G.T.
G.T.
So far we have been talking about natural light.
Going Dark, on the other hand, is an international
event, which you are organising, that puts the
theme of light designed for the night at the centre
of the dialogue between designers. What prompted
you to investigate such a “side project”?
The simple answer is that even the night is part
of the natural cycle of light, because when the
sun crosses the horizon we enter the realm of the
stars. In a broader sense, it is this attention to
sustainability and the world of light that has probably
been sensitised by our studies and experiences.
But the incredible thing is that science, companies
and the whole world of lighting are moving towards
technologies that lead to greater product efficiency,
to solutions that consume less and less and yet
produce an incredible amount of light.
Our planet, seen from a satellite or from another
planet, is getting brighter every day. This means that
instead of using these technologies to reduce light
pollution and therefore consume less and make our
planet a little more sustainable, we are using them
to make more light. This is an intrinsic problem
of light, because unfortunately the relationship
between us humans, the inhabitants of this earth,
and light is always a bit dialectical in the sense that
“our sun” has enormous light mutations. We live
very well with a candle, just as we live very well in
the middle of a desert with many lux, because we
have a visual system that adapts to the amount of
light available.
This mechanism, combined with artificial lighting,
has created a real competition for light. When I
was studying, the manuals said that a shop should
have an average of 300 lux. Now for a shop, we
want to have at least 1,000-2,000 lux. In the
commercial spaces of our metropolises, these
values become even 10,000 or 50,000 lux. This
dynamic then triggers another situation. When a
shop is illuminated at 1,000 lux, the one that is
illuminated with 300 lux wants to have 2,000 lux.
All this outlines a race to the light: in reality, the
more light I produce, the more our visual system
adapts to the new levels, increasing the perception
of darkness around requiring higher levels of
illumination for compensation.
So how do we solve this problem, which seems
crazy when you look at it from a distance?
If the image of the first industrial revolution was
smoke, steam and tangible pollution in the air,
today it is the production of light, light pollution.
But many of us are asleep when we waste all this
light, pretending to be concerned about it. But if
you could see all the light we produce and dissipate,
and if you could also see how much energy it takes
to throw all that light into the sky, it would be easier
to understand that it is not working.
In my opinion, it is therefore necessary to be able
to take advantage of the cultural factor of this
reality by working to create a community made up
of companies of lighting designers, astronomers
and people who deal with the sky and measure
it: this is Going Dark. Bringing people together to
unite knowledge, know-how, everyone with their
telescope, with their projector, in front of a historic
architecture to illuminate and try to make these
experiments, measure them together. Going Dark is
a highly experiential and creative workshop aimed
at meeting and confronting different skills, taking
measurements together in a scientific way to find
the point of balance in terms of fauna, man, the
environment, architecture illuminated at night and
the well-being of the starry sky.
All this in Monteriggioni, an incredible setting
that will be the starting point for Going Dark. All
the activities then take place at Abbadia Isola,
a medieval monastery older than the Castle of
Monteriggioni, perhaps less known because less
visited by tourists, but always a historical stop on
the Via Francigena that connects Canterbury to
Rome. It was a hospital, a place where pilgrims
stopped, slept and where there is a cathedral. This
small village-convent, which has recently been
renovated and where a new museum of Etruscan
art has been created, will also host this year, for
the second time, Going Dark, bringing together an
international community of lighting designers in a
place where, incredibly, the Milky Way can still be
seen.
“In my opinion, it is therefore
necessary to be able to take
advantage of the cultural
factor of this reality by working
to create a community made
up of companies of lighting
designers, astronomers and
people who deal with the sky
and measure it: this is Going
Dark.”
Architect Giovanni Traverso
“Going Dark”event, Abbadia a Isola, Monteriggioni, Tuscany, 2023
Hosts: Giovanni Traverso & Paola Vighy, Light Collective
Wellbeing
42
43
S I M E S M A G 0 2
S I M E S M A G 0 2
