What can we learn from Lucerne?

Lucerne in Switzerland has just been awarded the first prize in the 2010 City.Light.People awards in recognition of excellence in urban lighting design.  See the competition organiser Philips’ website for the full story.

image courtesy philips.com

The strategy for Lucerne is to illuminate the five distinct precincts of the city in an individual way, enhancing the beauty and character of each.  Of course this didn’t happen by accident; it is all part of a carefully conceived lighting masterplan which has then been implemented by a council who understands the importance of the nighttime lit environment and the impact this has on residents, tourism, liveability, sustainability, etc.

So what can we learn from Lucerne? Perhaps we could encourage our local governments to create and then maintain lighting masterplans for our cities.  In my home town of Melbourne the lighting strategy is probably getting close to being a decade old now; it was excellent in it’s day but design thinking and technology have moved some considerable distance since then.  And once a plan is in place stick to it – don’t fall into the trap of trying to light everything, let some spaces rest and create the contrast for the interesting things.

One of the judges for City.Light.People was Ulrike Brandi, the excellent German lighting designer who summed up quite beautifully “The approach to install a [lighting] masterplan for the city helps to create an atmosphere for the whole city. The vision of ‘less is more’ respects darkness and the day-night-rhythm of the residents.”

These are my thoughts but what do you think?  Please feel free to comment as always; all comments will be posted for discussion…