Video Link: https://youtu.be/-1TqZZ490D0
Background
It was a bright day in May as I hung out in Central Hong Kong at night. I slipped into a shopping district and realized that Central looks a lot different compared to daylight. Unlike during the daytime, where I can only see simple enormous office buildings in Central, the building looks more colourful and vibrant as big screens with moving pictures and lighting are switched on when dusk falls. I kept thinking about this question, and I found the answer finally. Under the colourful lighting, the building would be more attractive to the viewers. Lighting systems and design are very important factors in architecture. Hong Kong, as a vibrant and fast city, has many skyscrapers with colourful lighting (Scott, 2017). Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s colourful lifestyle becomes usual in Hong Kong (Nagpal, 2016). It mentions that Hong Kong is a vibrant city, which implied the brilliant lighting in Hong Kong.
Theme, Setting and Components
As we know, lighting can make the environment bright and let people see visually. The colourful lighting can also attract people and make people excited. The video essay aims to evaluate the use of lighting in Hong Kong. The good use of lighting can get attention from people to a large extent. This video was shot in Queen’s Road Central, Central District in Hong Kong. Specifically, it mainly focuses on the Lululemon store, the side street of Queen’s Road Central, the Donki store and its inside space. And it was shot at night because the research claims that the lighting at night can create an atmosphere of entertainment and excitement (Boyce, 2019).
The Method of Conducting The Research
In this video, I have mainly captured the lighting of some stores in Central and used them as examples that demonstrate how light serves a strong visual effect for pedestrians. Specifically, the visually captivating illuminations induce pedestrians to walk into a store when they loiter around the streets. In one research by Kheir (2013), the author claims that buildings with colourful lighting systems create beautiful night skylights. It highlights that colourful lighting is an important factor in constructing a beautiful skylight. Moreover, a great lighting system can also let people have a good mood (Devenish, 2020). When people walk around the street or inside the space, a good lighting design would not annoy the people but also have an excellent mood. Good use of lighting is a basic factor in attracting people and gives them a strong visual effect (Interact, n.d.). It emphasizes that a comfortable lighting system can attract people by giving them a very strong short visual effect. We can imagine that people just hang out in the street, and suddenly, they are attracted by vibrant lighting with a strong visual effect. Later, they may come and buy some goods in the store.
Video Production
I use montage in my video as my shooting technique. I began a video with bad use of lighting, in which I shot a shopping mall with dim lighting. After that, I used many scenes to show the environment in Central with very vibrant lighting. In the end, I focused on the use of lighting in one store, Donki, emphasizing that strong lighting can make the goods look more appealing than without exposing the lighting. For example, the appropriate use of lighting can increasingly boost the desire for consumption from potential consumers and affect the customers’ experience (Plageman, 2020). The good use of lighting also becomes a useful strategy for businesses.
Reflection
“Lighting can bring an emotional value to architecture” (TCP, 2017). And Frank Lloyd Wrigh also claims that Light makes the architectural space more beautiful (Jeffrey Jordan Architect, 2021). Light has a path to pass value to architecture and people. After this video essay, I learned the importance of lighting in architectural space. Using the lighting well can heavily improve the aesthetics of the space.
Societal Application
Furthermore, there is an increasing trend of stores in society that is closely related to the use of lighting, the so-called “Instagrammable store”(Doherty, 2021). They focus on eye-catching design and colourful lighting. And they attract many residents and tourists to visit there and take photos.
Reference:
Author links open overlay panelPeter R. Boyce, AbstractThe use of light at night continues to increase. Simply put, Gatersleben, B., Korpela, K. M., Ulrich, R., Owsley, C., Johansson, O., Sullivan, J. M., Bullough, J. D., Best, R., Falchi, F., Schernhammer, E. S., Rich, C., Bruce-White, c, Monahan, D. R., Bird, S., Fotios, S., Rea, M. S., Werner, J. S., … Cridland, W. (2019, January 16). The benefits of light at night. Building and Environment. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132319300265#:~:text=Light%20at%20night%20allows%20our,%2C%20vision%2C%20to%20operate%20well.&text=This%20has%20benefits%20for%20both%20the%20individual%20and%20for%20society.&text=These%20benefits%20are%20related%20to%20some%20very%20basic%20human%20motivations.&text=Recognizing%20these%20benefits%20is%20necessary,use%20of%20light%20at%20night.
Devenish, B. (2021, June 30). Why lighting is the most important design feature. Hampshire Light. https://www.hampshirelight.net/blog/why-lighting-design-is-important-for-your-space#:~:text=Biologically%2C%20good%20lighting%20design%20can,performance%20such%20as%20reaction%20time.
Doherty, R. (2021, January 22). Top 10 Instagram lighting trends – shining bright on social media in 2021. homesandgardens.com. https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/most-instagrammed-lighting-trends
Light attracts. Interact. (n.d.). https://www.interact-lighting.com/global/customer-stories/light-attracts
Manager, C. (2023, April 19). The importance of light in architecture. Jeffrey Jordan Architecture. https://jjordanarchitect.com/the-importance-of-light-in-architecture/
Plageman, B. (2020, February 24). How to: Use lighting to enhance customer experience. www.icxa.org. https://www.icxa.org/blogs/how-to-use-lighting-to-enhance-customer-experience/#:~:text=Light%20also%20shapes%20how%20customers,fixtures%20evoke%20a%20certain%20ambiance.
Romocean, M. (2022, March 24). The importance of architectural lighting: TCP Lighting Solutions. TCP Lighting. https://www.tcpi.com/importance-architectural-lighting/#:~:text=Whether%20it’s%20daylighting%20or%20artificial,we%20perceive%20architecture%20even%20more.
Scott, R. (2017, September 21). Amazing Hong Kong – how lighting Enhances Architecture (Part 2). LightBulbs.com. https://www.lightbulbs.com/blog/amazing-hong-kong-how-lighting-enhances-architecture
Vibrant colors of Hong Kong. EXPLORETRAVELER. (2020, April 7). https://exploretraveler.com/hong-kong-travel-tips-3/
The visual integration of Tall Buildings: New Technologies and the city skyline. Taylor & Francis. (n.d.). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10630732.2012.735481?needAccess=true
Director / Producer Name: HUANG Hou Weng
UID: 3036088905
Use of lighting is indeed an interesting topic to investigate. I appreciate your attempt in capturing the lighting conditions in both the indoor and outdoor spaces of Central. Yet, your current lens focuses on the ‘small-scaled’ use of lighting rather than what you have stated in your text. Your video shall bond with your research ideas more intimately. Maybe highlight the use of lighting on the building facades is more helpful to you?