Cody Torgersrud, Portfolio

Year 2019

Type Lighting Design / Outdoor

Team Cody Torgersrud + Anna Lindgaard Jensen + Mateus Manninen

Brief

Analyze a section of the KTH campus and determine a new lighting design strategy to address the issues that you find.

Description

The analysis of the core of the KTH campus determined that there are two major routes to enter deeper into campus, the historic and the contemporary. The historical procession leads up from the street to the main courtyard walking you through the classic architecture of the school. The contemporary path takes you up from the street and subway entrance along Drottning Kristinas Vag and Osquars backe towards the library highlighting the modern architectural additions to the campus. These two routes show major differences is the amount of foot traffic as well as the amount of lighting during non-daylight hours with the contemporary route trouncing the historic in both regards. On top of this the lack of foot traffic around campus was very low during non-instructional hours, a shame due to the architectural merit of the campus and the parkland attached to it.

To attract pedestrians onto campus during non-instructional hours it was determined that some sort of feature lighting would need to be developed. This plan would activate the currently underused historical route while not interfering with critical traffic using the contemporary route.

The design is based off a journey through the night sky culminating in the setting sun. From the street you are greeted by a deep, cool toned wash of light hugging the trunks of the grove of trees. This mysterious light draws you inward towards the first courtyard and the moon fountain. The steps up are lined with a light blue light lifting you up to the starfield. As you walk across the Milky way the white toned lights built into the courtyard paving glows delicately, highlighting the stars and planets of the sky above. All the while the silent moon hovers above, waxing and waning to match the cycle of the moon itself.

Past the moon a golden glow appears. Crossing the street towards the main building you enter the warm toned light cascading down from the trees and jumping up inside the arch of the dawn, the light presence growing to its peak. Going through the arch you are faced with the final procession towards the setting sun. The steps taking you up through the courtyard are lined with light each section warming from a deep yellow to a rusty orange at the top. Surmounting the courtyard is the glowing red sun.

This procession provides a dramatic statement and an enjoyable place to be during the night. It creates a dynamic design that invites people back over and over to take in the changing night sky. Along with traffic the site easily provides an education opportunity helping spread information about the issues surrounding light pollution and the importance of protecting the night sky.