URBAN LIGHTING BRINGS HISTORY BACK INTO FOCUS

18-12-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — In Stavanger, Norway, a new lighting project is bringing the city’s historic centre into focus, while at the same time creating a safe area for the whole population to enjoy. Recently, the lighting design won a major international award.

The cathedral in Stavanger was built in the early 12th century, and is the oldest such structure in Norway. This historical monument now fulfils its important position in the city as the natural centre of modern Stavanger; a factor being highlighted by an award winning urban lighting design:

“The primary task with the design was to emphasise the distinctive historical elements around the cathedral, position the building as the city’s natural centre, and to substantiate the historical experience of the local population as well as visitors,” said Vladan Paunovic, Project Manager, Architect and Lighting Designer at Ramboll.

“Our starting point was to create a narrative of the city’s historical past, dating back to the Middle Ages”, he further explained.

Creating depth in landscape with vertical layers

With the lighting design, Ramboll has created an urban space around the cathedral, which consists of a hierarchy of bright and dark layers in the onlooker’s field of vision:

“With the vertical layers, you get a whole different depth in the landscape than when using the more traditional horizontal approach to lighting. Particularly in Norway, where the landscape meanders up and down, a more traditional approach to lighting would not be as fitting”, said Vladan Paunovic.

A design that makes you feel safe

Another important goal for the lighting design was to provide security for the citizens of Stavanger, and to convert the space around the cathedral into a place where people would like to be at night:

“The strategy to increase security at night was to illustrate and emphasise the beautiful elements in the urban space such as trees, walls, facades and the waterfront, rather than to illuminate only the horizontal footpaths. We know that people feel safer if they can recognise familiar things such as trees and walls in their visual field,” explained Vladan Paunovic.

“We therefore analysed the whole area, and looked at all the different angles in order to ensure that there would be no dark corners,” he continued.

Major international recognition

The innovative lighting design in Stavanger’s historic centre recently won an international award in Colombia.

The Lighting Urban Community International Association (LUCI) awarded the Stavanger design second place from among 26 other projects from all around the world.

The jury, which was primarily composed of international architects and designers, explained in their nomination that Ramboll was very successful in preserving the area’s sense of tranquillity and history, with a very well-balanced lighting design.

Recently Ramboll won a major price for a lighting design project in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. This project was rewarded for its focus on safety, functionality and innovative lighting design.

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