Abstract
This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to the design of the night city, by exploring how, through complex scripting processes, the relational aesthetics of light is translated in processes of urban planning. This exploration is based on our study of lighting design in the city of Gothenburg and highlights the multiplicities of designing light through dimensions of aesthetics, sustainability, safety, environment, biodiversity, work and more. The question we ask is how the relational materiality of light as a design material is translated in the organizational process of urban planning and how light in this process is made a matter of concern in urban planning. The paper takes theoretical inspiration from the translation process as theorized in Actor-Network Theory, with a particular emphasis on scripting processes, to understand the complex socio-political-material process by which light becomes a matter of concern in the governance of the city.
Keywords
Lighting design, urban planning, translation, scripting processes, relational aesthetics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.47
Citation
Christina, V.,and Raviola, E.(2025) Lighting a public thing? Organizing design things in public bureaucracy, in Brandt, E., Markussen, T., Berglund, E., Julier, G., Linde, P. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.47
Creative Commons License
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Conference Track
Exploratory Papers
Included in
Lighting a public thing? Organizing design things in public bureaucracy
This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to the design of the night city, by exploring how, through complex scripting processes, the relational aesthetics of light is translated in processes of urban planning. This exploration is based on our study of lighting design in the city of Gothenburg and highlights the multiplicities of designing light through dimensions of aesthetics, sustainability, safety, environment, biodiversity, work and more. The question we ask is how the relational materiality of light as a design material is translated in the organizational process of urban planning and how light in this process is made a matter of concern in urban planning. The paper takes theoretical inspiration from the translation process as theorized in Actor-Network Theory, with a particular emphasis on scripting processes, to understand the complex socio-political-material process by which light becomes a matter of concern in the governance of the city.