F E AT U R E
By Karl Jones
Lighting and nightscapes an interdisciplinary approach 1
Making the case for fully-informed lighting and landscape design.
T
he pleasure of seeing a starlit sky has been likened to that gained from seeing the scenic beauty of landscapes; from those that we actively travel to for enjoyment and to those environments that we seek to protect for this very reason. As landscape and environmental professionals, we take pride in our work to protect and enhance
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these. We understand the value and contribution the environment makes to the quality of everyone’s lives, through good landscape planning, assessment, design, implementation and management. The UK has some of the largest areas of dark sky in Europe. The International Dark Sky Association (darksky.org) currently lists eighteen Dark Sky Reserves in the world, and
seven (or over 38%) of those are in the UK. In the same way that people seek naturally scenic places for recreational purposes, astrotourism (travelling to destinations that have dark skies and associated natural scenery, visiting observatories, etc.) has taken off, so to speak, around the world. Yet this valuable environmental asset has not, to date, received adequate recognition in our planning policies and associated
1. Illuminated Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait: Lighting design and event production by Ben Dodds on behalf of Enlightened, leading specialists in temporary and permanent architectural lighting. www.enlx.co.uk © Ben Dodds
