The new nighttime. Redefining nightspace using light. Milan case study

During the past thirty years, the night space of almost every major city changed dramatically, transforming from a state of mystified atmosphere filled with potential and adventure, to a state of dullness and boredom in which everything is expected. Technological development that occurred in this period and the period prior to it, brought in the emerging presence of light in the nighttime, occupying most of our public spaces. It is not the question whether the presence of light introduced such new conditions in night spaces of our cities or not, but the question is such presence of light designed to create dullness or it happened as a side effect of various different processes that occurred in recent urban design. What is clear, however, is that people have abandoned most valuable public spaces during nighttime, although such places are filled with people during daytime.The main goal of this work was to bring back the night to people. Milos Misovic Graduate of Politecnico di Milano, where he studied architecture. He previously studied at the University of Belgrade. His research is focused on the relationship between human behavior and urban design and how these can be improved using fragile elements such as light. Ugo La Pietra Ugo La Pietra is an architect, designer andessayist. He started painting in the sixties andgraduated in Architecture at Politecnico diMilano. His work is oriented towards the searchfor a balance between man and the environment,experimenting and overcoming disciplinaryboundaries. He was part of the Italianavant-garde groupsCenobio, the Radical Designand Global Tools. He directed the magazines In, Progettare Inpiù, Brera Flash and Artigianato tra arte e design. In 1980 he was editor of Domus magazine. He has received numerous prizes and awards including the Compasso d'Oro in 1979 for a search of furnishings for Gescal homes. Elisa C. Cattaneo Graham Foundation Grant Recipient in 2014, She is Adjunct Professor of Landscape Design and Architectural and Urban Design at the Politecnico di Milano. She researches experimental ecological urbanism and its theoretical implications. She was selected and invited candidate for the WheelWright Prize, award of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. In 2004, after a degree cum laude in Architecture and Urban Planning, she attended the European Master in Strategic Planning for the Architectural, Urban and Environmental Resources. In 2009, she completed a PhD with Merit in Architectural and Urban Design, defending the thesis Void Density: a Relational Approach for Urban Design. In 2010, she was Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developing the research project: Space, Place, Context, Landscape: the Hermeneutical Circle US-Europe since 1956. In 2011-2012, she was Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, developing the research project: WeakCity: Notes on Landscape Urbanism. She is founder and director of an independent research agency Weakcircus, active in studies, research, and project development in contemporary urbanism within the Theory of Weakness. She is co-founder and co-director of B.L.U.E. (Building Ecological and Landscape Urbanism), platform of research on landscape as new strategy for contemporary cities. Since 2002, she has been the principal of her firm, active in public projects and international competitions.