Because collective imaginaries of darkness and nocturnal realities are so tightly weaved together, night studies struggle with classical methods of investigation. Living patterns are vitally conditioned by light/dark dynamics, nevertheless, urban design, a loose field between landscape, architecture and planning, is largely based on fixed plans. Visuals supporting neutrality and homogenous light distribution are unfit to account for nocturnal experience, for changes in worlds after dark. Rich and nuanced descriptions of the night thrive in art forms, but urban night visions mainly fall under 2 categories: festivity (enhanced by extraordinary illumination) and insecurity (implied by lack of lighting). Nights are not reducible to such dichotomies. They are more than the decline of light as the earth moves. Every nightfall and sunrise are different. They vary with latitudes, climate, seasons, cultures, rituals… They are moments marked by instability, by darkness, by micro/macro alterations occuring in environments, shifts in activity, social order, colours, sounds… Places have specific nocturnal qualities and sensory environments that change with time. To demonstrate the significance and diversity of these changes, I have been exploring dark atmospheres in various situations around the world for 2 years, using photography to capture particularities. A visual atlas is under construction to map darkness' into conceptual categories relating to contemporary night issues. Built from images and visual essays, it will serve as a body of qualitative information, a guide for urban designers to better account for nocturnal sides of projects. The aim is to promote night fieldwork as integral to the design process to more fully understand sites. Light/dark is a spatial factor that shapes place as much form and finance. The right type of darkness for a nightspace is more likely to be attained through site observation rather than through universal, standardized light solutions.
Mots clés : photographic atlas|dark atmospheres|spatial visualizations|nocturnal fieldwork|urban design
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