PLDA workshop on "Shaping the Night"

A new generation is shaping the night
The 2010 PLDA workshop in Alingsås is ready to roll

After a decade of exciting and awe-inspiring practical lighting workshops, the town of Alingsås set itself the challenge of embarking on a new era. The renown that Alingsås already enjoys needed to be secured – and that means being open to development on various levels.
This year’s workshop team reflects this transition into the next generation of workshops: the team from VIA organising the PLDA workshop are all under 30 and three of the workshop heads have taken part in previous PLDA workshops around the world as students! These young designers are now working as professional lighting designers in well established lighting design practices in Stockholm, Bonn and Sydney, and have worked on a variety of architectural lighting projects around the globe. The other three workshop heads bring with them areas of expertise – residential and scenic lighting, street lighting and light art – that will open up areas of discussion on the future of urban lighting solutions.

PLDA workshops offer host towns and cities the opportunity to allow qualified designers to experiment in their public spaces. Within the workshop week, teams of lighting designers headed by experienced professionals develop and realise a concept on a real project.

In 2010, Alingsås will be looking at the theme of “Setting scenes in the urban landscape”. The projects are examples of typical urban situations and once the workshop week is over the realised installations remain in place for a further four to five weeks for the enjoyment of the inhabitants and other visitors, as well as for groups of urban planners, political decision-makers and other professional people involved with urban lighting to view and learn from.

The theme of this year’s workshop and conference is “Setting the Scene – shaping the night”. The selected projects are:

The pedestrian underpass: Karen van Krefeld, PLDA/UK. The concrete underpass will be the gateway to the walk. Every town has spaces such as these. The challenge will be to transform this otherwise dull space into a more user-oriented transitional space.

Street space Oskarsgatan: Allan Ruberg, PLDA/DK. This compact residential urban space is like a room within the urban setting. It comprises a street, large trees, housing and some green spaces between the areas that serve as parking spaces. In the daytime – a nice space. At night – there’s room for improvement.

The playground: Malcolm Innes, PLDA/UK. Given the number of hours of darkness in Sweden, children are more than grateful if their play areas are lit and thus available for longer during their waking hours. Playgrounds are usually created with no special illumination in mind. Here’s a chance to create a clearly user-oriented solution!

The river bend: Emrah Baki Ulas, PLDA/AUS. Natural landscape is always a relief in any urban situation. Some natural settings are too dark for people to enjoy, but can be further enhanced by designed lighting or some sensitive light art. An empty canvas…

The canal and bridges: Deike Canzler, Design Member of PLDA/S. The scene in this case comprises water, bridges and a small building. Idyllic indeed, but right in the centre of town. How can this location be illuminated to stand its own within the urban nightscape without being overlit?

Youth centre courtyard: Karl M. Reger, Associate Member of PLDA/D. The large grey building accommodates different local societies ranging from rock bands to a stamp collectors’ club. The courtyard is bordered by a variety of vertical surfaces including a large windowless façade.

For further information please visit: http://via-verlag.com/events/archive/alingsas-2010.html?L=0&cHash=659edaf643566239bb667db9d4b73b34

Registrations at: http://www.lightsinalingsas.se/anmalan-till-workshop