Gångvägsljus

Abstract: Discussing light and lighting in the night-time environment of Tensta, a Stockholm suburb built between 1962 and 1970, this thesis suggests that lighting should be designed for the outdoor environment as a whole. The feeling of safety and human perception are important components in this thesis. Starting with some comments on visual perception and how we adapt our sight to an interval of the visual input we get, makes it possible to understand that more light sometimes hides, rather than reveals, things. Amongst the dispersed houses, in the green parks of Tensta, this turns the pedestrian roads, lit by pole-top-mounted fixtures, into light tunnels in a dark surrounding. Talking about the feeling of safety I am inspired by, amongst others K. Lynch, B. Hjort and J. Jacobs and their different thesis on how people feel comfortable in (day lit) environments. I translate them into suggestions about lighting design for the pedestrian roads, like the ones in Tensta. I propose that lighting designs should be carried out so that the pedestrians are able to see their surroundings and who they meet, they should be able to orientate themselves and also be able to be seen by others. Translated into lighting design this is about showing not just the pedestrian road but also surrounding facades, trees, shrubs, landmarks, etc. As a case study I develop a luminair for pedestrian roads that is an alternative to the normal pole-top mounted fixtures. My final conclusion is that. -A luminair, like the one presented, in combination with lights washing some facades, highlighting certain landmarks and marking the edges of forests, would make the night-time situation better on these pedestrian roads. -Working with this I have seen the importance of a well-planned environment. It is not only the bad lighting that makes the pedestrian roads in Tensta feel unsafe, but also the lack of social control and the lack of hierarchies that makes it hard to know where one is and where one is headed. -As a landscape architect with a degree in lighting design I would like to make a statement for the knowledge about light and lighting design. Lighting is not about the look of the fixtures, but about the sensation that is created by the impact of light upon the materials and the furniture in the environment. Especially for landscape architects working here, 58°N, where their designs often are experienced through artificial lighting.