ANALYSIS: FOCUS AREA

4.2 Design experiments

Having developed the design concept, we made a series of design experiment to help defining the final implementation of the design. The experiments were conducted on site, through sketches and renderings, and with the help of a scale model of a section of the tunnel. In the start, we didn’t define very specifically how we like to place the luminaires, but rather left space for playfulness and new ideas on the site.

Fig. 4.2 Ultra Go Par 7 X, luminaire used on the experiments. (source: ADJ lighting)

Colour

As we had access to RGB lights, it was natural to experiment with different color scenarios in the space. There was a wish to use more of white light, but we did not have access to white lights that would run with batteries. Combining all the colors in RGB produced a kind of a white light, but the color rendering in that white was not sufficient for our needs. Therefore, we couldn’t do proper experiments on site about how we would like to use white light, and we ended up spending a lot of time discussing and experimenting the use of colored light. The feeling conveyed by different colors is strongly subjective and tied to context, and we didn’t end up with strict conclusions on different meanings of different colors. However, we did notice some associations linked to specific colors in specific places. Having multiple colors close to each other reminded us about clubs and dance floors. And when we lit up the end of the tunnel with green and red light, there was a clear association to traffic lights and symbolism of being allowed or denied entry. This observation about color red as a sign of “access denied” or possible danger was also something we had noticed while creating early design sketches.

Fig 4.3 Experiments on coloured light on site Fig. 4.4 Early design sketches

Fig. 4.5 View on Copenhagen S-train (source: Wikiwand 2021) In these sketches in fig. 4.4 we had been developing an idea that was inspired by the screens in trains in Copenhagen, as in fig. 4.5, that show the passengers their location between different stops. But the design soon began to have an almost hostile feeling to it. The feeling of hostility might have been due to the high contrast or choice of composition, but also a pure change in colour to a more neutral yellow immediately shifted the atmosphere to a more friendly one. When we lit up the entire entrance area with one colour in time, it was more difficult to evaluate the perceived atmosphere. Entirely red entrance area did give a feeling of possible danger, yet it was also so intriguing we thought that it would still encourage people to explore. Entirely blue entrance area felt generally weird and alien. We as a project team used ourselves as the evaluators of the different settings, and no interviews of locals were conducted. Nevertheless, we did observe several passersby and their reactions to the settings we had created. Excluding the irritation our settings created with glary positionings of the lights, the general attitude seemed to be curious and positive. To conclude, it was obvious that it would be a bad idea to light up the space with solely bright and vivid colours. Coloured lights in large quantities make it more difficult to perceive the surroundings, and lighting on a highly used pedestrian tunnel has to offer clear visibility. However, we saw a lot of potential in the use of colour, and how colour could be used as a tool to raise interest and direct attention towards the entrance and the tunnel.