If you visit Atjehstraat in the Katendrecht district of Rotterdam, you will find yourself in a very distinctive neighbourhood. Where you once would have found ordinary street lamps, you now encounter patterns of light: columns on the façades of the houses and abstract shapes running along the pavement. The idea, which grew out of a rethinking of the traditional streetscape and had a significant impact on the street’s visual renewal, was named Broken Light. Its implementation helped to reduce the crime that had plagued the area, and strengthened community ties. The new look of Atjehstraat is part of a broader effort to upgrade the district.
In 2007, the arts organisation Stiching DSPS issued a challenge: to create a plan that would revitalise the district while also prompting discussion about the lighting of public spaces. The challenge caught the interest of lighting designer and artist Rudolf Teunissen. Together with designer Philipp Stegmüller, he began researching the significance of light, with the aim of understanding exactly how people perceive and experience it in public spaces.
They found that the language of light permeates every dimension of culture. Art, in the form of photography, film, painting and so on, has created a library, or database, of visual references that act as a filter on real life.
The two designers also found that the terminology used in lighting has entered everyday language. It is also used metaphorically to express all kinds of situations, for example “they left him in the dark” or “new information came to light”.
In short, light and darkness are concepts charged with meaning, a meaning that is constantly influenced by, and in turn influences, the way we perceive the lit environment around us.
Teunissen’s next step was to create a design for Atjehstraat that would unite “real light” (what we see) with “translated light” (what we experience emotionally). Broken Light developed from this foundation.
The designers realised early on that what they were really looking for was a meaning of light that is supported by an experience. They wanted to show that a lighting concept is not only about how we perceive a space, but also about how it can support that space’s identity.
Rather than using light as a purely practical solution, offering security against the dangers that lurk in the dark, Teunissen built it into the idea of identity. Of course, the practical side of the matter also had to be taken into account. There was a strong wish to avoid the negative qualities of street lighting, to prevent glare and to reduce light pollution. Beyond that, Teunissen wanted to create a “lichtraum”, a space made of light, giving the street a different character even during the day.
For changes of this scale to happen, however, the consent of the city authorities and, of course, of the residents was essential. Stiching DPS acted as intermediary throughout the project. In 2009 it staged a demonstration using a prototype luminaire, and in November 2010 it organised a small celebration for the official “switching on”.
Implementing the design meant removing the existing lighting poles and replacing them with 18 new units, 9 on each side of the street. Each new pole is 6 metres high, and its custom-made luminaire is aimed at the building façades. These luminaires also form the vertical designs and the patterns on the ground.
Each of the luminaires that created the effects had to be adjusted so that the beams of light were focused precisely, avoiding the windows. In this way, anyone can enjoy the new setting, whether they are inside a building or out on the street.
The reflectors were made by Marinus van der Voorden, following specialised calculations. The attachments were produced by the industrial design studio Max Designers, under the supervision of Thomas Linders.
Regulations stipulated that the street had to be evenly lit, so attachments were fitted on the kerbside posts next to every second lamp along the street. The attachments are mounted at a height of 5 metres on a small frame and set at a slight angle, so that only one pole in each pair carries a luminaire. This lights the roadway precisely without affecting the rest of the scheme. From above, these unorthodox shapes look like graffiti, as if someone had sprayed light onto the pavement. At street level, the patterns resemble abstract shapes of birds and flowers. Indeed, this play with different interpretations and depictions of light was deliberate from the start, and the residents’ reaction has been entirely positive.
Through this project, Teunissen has shown that imaginative solutions can be practical and functional at the same time. In essence, an entire district can be lit by creating contrasts, without visual obstruction from unwanted reflections. Using Atjehstraat as a working model, he hopes to continue applying his technique, adapting Broken Light to new environments.
Source: www.flashlight.gr
