Light as a Tool for Generating Identity : Lighting proposal for part of Islamic Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: Each city has a unique image and special things to offer to citizens and visitors. It is this unique image that differentiate between the different cities. The uniqueness of the image of the city is derived from the urban identity of the city and its public spaces. The purpose of this thesis is to define what are the factors that contribute in defining space identity which were found to be the physical stationary structure, the users and their interaction with the space which result in creating memories and experience and the history of the space. Based on this definition a connection is made to define how can urban lighting contribute in fulfilling those factors This connection is made through the study of urban lighting techniques, the different approaches of lighting masterplan for three cities and users perception of the space aiming to reach a final goal of a conceptual lighting proposal for Al-Moez Ldin Allah street which is part of Islamic Cairo in Egypt. Al-Moez street is considered a landmark and a touristic space in Cairo because it is rich with heritage landmarks and amazing medieval architecture. The street is not only considered a touristic space, but it is also used by locals and a lot of Egyptians already are emotionally attached to the space. Finally, a discussion part is following that aim to reflect on the steps taken to approach the goal of this thesis and evaluate the lighting proposal based on the vision of this thesis, and it shows that keeping users as the first priority in the design process will result in the most efficient lighting proposal.