are reasons good design is liked by many people.  Maybe, culturally, health-wise, or for environmentally-friendly reasons.  Even a single pen, the shape or how it is held are all…

Urban Light and Natural light in Western Australia2025.10.28 – 11.01 Hongna Chen + Puyu Wu This lighting survey investigates the influence of Western Australia’s local culture and natural landscape on its lighting environment, exploring whether its relative remoteness has led to distinctive approaches in lighting design. For this purpose, field investigations were conducted in Perth and its surrounding natural areas. ■ Perth’s Geographic LocationPerth is a city in Western Australia and is often described as the world’s most isolated major city. This characterization stems from its extreme remoteness with the Indian Ocean to the west, vast outback deserts to the east, and long distances from other major cities—about 4,000 km from Darwin, 2,700 km from Adelaide, and over 3,000 km from eastern cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. The unique nightscape of such a “remote” city is the central focus of this survey. ■ Panoramic Night ViewTo take in the city’s nightscape from above, we chose King’s Park, the largest park in Perth. The park is a popular recreational spot for locals. On our way up, we saw many people hiking, picnicking, and sunbathing. We joined them at the hilltop to await nightfall. From Kings Park, Perth’s nighttime view clearly reveals the structure of the city’s lighting. The CBD skyline is defined by clusters of bright, cool-white light from office towers, while the streets below form a grid of warmer, yellow streetlights. The Swan River is faintly outlined by ambient…

2022.09.10　Singapore Lighting Detectives After 2 years of being quiet during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we were able to finally participate in the community event organised by the local grassroot committee of Tanjong Pagar. We held a lantern-making workshop in the early evening of Saturday, 10 September 2022 in conjunction with the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festivities were organised by a place-making committee Discover Tanjong Pagar overseeing the businesses and people of the district. The theme was “upcycling” and we were limited to the use of recycled materials for the activity. It was tough to collect items like plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and bottle caps 2 weeks before the event to gather enough for around 50pax estimated to turn up. We had assistance from the organiser to obtain tables for our workshop and some recycled bottles. A celebration of mooncakes, tea and lantern walks are commonly seen around the residential neighbourhoods as part of the festivities. There were snack stalls and live music flanking our workshop tables to draw the crowd that was out with their kids. The turnout was weak at the start, around 5pm in the evening. However as it turned to nighttime, the numbers surged and we were overwhelmed until our scheduled walk at 8.30pm. The children ranged from toddlers of 18 months old to adults, with most around 6-10 years old. They had to be supervised by Lighting Detectives volunteers as there was a lot of use of scissors…

Date of Issue：24 April 2018 ・Activity1／City Survey:Qatar, Azerbaijan (2018/02/12-02/17) ・Activity2／Singapore Night Walk＠Marina Bay （2018/03/28） Newsletter Vol.87　Download PDF City Survey in Qatar/Azerbaijan 2018/02/12-02/17　　Masahiro Iwata + Hikaru Kimura We went to Qatar and Azerbaijan from 12th to 17th February for 6 days for lighting survey. Both of countries are oil producers, and have been developed with oil money. Qatar and Azerbaijan are located on similar longitude, however each urban landscape has been developed in different ways according to their history. Qatar is an emergent country, which benefits from oil money. High-rise buildings has been built on vacant huge desert, and the gulf coast has been developed for attracting wealthy class in around the world. On the other hand, Azerbaijan still faces a problem which a lots of refugees by the past war have hard lives, even it is in bubble boom and it benefits from oil money as much as Qatar. They have redeveloped the old town, which is world heritage. We surveyed lighting in these two countries, where electricity expenses are free by benefit of oil money. Sketch of the road lighting ■Qatar, Capital city Doha Doha used to be described as “the most boring city in the world”, where there were no accommodation and entertainment facilities according to its closed policy. Today luxury hotels and huge shopping malls has been built, and it has become a bustling city. There are lots of buildings painted the current president’s face on the…

2022.10.27　Genki Watanabe+ Chuanyi Liu+ Yuki Ito This Tokyo night walk survey took place in Shimokitazawa, a neighborhood especially popular among young people. Known as one of Tokyo’s most culturally rich districts, the area is filled with vintage clothing shops, eateries, theaters, niche cinemas, and art galleries.The Lighting Detectives previously conducted a survey here in 2009. This time, we examined how the area has changed since the Odakyu Line was relocated underground. We also focused on the newly developed Shimokita Senrogai area, which opened on May 28, 2022, assessing its lighting design and comparing it with the older shopping streets to explore the contrast between new and traditional urban atmospheres. ■Map around Shimokitazawa Station With the Odakyu Line moved underground, a new neighborhood called Shimokita Senrogai was developed between Higashi-Kitazawa Station and Setagaya-Daita Station. Driven by the desire to support the community, redevelopment progressed step-by-step while listening to local residents’ voices. The entire area officially opened on May 28, 2022.Alongside the railway line, new facilities such as daycare centers, a hot spring inn, commercial spaces, student dormitories, and event venues were established. ■Development of Shimokita Senrogai The Shimokita Senrogai area we surveyed is a newly developed space created by moving the Odakyu Line underground. It was designed with the intention of reconnecting the northern and southern parts of the neighborhood that had previously been divided by the railway tracks, resulting in developments that encourage smooth pedestrian circulation throughout. The development features…