Downtown is usually full of activities and happenings where the crowd gathers to experience liveliness and greatness. When public realms are lacked of nice atmosphere for community, that make it less beneficial for the environment, a design must be able to vibrate its spatial potential and conduct improvements.
“Lighting improvements are among the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable measures. Long-term investments are profitable within a relatively short period of time, because savings are gained by low power consumption and shorter maintenance intervals for the replacement of lamps.” (Paskovic, 2012)
To enhance the vibe of the urban space, we could work on the urban lighting system and achieve its ability beyond functional add-on for safety and beautification of the urban areas when the artificial lights are needed. Furthermore, it may be the fundamental solution of the problems that one certain place faced. Properly considered, lighting can positively impact our cities’ “total architecture”, reinforcing urban design principles, enhancing cultural experiences and encouraging social interaction (Cities Alive: Rethinking the Shades of Night, …show more content…
The luminosity of the environment is often used to identify the space’s quality, related to visual comfort and people’s preferences. The higher exposure is more preferable than having shadows which could interfere the sights. Yet in this modern era, designers are free to express their design and concept such as replacing the general lighting with small decorative lamps, using colourful lights with limited lux. Some people prefer dimmed lights to feel more embraced and calm, while the other people loves to feel opened and revealed, as explained by William M.C. Lam in his book titled “Perception and Lighting as Formgivers for Architecture”, to make the gap between concepts of comfort and concept of functionality become less distinct. Urban lighting is able to affect visual interpretation because of lights ability to reveal forms, spaces, deliver messages and provide security for every space users. Lighting could lead us to perceive whether a space is huge or small, opened or isolated, and other aspects related to the physical characteristic, which is very important as we are moving inside the space. Issues which matters for space users when it comes to receiving visual experience are archetypal images, cultural contents - absorbed through rituals and settings or simply reflecting an attitude to life, and personal