Lighting designer Roger Narboni, principal of the firm Concepto, has organized an exhibition titled “The Future of Urban Lighting.” Assisted by Floriane Deléglise, architect HMNOP and lighting designer, the exhibition will be on view Monday October 30 through Saturday November 4, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., in the Parisian showrooms of lighting manufacturers Erco (6 bis rue des Saints-Pères, 75006, Paris); Fagerhult (10 rue Chaptal, 75009, Paris); and Zumtobel (10 rue d’Uzès, 75002, Paris). The exhibition times with the Professional Lighting Design Convention taking place in Paris, November 1 – 4.
Narboni has carved out his lighting career, focusing on cities, urban lighting, and nighttime illumination. Earlier this year, he authored an original essay for Architectural Lighting titled “Imagining the Future of the City At Night,” in which he reflected on his 30 years of lighting experience to envision the city of tomorrow and its relationship to both light and darkness.
For the exhibition, Narboni invited eight lighting design firms to imagine what the city might be like in the year 2053. The participating firms are: Arup, United Kingdom; Concepto, France; LEA, Les Éclairagistes Associés, France; Licht Raum Stadt Planung, Germany; Lighting Design Collective, Spain; Lighting Planners Associates, Japan; ON Agence de Conception Lumière, France; and Speirs + Major, United Kingdom.
Narboni challenged his colleagues to dream, as they imagined “visions of the city” in order to provide an “intellectual and technological” framework for these complex urban illumination discussions. Participants were specifically asked to think about:
- How will luminous ambiences be designed for pedestrians and produce spaces that address our senses?
- How will circadian rhythm, a sense of well-being, and neuroscience be integrated into our daily work when designing lighting for public spaces?
- How can citizens be encouraged and invited to imagine and create their own lighting environments; how will this new lighting democracy transform the city’s image and feel by night?
- Will darkness be part of the thought process in designing urban lighting projects of the future?
- What will new tools and new opportunities, such as bioluminescence and the possible discovery of bioLEDs, offer designers?
- What role will luminous architecture and luminous materials play in the lighting of public and private outdoor spaces?
- How might the development of personal lights, autonomous lighting devices, luminous drones, and luminous fabrics transform our way of thinking and designing lighting for an urban space?
- How might bionic and/or robotic technologies impact our night vision and the way we move around after dark?
In addition to the proposals of the eight invited firms, also on view are the 10 winning firms of the future of urban lighting international competition organized by PLDC. The 10 winning firms are: 4TZ, Austria; ZZZX-THU, China; LiDS Lighting Design Studio, Russia; RAD Architects, The Netherlands; UrbanSenses, The Netherland; LAB.1, Turkey; SmithGroupJJR, United States; Arup Global Lighting Urbanists, United States; CS Design, Canada; and Kerem Asfuroglu, United Kingdom.
“The Future of Urban Lighting.” credits:Production: VIA Verlag
Curator: Roger Narboni, assisted by Floriane Deléglise
Sound Design: Nicolas Narboni
Sponsors: Erco, Fagerhult, and Zumtobel
