Urban spaces are filled with small architectural objects that are designed to improve the functioning of the city. These objects can be referred to in various ways: from technical terms such as ‘technical devices’ to more poetic terms such as ‘street furniture’.
This variety of definitions is due to the wide range of different industries involved in city lighting. This group mainly includes architects, road designers, constructors, electrical engineers and others. Different definitions are used depending on the interpretation needed. The variety of small architectural objects and city lighting equipment further complicates and expands the range of verbal interpretations. They have a significant impact on the overall aesthetics of urban space. Their functions are diverse: from information – information pillars, through recreation – benches, protective – shelters, space dividers – bollards, to strictly lighting – street lamps.
The latter are particularly noteworthy. They are quite common in urban spaces, reaching in some cities up to tens of thousands of them, but also because of their vertical spatial form, they often dominate as representatives of the group of small architectural objects.
Contemporary city lighting
Along with the change in the function of city lighting, the form of utilitarian lighting objects has also evolved throughout history. In a contemporary city, we can find not only traditional lampposts, but also objects with much more elaborate shapes and various, often unconventional additional uses. One such example is the lamppost that is part of a small architectural object – a platform in Kartuzy, or the University of Agriculture in Krakow, where the lamppost not only illuminates the road, but also becomes an illumination pole.
The new role of lighting in the city
At this point, it would be worth considering the very essence of a contemporary object used to illuminate a city and its public spaces. Its shape is not determined by its function, but rather by the significance of the place and its function in the spatial system of the city. The architecture of this object is usually influenced by two issues: firstly, the function of lighting and creating a unique, memorable landmark in space.
However, the element that becomes indispensable for the functioning of urban space after dark is a ‘silent’ element in space during the day. It also has a significant impact on the visual perception of urban interiors, giving them the right character. Nowadays, they are also becoming an integral element of the furnishing of the public space of the modern city, furnishing it, as it were, while also becoming an object of small architecture. This is a new role for the lighting object, made possible by the individualisation of the form of mass-produced products.
This trend is visible in the development of an increasing number of public space projects, where the lamppost no longer only fulfils the function of lighting, but also becomes, for example, a bench, and in this way integrates the functions of small architecture objects into the space.
We all want to function in practical and nicely arranged spaces. Small architecture is like an accessory to clothing, which, when well chosen, improves the overall appearance and adds character. It is of great importance in the design of urban areas because it organises the space, adds functionality and a special, often unique look.
Text based on: Martyniuk-Pęczek J., 2013, From pragmatism to mass individualisation in shaping the forms of city lighting. Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk
