

Kyoto is an ancient city of Japan that was planned based on feng shui, or Chinese divination. Although the streets of Kyoto are a typical gridiron pattern, unique spatial conditions derived from the machiya, or Japanese style townhouses, are found all over the city. All of these spatial features nestled into the city’s framework lead us to lighting environments only found in Kyoto. East of Kyoto, a frequented nightscape viewpoint, Shogunzuka looks out over the city. From this birds-eye view, street lights and other ground level lighting softly illuminate the volume of buildings in Kyoto, appearing as of more a cluster of shadows then light in the night. The Gion area of Kyoto. Here, traditional facades and buildings still exist and reflect the intention of the people to preserve and recreate the architectural and lighting atmosphere of this historical place. Instead of bright lights in this area, light is impressively filtered through cracks, crevices, or bamboo lattice of the buildings to spectacularly fulfill this area’s lighting requirements. Kyoto`s rich waterscape. Light from Pontocyo, along the Kamagawa River, filters out and reflects on the surface of the river, one of the many sophisticated nightlight waterscapes of Kyoto. KYOTO: A Multitude of Autumn Colors (2010.11) Autumn colors decorate the City of Kyoto every year with special illumination displays during the season. Moss, dew and other delicate natural colors standout during the freshness of daylight, compared to the fascinating illumination of fall…

