Light & City
Innovations and technologies change the way we perceive and use light in our cities . We posed two questions to some experts . Here are their answers
The urban lighting industry , as well as many other areas , has been hit by the digital revolution . Moreover , even the simple replacement of gas discharge lamps with sources based on LED technology allows you to achieve immediate energy savings , thanks to the higher luminous efficiency . In this panorama pushing towards innovation , it becomes necessary for the lighting systems to interact with other systems and services , today increasingly in demand for an up-to-date use of the city , to the point of wondering if the lighting designer must also become an IT expert . The potential of lighting , both in terms of environmental quality and of comfort and safety of citizens , are truly promising , but so are the risks : the risk of shifting the centre of gravity more towards mere economic and energy saving policies , the risk of anticipating innovation without having an adequate infrastructure network , the risk of not guaranteeing the desired quality due to procedures not updated to the new requirements . In this evolving scenario , we asked the opinion of lighting designers , manufacturers and managers in our cities , on the state of affairs and on the future of an increasingly intelligent and interactive light .
Two Questions
01 In the last few years the urban geography of parts of our cities has greatly improved . This is also due to lighting solutions that provide more comfort , greater reassurance , besides also having the advantage of providing optimized running and management costs . Lighting is redesigning and enhancing the value of urban spaces , architecture , buildings , squares and monuments . What is your opinion ? Today , could we do more and better ?
02 The new technologies applied to lighting fixtures have many advantages . Improvements that have led to an evolution in light , which goes beyond the simple function of lighting . Light is more complex , complete , of a higher quality , and interactive . In our cities , can it help to meet the new standards of wellbeing , emotionality or conviviality , and can it contribute to the creation of new social behaviours ?
Photo © Antonio Neri
Centro storico Siracusa Ortigia / Ortigia historical centre , Syracuse
Giulio Ceppi
Architect , founder and creative director of Total Tool
01 I believe that much has been done in recent years , but certainly much better can be done : above all in a country like Italy , with a diversified and specific climate and architectural and sociological context . I believe we should always go in search of the specificity of the genius loci , or look for greater empathy between local , tangible and intangible factors and light , and not apply standard and desk-based solutions as , you can easily see , it is often done . Besides , to intelligence ( smart city ) we prefer sensitivity and consciousness ( awareness design ), or the ability to understand the value of diversity , to always be ready to respond , and to have knowledge of the processes and transformations underway . A city by all is a city for everyone , in the full principles of inclusion and resilience , the capacity to absorb traumatic events , be they social rather than climatic . We can not think that light is not part of this widespread sensitivity . It is therefore impossible , in Italy , not to think that alongside any idea of Smart City there is a Smart Land , distributed and interconnected , which brings with it an idea of growth and awareness of the territory . We should think of it as a first place , from which to start again and on which to try to invent and engage new and widespread forms of government , entrepreneurship , social relations , collaboration between subjects and networks . All this in the perspective of an ever closer integration between city and country for development , technological innovation , environmental and energy sustainability and the identity of individuals .
02 Today I believe that light , thanks to LEDs , is obviously more digital than ever , fluid and dynamic , capable of delivering and bringing other integrated performances , from connectivity , to security , to charging smartphones or light transport vehicles , up to information communications . It is a potentially endless list , but it must find meaning and value in relation to specific situations . I am not interested in the concept of Smart City itself , but in a Latin way of the Smart City , where people ( smart citizen ) and their behaviours are central to the project , not only the technologies as such . A Smart City in the end , beyond the technical definitions that the ISO 37120 City Protocol , or the Smart City Wheel by Boyd Cohen can give us . In fact , for us it is a system of relationships that produces value , a dynamic set in which the whole is more than the sum of its single parts , and where technology is a tool of symbiosis and empathy . If in the past the city government was deferred , with predictive and normative urban planning instruments , in the Symbiotic
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