Homely Atmospheres and Lighting Technologies in Denmark by Mikkel Bille

Author:Mikkel Bille [Bille, Mikkel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General, Cultural & Social
ISBN: 9781000185348
Google: 5TPpDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-05-26T05:01:49+00:00

Being together through light

Nicole uses light to connect people and transgress boundaries between indoor and outdoor for the sake of the neighbourhood. Like others, Nicole explicitly expressed a sense of community feeling with the people on the other side of the street when their lights were on. This may happen in everyday life, or it may happen on more celebratory occasions such as 4th of May where some people light candles in the windows as an act of remembrance of World War II liberation. Most informants in the traditional apartments did not feel visually exposed, since very little can generally be seen through the windows, with plants taking up some of the view and curtains often being pulled (cf. Garvey 2005; van der Horst & Messing 2006; Petty 2012). Moreover, the subdued lighting makes people less visible from the outside, offering only a silhouette, consequently shaping some sort of privacy in itself.

When observing the modern apartments with larger glass façades in the evening, the situation is different, as the inhabitants are more visible. With some exceptions3 most inhabitants are not bothered by the increased potential for visual exposure that illuminating the home offers. Although many informants draw their curtains in the evening so that no one can gaze in, more often this is linked to the activities inside than to a sense of being exposed. The informants stated that, when alone, they might draw the curtains in the evening to create a small cave, while if they have guests they do not bother about other people gazing in, since it also extends the boundaries of the room to be able to see the lights in the city. In the city, the windows do not turn into a black surface in the evening mirroring the inside due to the lights from the surrounding apartments permeating the windows. In the new apartments, informants even said they do not draw their curtains in the evening until they go to bed because their visual exposure – shaped through illumination – signals a kind of openness to the other people in the area. In other words, shedding light and allowing visibility are ways of connecting with people and creating an image of openness. As more people share this will for visibility, the more the neighbourhood comes to express such ideals.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.