

2023.09.22 – 2023.09.26 Ke Yonglin + Chuanyi Liu
Lighting Survey: Nepal 2023.11.12 – 2023.11.14Mayumi Banno Xianyu Liu (Flower) Kathmandu Valley, a World Heritage Site encompassing Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur; how is the city faring now after the devastating earthquake of 2015? During Tihar, Nepal’s festival of lights, we visited the capital city of Kathmandu and the adjacent ancient city of Bhaktapur. ■IntroductionHow are Nepal’s cities faring after the 2015 earthquake? During Tihar, Nepal’s festival of lights, we visited the capital city of Kathmandu and the adjacent ancient city of Bhaktapur to explore the reconstruction and the lighting environment during the festival. From the plane overlooking the whole of Nepal, shocked by the twinkling lights of the stars. Nepal is a country with a high national happiness index, but it is also very poor. But when I saw this from the plane, I was surprised, I thought Nepal would have no lights, or very little lights. Later, I heard local people say that because it is the New Year, every family will prepare the colored lights, decoration, and create a lively atmosphere. (Flower) ■KathmanduKathmandu is located at an altitude of about 1,400 meters. In mid-November, when we visited, the days were hot and sunny, but the nights were cooler than 10 degrees Celsius. The city was filled with the hustle and bustle of the Hindu festival of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and happiness, to pray for wealth and health, and the New Year who live in this region….
2025.09.12 & 09.18 Lin Hu + Jiang Kunzhi + Lin Huangyi Shenzhen evolved from a fringe town into a high-tech metropolis in about 45 years, and its bold, sustainable urban lighting planning stands out nationally. A two-day field study examined nightscape patterns in its three CBDs, media façades in Futian, and the functional lighting design of the new Gangxia North Metro Station. Unlike older, historically rich Chinese cities, Shenzhen started as a peripheral town and in just about 45 years has become a high-tech modern metropolis. Thanks to its local legislative autonomy, Shenzhen’s urban planning is highly experimental and often serves as a model for other Chinese and even international cities. In urban lighting planning, Shenzhen is a national frontrunner: its nightscape design is bold and innovative, yet the city has also enacted special regulations for ecological protection and light pollution control, showing a clear commitment to sustainability. However, some lighting projects still spark social debate over energy consumption, light pollution, and the use of public resources. To understand more of Shenzhen’s current nightscape, the Shenzhen office team conducted a two-day field study with Mende-san and Kasai-san, focusing on three themes: 1. Nightscape of the three main CBDsWe visited the observation deck at 540 m on the Ping An Finance Center in Futian to take in the scale and layout of the city at night. Looking east toward Luohu, the skyline shows a mix of old and new high-rises, reflecting Shenzhen’s…
City Night Survey : Saitama-Shintoshin 2019.04.11 Lin Hu + Hikaru Kimura Saitama Shintoshin is a district established around the year 2000. Centered on JR Saitama-Shintoshin Station, it is an intensively structured urban area featuring a variety of functions, including large-scale commercial facilities, a major multi-purpose arena, government office complexes, and hospitals. This survey examined how this planned city has evolved from the perspective of lighting. Nightscape over the heliport from the Saitama Government Office Complex Light Linking Spaces A pedestrian walkway system is installed around Saitama-Shintoshin Station, utilizing an active pedestrian-vehicle separation plan that allows for smooth circulation from the second-floor station gates to various facilities. While the ground level is brightly illuminated by roadway pole lights, the pedestrian walkways feature lower-level lighting such as uplights and footlights—excluding some decorative pole lights in park areas—creating distinct expressions of light for each zone.Saitama-Shintoshin Station is connected to Kita-Yono Station by a walkway spanning approximately 600m. A continuous cantilevered glass canopy allows pedestrians to walk without getting wet in the rain or being stopped by traffic signals. Along this route, there is a straight path of about 100m running parallel to the railway tracks. Here, despite the cantilevered canopy structures being identical—likely due to differing construction phases—the lighting techniques varied across three distinct types. Although the architectural design is similar, the change in lighting methods results in varying levels of brightness depending on the location. While achieving uniformity may seem important, using different…
Tianjin is situated 150km east of Beijing and easily reached in a 30-minute high-speed train ride. Historically, foreign influence including the UK and Germany has shaped the western-style architecture and streetscape that this city is famed. Tianjin also poses the largest harbor in Northern China, a gateway for this economical and technical development zone. Upon exiting the main station, a panoramic view of the city awaits. The western architecture, remnants from the foreign settlements era, is illuminated in low-color temperature light and stands in contrast to the newly constructed skyscrapers. A historical western architectural structure is now used as a banking facility. At night, orange-colored fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lamps softly illuminate the facade. Downtown is also bustling with construction. During the day the area is swarming with shoppers and construction site workers. At night, mega size digital media, neon signage, and colorful lanterns are everywhere, with even more foreseeable in the future as the construction boom continues.

