AIC, 1988 - AIC Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia ...

AIC
World Cup '90, Europe '92, etc., etc.
The era of the great "event" is upon
us, and deadlines dictate the fashion!
Our lives are now governed by certain
"events" for which special committees
and organizational bodies are set up,
and to which quite substantial funds
are often allotted.
However, in the long winters, in the
years between one football
championship and another, in Europe
'93, what will remain of all this hustle
and bustle, what will those same
committees and organizations be
working on? Will they have been
disbandedÌ Will they have vanished
into thin air?
Perhaps, even, to be set up again as
soon as the occasion presents itself,
functioning on the same lines and
adopting the same ephemeral goals!
Meanwhile, the city-dwellers will have
to forget all about the improvements
they temporarily enjoyed, and which
could have been made permanent, had
part of the money invested been
utilized in a more practical way.
For decades now, I have dreamt of, and
actually proposed, modernizing the
jighting in cities and creating an
"Everyday Lighting".
But instead of being able to realize this
dream, I am asked, as are my AI.C.
colleagues, to do the lightingfor
spectacular "events" which are an end
in themselves. Sometimes we refuse, but
other times, persuading ourselves that
it is important to participate, we find
ourselves accepting.
It has always been my opinion that
when it is a question of lighting areas
of a city, or the monuments themselves,
it is essential to involve the Electricity
Board, as it is only by working with
them that one can evolve a bng-term
program that can be put into operation
immediately and continue into the
future.
Every light that is installed becomes a
part of the vast city panorama and,
therefore, has to be studied according
to the multiple functions it has to
perform.
When the light is used properly, it
illuminates everything in the cities
according to their particular
characteristics or function and,
consequently, to better advantage:
monuments, architecture, pedestrian
and traffic areas, parks, gardens,
fountains, subways, the Underground,
museums, schools, hospitals, sports
centres, the suburbs, historical centres
etc.
"Light is warmth, light is life".
I consider the outcome of various
meetings with engineers and
technicians of the A.C.E.A., regarding
improving the lighting in a number of
areas in Rome, to have been very
positive, even within the limits set; I
also consider the pilot experiment
conducted in the Roman Forum to
have been a success, even though we
were obliged to conduct it with three
fixed lighting sources (mounted on the
restoration scaffolding) and lighting
equipment that was not at all well
suited to the job.
I believe that one must move on from
this experimental phase to the
drawing-up of a comprehensive study
plan incorporating specific
environmental projects for each of the
single areas of the city. This would
permit the AC.E.A to work according
to a new concept of lighting, both
while planning new projects and
carrying out routine maintenance.
Abo, using the light to better
advantage in the cities has
considerable economic benefits and
would, therefore, have the support of
the relevant goverment bodies.
The appropriate "Everyday Lighting"
would allow us to improve living
conditions and render the city-dweller's
habitat more secure and hospitable.
Introduction
The principle aim in the development
of lighting systems over the years, has
generally been to render the source
more powerful and efficient. Therefore,
the aesthetic aspect of the of the bases
was relatively neglected, as was the
way the lighting was perceived by the
human eye.
The problem has almost always been
resolved in a practical way, by raising
the source and placing it in such a
manner as to illuminate the maximum
area possible without the intensity of
the light being reduced.
In the days when streets were much
narrower, the most basic forms used
were lambs fixed to the wall of a
building by a bracket, although lamp
posts were sometimes actually used in
the squares. When the branched
street-lamp was invented and City
Councils came into being, a certain
amount of planning went into the
bases.
The oil lamps, with their individual
burners, could be placed independently
of one another, but when the transition
was made to gas lamps, the problem of
the individual lamps having to be
connected to the main"occurred, which
was resolved by the base of the
branched street-lamp functioning as
the "feed" for the flame. After this,
more thought started to be given to the
individual placing of the street-lamps,
according to how decorative a function,
o prominent a position, they should
have in the urban environment.
The function of lighting tended to
progress from providing the bare
amount necessary, from permitting a
minimal amount of night-time activity,
to becoming an artistic element, both
as regards design and the way the light
'was used to illuminate the various
areas and buildings.
This latter function, combined with the
latest technological developments,
plays an increasingly more important
role in the conservation of the urban