5 minute read
Under the Tuscan Moon
By Randy Reid
Going Dark, an international workshop created by Traverso-Vighy and Light Collective in Tuscany, offers a unique experience for lighting enthusiasts. Initially priced at €75 in 2023, the 2024 version is now €180, including lodging and meals, and vino!
In discussing the event, Martin Lupton warned me, “I’m glad you think the price is good – we are keeping it as low as possible to ensure good participation. You will be sleeping in a dormitory in a monastery, though, so don't expect luxury!”
How does one turn down a work trip that features three days and two nights in Tuscany for €180? The accommodations were exceptional. Although I was in a male dormitory, I was in a 1200-year-old monastery, where I could have spent weeks exploring. I joked with Martin several times about the price, and he did remind me that the 2023 price was only for one night, so it truly is a bargain.
The mission of the workshop is to explore lighting design for heritage spaces, focusing on approaches that preserved both darkness and the view of the night sky. Martin explained the goal is to promote responsible lighting practices and discuss the use of appropriate lighting equipment that reduces unnecessary external illumination, saying, “We want to minimize the negative impact of light on human health and the natural environment in line with the ROLAN Manifesto.”
The event took place in Monteriggioni, a medieval castle town along the Via Francigena, once a busy medieval highway for pilgrims and merchants. Three kilometers further down the rural track is the monastery village of Abbadia, a Benedictine monastery founded at the start of the year 1000, and in the village that developed around the monastery, a Isola. This is workshop's primary focus.
We participated in Looking for the Dark, a silent play by laPiccionaia. We were equipped with immersive audio headsets, guiding us through a 20-minute journey. The experience highlighted the critical role darkness plays in the lives of people, animals, and plants. As we walked, interviews with experts, poetic excerpts, and curated soundscapes enriched the experience, blending knowledge with an artistic touch.
The event took place in Monteriggioni, a medieval castle town along the Via Francigena, once a busy medieval highway for pilgrims and merchants. Three kilometers further down the rural track is the monastery village of Abbadia, a Benedictine monastery founded at the start of the year 1000, and in the village that developed around the monastery, a Isola. This is workshop's primary focus.
We participated in Looking for the Dark, a silent play by laPiccionaia. We were equipped with immersive audio headsets, guiding us through a 20-minute journey. The experience highlighted the critical role darkness plays in the lives of people, animals, and plants. As we walked, interviews with experts, poetic excerpts, and curated soundscapes enriched the experience, blending knowledge with an artistic touch.
At 17.00 we were divided into teams to decide types of applications and approaches and to discuss target criteria to achieve. We developed an experimental plan for the evening session. At 20.00 we began to experiment with our dark sky-sensitive lighting solutions.
As I write this, I am sitting on the grounds of the Abbadia a Isola, looking up at the sky and seeing the exact same sky that monks saw over a thousand years ago. There is very little light trespass from our experiments. In fact, the worst light trespass is coming from my laptop, which I have on dim. I think about the irony of writing an article about light trespass as I cause light trespass. Ridiculous! Off goes the laptop, and I use the recorder on my phone for the rest of the notes. In this case, noise pollution is better than light pollution!
Because of a tight deadline, I am only able to write about the first night of this 3-night exercise.
The event included several objectives. Participants engage in a workshop/living lab scenario, collaborating on-site to create concepts for responsible lighting approaches. They learned a bout the village's history, discovered the night sky with a local astronomy group, explored design challenges in such environments, and studied exemplary projects, technology, and case studies
Walking through the picturesque Tuscan landscape, it became clear that this region has the potential to become a haven for dark islands. Such spaces would provide astronomers, photographers, and nature enthusiasts with the rare opportunity to once again marvel at the beauty of the starry sky, free from the interference of artificial light. The evening was not only educational but deeply poetic, reminding us of the importance of preserving natural darkness.
A special thanks to WE-EF Lighting, Thorn Lighting, Simes, Led Linear, and L&L Luce and Light – all brought a range of fittings for us to test. We have set up full Casambi and/or DALI control on all fittings so teams can fully experiment.
We are also supported by IQ-Luminance, who brought a calibrated camera and its software so that teams can see the technical performance of what they create.
