A documentary-style video of lighting designers introducing lighting design projects in Japan and abroad was distributed in advance at Pre-Event in October, 2021. In this first part of the session, lighting designer, Shiho Nagamachi moderated and invited two panelists, civil designer, Yu Nakai from the University of Tokyo and creative producer, Hidenori Kondo, to discuss “The new role of lighting design as seen through the latest projects.”

First, a highlight video of the four programs was presented. The discussion began by considering what is the lighting design for the age of the new normal, the issues of environment and technology, how people would live, what kind of environment is important for the society, and what role lighting designers can play.

When asked by Ms. Nagamachi for his impressions of the program, Mr. Nakai remarked that the program made him realize that light is infrastructure. Citing Kaoru Mende’s “Lighting Masterplan for Nagasaki City Center,” he said that he recognized once again what he had taken for granted, that it was the creation of artificial lighting that gave birth to the beauty of nighttime as well as nighttime urban entertainment and culture. Furthermore, each project confirmed the awareness of the problem that darkness, which embraces the dark side of human nature, is disappearing from real space. On the other hand, Mr. Kondo felt that there has been a shift toward lighting that adds value to local resources, history, and stories, rather than to illuminate them in a bright flashy manner and pointed out that lighting design has reached a turning point through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Next, the three engaged in a discussion focusing on the new normal. Mr. Nakai pointed out that if light is an infrastructure, then it should create places that are inherently humane, and without such places, there is a need for lighting design and infrastructure design that brings them back to a humane state once again. He mentioned, however, there is a difficulty in how to engage with the local authority to achieve it. On the other hand, Mr. Kondo said that while modern creativity was closed off to individuals, a new-normal creativity envisions a shift from “I” to “We” where different people cooperate in collaboration, and there is a need to engage the local authorities in this shift. Ms.  Nagamachi explained that the Landscape Act  does not stipulate rules for nighttime sceneries, and that only local authorities with unique knowledge have created night landscapes. Mr. Nakai stated that he once again felt the importance of rediscovering the city through nighttime lighting on an urban planning basis, such as by illuminating natural features and shrines that are familiar to the residents.

Lastly, in discussing the future of lighting design, Mr. Nakai said it is important to create a design that will enrich our life through lighting—something lying on the other side the light. Mr. Kondo also mentioned that lighting has a role in arrangement of various factors, as in permaculture design, and that there may be a shift towards a future where light would not play too much of a leading role, for instance, light cast on resources that have been overlooked or lighting provided to allow for gatherings.

Now that technology has made it possible to freely control the lighting environment, this was a good opportunity for all of us to confirm the increasing importance of establishing principles and methods for lighting and nighttime environment and also of having various entities involved in such initiatives so that lighting can create nighttime space to accommodate various human aspects—beauty and ugliness, strength and weakness, and darkness.