CITY LIGHTS
Illumination for the public space

Public lighting, which was originally intended to protect against assaults and to provide orientation, became increasingly geared towards motorised traffic with the advance of automobility in the 20th century. In the meantime, however, the "car-friendly city" has become a serious burden for the people and animals living in it, so that a rethinking is now underway. High (fossil) energy consumption through traffic and lighting, harmful effects on the biorhythm of city dwellers, light pollution, insect mortality, dangerously heated inner cities, etc. are leading to considerations of banning the private car from inner cities and using the freed-up space in other ways. In the course of such considerations, entirely new scope for inner-city lighting arises and the possibility of aligning it again with the needs of the inhabitants, with atmospheric and aesthetic considerations coming to the fore.

The South Tyrolean company EWO, which is involved in Vienna's city lighting, will accompany us in this task in the coming semester.

We start with a night walk together with Hannes Wohlgemuth (Managing Director of Ewo) and Iris Podgorschek (Managing Director of podpod design) on 2.3.23 at 20:00 to look at some good as well as bad examples of urban lighting. A full-day workshop together with Hannes and Stefan will follow on 3.3.23 from 9:30-14:00, where we will, among other things, take a look at the MAK garden and take a walk around the Angewandte.

Course and goal of the semester project CITY LIGHTS:
Based on a self-selected example, describe where new scope for the inner-city use of public spaces is emerging. Describe to what extent new or known needs of city dwellers are being met and what behaviour or habits are being established. Explain the role of lighting & atmosphere and suggest how this mood can be set in the example you have chosen.

The CITY LIGHTS project is basically limited to the city of Vienna. For those of you who are interested in a longer-term, professional technical implementation of your project, it might be a good idea to choose a location in the MAK garden for your experiments. We know from Lilli Hollein, the director of the MAK, that she is particularly interested in forward-looking ideas on the subject of urban lighting and can very well imagine implementing such projects as a permanent installation in her courtyard/garden. EWO is, of course, an obvious choice as a manufacturer for the implementation. So: MAK is not a must, but the garden and the immediate surroundings, especially Ufer Promenade and Wien Fluss offer many possibilities.

We wish you an inspiring start and hope that curiosity and the joy of experimentation will carry you through the project. don't forget: the journey is more important than the destination and never forget: enjoy the process!!! 

We are planning an excursion to Ewo in Bolzano on April 21st.

Stefan Diez & Christian Steiner, together with Ewo (https://www.ewo.com/)

The grades in the subjects Design Draft 1.0 and 2.0 are made up of subaspects that are merged into an overall grade after the final presentation and submission of the image and text materials. All materials must be handed in within 2 weeks after the finals. The evaluation is completed 3 weeks after the finals.

Kick off for the semester project is 2 March 2023. All further dates will be published in the ID1 calendar.

Communication during the semester project will take place via SLACK and WORKBOOK. All details can be found in our STUDIO MANUAL.