City Night Survey : Urumqi, China

Night Walk in Aoyama and Photo Taking2024.11.02 Sachiko Segawa Let’s go out to Tokyo at night and find lighting heroes and villains!Under the cooperation of Taritari Inc., we held a children’s workshop in 2024 with this theme. Despite the rainy weather, 10 children participated. First, they listened to a talk about light from our chief, Mr. Mende, and then Ms. Mizuno from Taritari gave a talk about the old townscape around Omotesando Station. After a brief orientation, we headed out into the rain to find lighting heroes and villains. Originally, we planned to divide into four groups at the Omotesando intersection and explore four different areas, but due to the heavy rain and the number of participating children, we decided at the last minute to walk the same route together as one group. First, we walked from the office buildings along Aoyama-dori to Nonoaoyama, a mixed-use residential and commercial complex built on the site of the former Aoyama Kitamachi apartments. Then, we strolled along the adjacent walkway with its greenery and stream. Despite the rainy weather and limited visibility, the children enthusiastically pointed their cameras at the lights that caught their interest, capturing photos of the calming lights on the walkway and the blue illuminations of the restaurants beyond. As this workshop was primarily for upper elementary school students, some of them made comments that were as insightful as those of adults. After leaving the walkway, we walked through a…

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,…

“Zaha”such a commanding name. You may have heard of this famous name belonging to one famous lady. My own name “Kaoru” has a more feminine ring to it and may be more fitting for a lady of such great accomplishment. Ms. Zaha Hadid is an architect in the UK, but hales from Baghdad, Iraq. I first had the opportunity to met with Zaha some 20＋ years ago while she was working in Tokyo. We were planning the lighting for a boutique of her design in the Azabu district of Tokyo. Unfortunately, the plans fell through and the architecture was never realized. I asked her one time when she was born and by coincidence she and I are born in the same year, 1950, and somehow it made me feel closer to her. But I am such a small man, compared to her larger physic and presence. After the defunct Tokyo project I had the opportunity to work with Zaha again to design lighting fixtures and to help with the lighting for a Singapore City Planning project. And I have always felt that I have a closeness or connection with her and her projects. This same Zaha has designed the most beautiful lighting fixture! The fixture uses the popular LED units, but effectively hides the bright twinkle and sparkle they are so famous for to create this charming, twisting pendant. The pedant hangs by an arm extending from the ceiling, but…

2021.05.22-2021.11.21　Reiko Kasai, Mayumi Banno, Sun Young Hwang, Sherri Goh, Shosaku Takahashi 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　      　　©gardestudio                                Pre-opening set-up In late November 2019, we were invited by the National University of Singapore (NUS ) Department of Architecture curatorial team to submit a proposal for the Singapore Pavilion under the theme To-Gather: The Architecture of Relationships. Our pitch was shortlisted amongst 16 other participating architects and designers. We began work at the start of January 2020 to design and fabricate the installation scheduled to exhibit in Venice from 23rd May to 29th November 2020. The brief was to question how our work responds to the dialogue of: how will we live together? Our Response In Singapore, terms such as “light pollution” and “loud lights” are now used to describe the lit environment in Singapore. There is a pressing need to re-evaluate and balance the current situation with our needs and wants. Do we need to examine if such an increase in light actually provides us with more pleasant nights? Designing the installation The format conceptualized by the curators was of the iconic Singapore hawker center. Hawker centers are integral to the Singaporean way of life pertaining to everyday dining. All participants are assigned a table with stools arranged around it, mimicking a typical layout in hawker centres. We updated the lengthy lighting chronology exhibited at Lighting Planners Associates…

Our survey took place after the dust settled from the construction rush to finish infrastructure for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Around the main tourist attractions the lighting atmosphere was very orderly, but in Athens the ancient and modern co-habitat to create a charming townscape, possibly found in no other city. Under a perfect blue sky, the Parthenon stands surrounded by Doric columns. Over the years under direct sunlight, weathering has taken its toll on the building, but its presence still gives the illusion of a slip back in time. An illuminated Parthenon as viewed from the historic district of Plaka. Seeing the historic townscape, as it must have been in ancient times intertwined with modern adaptations, is one of the attractions of the Athens nightscape. To the eye, significant contrasts in light and dark are apparent in Sintagma Square. Some of the most brightly lit places in the plaza registering 300lx and the places like the stairs leading down to the plaza completely dark. Some fixtures also seem as bright as the sun, almost like afternoon daylight.