ICAS
Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies
Mathieu Jon
Fiat Lux! The Making of Night Landscapes in the Alpine Area
Project Number: 4048-064341
| Project Type: | Research_Project |
| Project Duration: | 1.2.2002 - 31.8.2006 project completed |
| Funding Source: | SNSF , |
| Project Leader: | Prof. Jon Mathieu Historisches Seminar Universität Luzern Postfach 7455 6000 Luzern 7 Phone: +41 (0) 41 228 35 38 ; +41 (0) 41 228 55 10 FAX: +41 (0) 41 228 55 05 e-Mail: jon.mathieu@bluewin.ch http://www.unilu.ch/ |
Disciplines:
| History in general |
Abstract:
Abstract: Fiat Lux! The making of night landscapes in the Alpine area [Jon Mathieu, Stefan Wunderle, Peter Zumthor, Ivan Beer, Heidi Dumreicher, Ruth Hungerbühler, Marco Marcacci, Katja Maus, Luca Morici, Luciano Segreto, (English)]
Concept and expected results The making of night landscapes by illumination has been the single most important factor of landscape change during the past fifty years, and it is safe to assume that in the future, light will continue to take command over the territory. Put into a long term perspective, the post-war trend can be seen as a dramatic speeding up of what has been called the "nocturnalisation" of the West, with important consequences in culture and society (aesthetic values, time-preferences, security), ecology (wild game behavior, energy balance), economy (gains and costs), and for sustainable development in general ("light pollution"). In the Alps, nocturnalisation is marked by specific contrasts. Tourism and traffic are strong driving forces for the spreading and amplifying of illumination, whereas extensivication of land use in certain areas turns the trend down. If contrast and diversity will become scarce goods in the overall context, alpine regions have a good chance to improve their position – thus the importance of creating cultural models and strategies for night landscapes which can stimulate public discourse and decision- making. The FIAT LUX project deals with the problem in three steps, combining four scientific disciplines and including two kinds of transdisciplinary target audiences: (1) The micro study of a selected alpine region by means of historical and sociological methods centers on objective and subjective changes and problems: How did night landscapes develop since World War II, and how are they evaluated by today's population? The selected region is the Swiss canton Ticino with the neighbouring Italian valleys. (2) The macro study concerns the alpine area as defined by the Alpine Convention. It is tackled by means of remote sensing and focusses on problems of method and generalisation: How can light pollution be measured and analysed by satellite survey methods, and how do the micro results look like in a macro perspective? (3) The implementation of the micro/macro results proceeds in architecture. It proposes and presents possibilities of practical intervention into night landscapes and aims at completion, restauration and innovation within a coherent landscape vision. Its main target audiences are an international group of students at the Accademia di architettura who work on the problem during an academic year and a larger group of cultural mediators who are adressed at the public presentations of the results. These
presentations form a central part of the project and are planned as a cycle of top level cultural events in different places. Generally, the project disposes of a considerable innovative potential, both in the scientifc and in the practical and political fields. It is located in the Main Topics I and II of the National Research Programm 48 (transformation of landscape; significance of cultural processes) and has many links to the other Main Topics. Update 2003 The FIAT LUX project has taken up work on Febuary 2, 2002, and proceeds according to our plans and in productive ways. So far, the public interest in the project has been astonishing. Out of a series of interesting findings we want to point to one intriguing phenomenon: the apparently contradictory character of night landscape perception. On the one side, we find that the increase of illumination during the last fifty years did not produce, up to the most recent period, arguments and/or social resistance in any significant manner. This “smooth” way of change was certainly supported by the association of light with positive values (such as “progress and wellfare”) and by the creeping form of nocturnalization. It is interesting to see, therefore, that on the other side many social actors dispose nevertheless of a very concise perception of the change undergone. They express themselves spontaneously about the massive innovation in night landscapes and have differentiated ideas about the positive and negative aspects thereof.
URL: http://www.isalp.unisi.ch
Publications:
Publication: "Disegna il tuo paesaggio notturno" CD-Rom [Ruth Hungerbühler, Luca Morici, (Italian)]
Publication: Fiat Lux – Il paesaggio notturno tra vita notturna, sicurezza e inquinamento luminoso, in: GEA paesaggi, territori e geografie, 18/2004. [Ruth Hungerbühler, Luca Morici, (Italian)]
Publication: Fiat Lux - Aufleuchtende Nachtlandschaften, in: 'werk, bauen + wohnen,12/2004. [Jon Mathieu, (German)]
Poster: Fiat Lux! [Jon Mathieu, (English)]
Poster (pdf))
Speech: "Designation of Settlement Structures in the Alpine Region using nighttime satellite imagery", ASPRS Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, USA. [Katja Maus, Stefan Wunderle, (English)]
Speech: "Zwischen Abend- und Morgendämmerung: alpine Nachtlandschaften", Landschaften im Wandel – Wahrnehmung und Bewertung von Landschaften und Lebensräumen - NFP 48, Workshop [Jon Mathieu, (German)]
Speech: "Fiat Lux - ein interdisziplinäres Projekt zur Untersuchung der nächtlichen Veränderung im Alpenraum." (Powerpointpräsentation) [Katja Maus, Marco Marcacci, (German)]
Speech: "Notte di Falena". (Animation; illustrative article) [Katja Maus, Stefan Wunderle, (German)]
Speech: "Notte di Falena" (Animazione audio e stampe) [Ruth Hungerbühler, Luca Morici, (Italian)]
Speech: Von Alltags - zu Allnachtsgeschichte. Winterthur. [Marco Marcacci, (German)]
Speech: La percezione del paesaggio notturno. Un'indagine pilota. General Meeting Project: Fiat Lux! The making of night landscapes in the Alpine area. PNR 48. (Presentazione powerpoint). Lugano. [Luca Morici, (Italian)]
Event: "Notte di falena" - Presentazione dei risultati del progetto FIAT LUX [Ivan Beer et al., (Italian)]
Source of Information: NF Import 2002
Last update: 9.8.2010
Update the data of project: CH-64341
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ICAS
Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies
Schwarztorstrasse 9
CH-3007 Bern
Tel +41 (0)31 318 70 18
Fax +41 (0)31 312 16 78
icas@scnat.ch
Präsident: Prof. Heinz Veit
Office: Dr. Thomas Scheurer