REINVENTING HARBOUR CITIES II

Deike Canzler from Ljusarkitektur in an interview with Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir:

When Light comes to Life

Deike Canzler is educated both as an architect and a lighting designer. She works for Ljusarkitektur P&Ö in Stockholm, a well-known light design company in Scandinavia. The work of Ljusarkitektur covers a wide range of activities from built projects to education and international engagement in workshops etc. Deike Canzler’s lecture at the conference of Reinventing Harbour Cities II was grounded in the various aspects of light – as information on space and time, as social attraction, as emotion, rythm and culture, originating in the fascination of the natural light and deliberately interpreted by the means of architectural lighting design with the purpose of stimulating our environment with subtle transformations of the space each time. Guja Dögg Hauksdóttir asked about her sincere and poetic approach of lighting design.

Guja Dögg: You are educated both in the field of architecture and lighting design. Do you feel that this affects your approach to working with light and space in man-made environment as opposed to lighting designers with different background in for instance theater/stage or landscape context?

Deike Canzler: Well, both Kai Piippo and Niklas Ödman who started Ljusarkitektur come from the theatre world. They have surely brought much inspiration from that experience. I think the borders are dissolving more and more today. But they have employed many with an architectural background like me because they know how important a close cooperation with the architect and landscape architect is. If our goal is to integrate the lighting as much as possible good work on the detailing phase is needed. In the theatre the audience is put (at least in the classic theatre) whereas in architecture and outdoor environments people move freely through the space and want to enjoy the lights from any point of view. We focus more on permanent solutions that give good ambience and orientation rather than quick effect lighting.

GD: It is interesting to hear you state that the role of the lighting designer is to find balance between light and dark, and that the interplay of light and shadow is closely connected to culturally defined communication. In many of your nordic projects for Ljusarkitektur you talk about “respecting the darkness” and aim towards keeping the light level very low, thus creating intimate scale and private places. Can you explain this further?

DC: I do believe that less can be more if only the lighting is well planned. This has mostly to do with a good analysis of the space. Here a lighting master plan can help much in order to define the hierarchy in space. Working with contrast of light and dark creates a visually interesting environment and with the right architectural features highlighted the orientation will be easier, too. A uniformly, over lit space can rather be compared with a gloomy dark space – it does not help human orientation. Darkness has been eliminated for too long in the name of security and crime fighting. If we question though what it really means to make a place secure it all comes down to good orientation and a positive ambience. Linnaea Tillett, a well-known Lighting Designer from the US has her background in social sciences. She underlines that we should rethink lighting “from safe to lively streets.”

Sense of the City: An Alternative Approach to Urbanism;2005 Canadian Center for Architecture; “From Safe to Lively Streets” by Linnaea Tillett

GD: The importance of emphasizing each place´ special character is apparently very important to you. In the three different projects that you introduced: Strandkanten in Tromsö, Norway, Axeltorv Square in Helsingør, Denmark and Västra Eriksberg in Gothenburg, Sweden you deliberately structure the lighting master plan with deep respect for the various history and landscape at hand. How can you use the light to underline the identity of different places?

DC: Light comes to life when it hits material and the material is local – it is the local architecture or local public art piece or landmark that we recognize and that makes us feel at home. How to highlight these features is the creative part of our job. The landmark in Eriksberg, Gothemburg, the huge crane only needed a fine line – an indication of its massive scale and the highlighting of the details like the little steering house or the hooks for people to remember its story. We try to tell the people’s story with our lighting design.

Sometimes also the design of the light fixture (luminaire) can mirror the local character of an area, like we have done again in the Eriksberg project where we designed a wall fixture that looks and is very tough, being made of 4mm steel plate. It fits the industrial style. Yet I do not believe it is only about style. When light and space melt together then it is local.

GD: You are very inspired by the natural light and the variations of the seasonal changes or special natural features such as the nordic light. You also link the act of seeing with orientation, both in the sense of navigating in our environment and in our social context. What is the difference and what is alike, in your opinion, in architectural space of for instance the Nordic Light Hotel that you at Ljusarkitektur designed the lighting interface for in the inner city of Stockholm or the real Nordic lights or stars that make up the natural settings of an outdoor experience?

DC: I think Kai Piippo was indeed inspired by the Nordic lights when designing the lighting for the Nordic Light Hotel. However the design process ultimately leads to an abstract interpretation of the natural phenomena. We from Ljusarkitektur do not try to imitate nature but rather search inspiration in nature. The programmable LEDlights at the Nordic Light Hotel are set to be white and sometimes soft pastel colours during the day whereas in the evening the colours intensify. Here you can see a direct connection between the lighting design and the natural phenomena.