Urban Dark Acupuncture for Darkness: Value of Darkness in Pedestrian Experience of Sudirman Street, Jakarta

Abstract: As much as we thought about artificial lighting in planning of our urban nightscape, it is necessary to balance it with consideration regarding darkness. In response to the problems caused by artificial lighting; such as light pollution and disruption to human circadian rhythm, darkness should be seen as a value that brings balance for the environment. There are nine values of darkness in urban illumination; efficiency, sustainable, ecology, healthiness, happiness, connects to nature, stellar visibility, heritage & tradition, wonder & beauty (Stone, 2019). In Designing for Darkness, Stone (2019) described three concepts to bring darkness into urban illumination design; Incremental Darkening, Environmentally Responsive Lighting, and Urban (Dark) Acupuncture. Urban Acupuncture is an effort to revitalize area and its surroundings through intervention in the strategic key point. (Leiner, 2014). In terms of urban lighting, the concept of Urban (Dark) Acupuncture described as an attempt to accentuate a strategic location in a city with darkness (Stone, 2019). This master thesis aims to apply the Urban (Dark) Acupuncture concept into a conceptual lighting design proposal for Sudirman Street, Jakarta. Functioned as a Central Business District of Jakarta, Sudirman Street is considered as a strategic key point for the intervention. The design proposal will be focusing on pedestrian facility of the street, and final result will be evaluated by the user. Keywords: Urban Lighting, Urban Acupuncture, Light Pollution, Darkness