Lighting Environment and Nightscape–Illustrated by the Case of Feng-Shen Temple

When discussing what would be the meanings granted to a place via lighting, we may start by examining the elements which affect human vision and by the design of artificial lights in the given area. When overlooking an area from a grandiose view, one can see the mutual illuminations of varied light sources on the buildings, or even the graphical composition of skylines and the linking of the light spots on the streets. If we proceed to analyze the relations between the lightened nocturnal landscapes and the activities of people in the given area, we may observe how each substantive entity is illuminated by the artificial lights and whether this act of lighting harmonizes the semantic consistency of the area and whether it represents the original intention of the entity. This research aims to examine the effects of lighting on human behavior and perception . Combining the application of light sources in the given environment and the concept of humanistic geography on regional culture and local area identity, we study the case of lighting reconstruction of Feng-Shen Temple by discussing the changes to the nocturnal landscape after Project Lighting. We analyze the goal of the designing team and the executive network’s understanding towards the goal. We also investigate the historical context and the modern imagey of the empirical field. There have been considerable amounts of researches on the effect of color temperature and the eye tracking of light on people’s mood and perception. However, most researches are conducted in simulated environments. Researches on the relation between the configuration of light sources, atmosphere, and the users in real environment are scarce. Therefore, we discuss the effect on users from the atmosphere built by the light. In this research, we surveyed in pretest visitors’ opinion of Feng-Shen Temple with the Thrustone questionnaire and with the Likert scale questionnaire of attitude survey for posttest. We try to investigate the origins of and the scopes of impact on the visitors, and to form a dialogue with the lighting designers. This research provides a model of quality lighting environment which suits both the locality and the individuality of the area. We hope that in the future, this research may contributes to the building of appropriate lighting environment which considers the relation between people and environment; and the balances between tradition and modernization, culture and technology, daily life and aesthetics, based on users, site, and interior elements.