York has been named as one of 11 ‘follower cities’ joining the European ‘Art of Darkness’ project.
It will mean the city, which is aiming to become the UK’s first ‘Dark Sky City’, will work over the next two years to explore new forms of night-time cultural experiences, including atmospheric light art and carefully designed darkness that the city’s historic urban fabric while diversifying its evening and night-time economy.
The Art of Darkness project is being co-ordinated by the University of Oulu in Finland, and includes the LUCI Association among its partner organisations. LUCI held its recent Cities & Lighting Summit in Oulu, which was attended by ILP President James Duffin, as the Institution is a member of the association.
The other follower cities are Amsterdam; Brest in France; Berlin (Pankow District), Görlitz, Leipzig, and Potsdam in Germany; Helsinki and Tampere in Finland; Leuven in Belgium; and Reykjanesbær in Iceland.
As well as follower cities, the project is currently developing five pilot projects at cultural heritage sites in Bologna, Copenhagen, Montpellier, Oulu, and Tallinn.
These will investigate how darkness-sensitive design, light art and co-design processes can create meaningful, inclusive and sustainable experiences in historic urban environments after dark.
Finally, three of the follower cities – Amsterdam, Görlitz, and Potsdam – have also been selected as ‘replicator cities’ by the project team.
While follower cities engage primarily in learning and knowledge exchange, replicator cities take the process a step further.
“They will apply the Art of Darkness approach directly in their own local contexts, developing a pilot site inspired by the project’s methodology,” the research team said.
More details on the Art of Darkness project can be found at: artofdarkness.eu
Image: York at night/Pexels
