This paper focuses on exterior lighting strategies for suburban green areas in Stockholm, using the Nytorps gärde case study as an example. The research methodology employed includes a literature review, a survey, quantitative measurements, and expert interviews. The study highlights the importance of sustainable urban spaces, the inherent conflict in meeting the needs of both people and the ecosystem and proposes strategic measures for green spaces, including a proposed solution for a footpath involving low energy consumption and reduced feelings of threat, whilst at the same having a minimal light pollution footprint. The importance of involving and considering the nocturnal environment in urban planning is emphasised, with a proposal for light/night planning at a strategic level. Local and general strategies are proposed as are implementing good light pollution discipline and lighting controls. The thesis aims to provide lighting design guidance for the proposed development while advocating for the preservation of darkness, the importance of listening to women and girls in shaping the nocturnal environment, and a proposal for time-based light interventions that respect the dark environment.

This thesis aims to introduce a design proposal providing a special light-colour-space experience for preschool aged children. At this age, the basic aspects of visual perception are well-developed. However, unlike adults, children do not possess the experience and memories that enable complete visual perception. My goal was to create a space where children can play and, in the meantime, meet various stimuli that they are not used to, broadening their visual sensitivity by utilizing the rhythm of light and colour combinations. Based on earlier studies, I investigate three main areas: children’s perspective, their relationship with colours, and the learning process itself that takes place in their brain while embracing knew knowledge. Conclusions drawn from the literature review are complemented by studies of forms, shadows, and materials. The design of the installation itself is presented through conceptual sketches and models. As the main motive of the installation I chose a circular labyrinth where, during wandering, new experiences, colours, forms, atmospheres, and emotions reveal themselves as one progresses towards the centre. Darkness too plays an important role in the design. The changes in light level follow the steps of this external and internal journey, until in the last layer of the labyrinth children can experience almost complete darkness in a relatively safe environment.

Personal preference to darkmospheres , light corners & generally high contrasted views and spaces, as well as a curiosity of investigating other opinions & responses, were the driving force for conducting this survey. Regarding my subjective perception and since, after all,  the matter of taste and subjectivity is quite strong in this kind of investigations, I’ve always found solace in environments that were staged with different segments of light and darkness; whenever I was in a room, I would immediately turn off the general lighting and turn on different and multiple other light sources, trying to combine atmospheres and, of course, keep some intact dark corners. And that was always a matter of arguing between myself and most of my acquaintances. Also, as an art lover, the absolute drawing technique of contrast, chiaroscuro, is also my favorite one. These characteristics of sharp shadows-strong contrasts and the theatrical, spotlight effect, can dramatically provoke feelings, but of which kind? What  is  the general perception and emotional response to high  contrasted environments & views? My belief, despite my personal taste, is that the effect of high contrast lighting environments is mainly associated with feelings that have a negative aesthetic tone, and thus, this significant design value is not used as much; Based on these assumptions, the purpose of this research is to investigate whether perceptions of contrasts in the lighting design of space are related to subjective preference ratings deriving from negative or uneasy feelings. A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative findings, combining background research along with a survey was held, and, in general, it demonstrates a distinct correlation between levels of contrast as stimuli and feelings aroused. Although contrast does play a significant role in arousing strong feelings, by increasing and stimulating our perception, albeit we are probably negatively attracted to it. Given images of high contrasted –in terms of lighting quality- environments were associated mostly with feelings of anxiety and tension by the participants of the survey; thus, a  balance between coherence and valence factors and complexity/arousal feelings is a prerequisite, in order to positively approve a new environment. Contrast as a design value, is characterized by contrasting feelings and, that is its most powerful value;  it's an influential design tool and the essential force within the articulation of both style and communication. It, therefore, deserves a wider use and appreciation.

This thesis concentrates on lighting preferencesin living rooms concerning Nordic lightqualities in winter. Living rooms are spaceswhere we relax, communicate, eat, gather andread. Lighting in living rooms gives hints aboutour perception and character.Nordic countries, there is something uniquethan others; use of light and daylight sensiblyand wisely. In the Nordic countries, where thelight and darkness change dramatically betweenthe seasons, the transitions have a specialsignificance. Higher the latitude, twilight hoursare getting longer, and it creates a homogeneoustransition between daylight and night.The thesis consists of literature research andsurvey. Literature research concerning the topicbriefly explains different aspects of the color oflight, its effects on performance, basic lightingsolutions and Nordic daylight qualities in winter.Furthermore, the culture of window lightingand use of daylight as a background are studiedand added to the survey in order to understandthe relation between indoor and outdoor lightqualities from the participants’ perspective.The survey with twenty-one questions andseventy-two participants tries to evaluatehow Nordic light affects people’s preferences.Evaluation and results followed by thediscussion of desired color temperature, lightinglevel, comfortability under Nordic daylight inwinter. Additionally, paintings from differentseasons help me to understand awareness oflocal daylight and attention of participants.Results show us that the attention people giveto the desired light intensity and colors aremore related to the people’s interests than totheir background, profession and length ofstay in Stockholm. It would be interesting toinvestigate this topic with more people who livein Stockholm more than five years.The concentration of the thesis is understandinghow local daylight conditions can affect people’slighting preferences in their living room.Results will help us to implement the knowledgeand collected information into the lightingdesign process in living rooms in Nordic countries.

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Background: With current environmental issues of light pollution as a point of departure, this thesis draws a link between Western society’s subjugation of darkness within personal and collective psyches, and the harmful impacts caused by the decline of Natural Darkness (ND) at night, via the use of artificial light. Purpose of Research: Global and societal issues related to light pollution, viewed through a Jungian ecopsychological framework, led to the exploration of reintegrating ND within the human psyche through outdoor, overnight therapeutic practices in wilderness settings. Methods Used: Semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom with eight participants who described their memories with ND during overnight therapeutic wilderness experiences. Findings: Participants assigned ND with characteristics including spaciousness, magical, enveloping, and being cocoon-like; and described experiences of reduced boundaries, increased fear, feelings of interconnection, as well as greater connection to the spiritual realm and to unprocessed psychological material. Conclusion: Findings suggest that, for this sample, ND provided conditions for rest, spiritual connection and the processing of psychological material. / Graduate

In America alone, 19 million people live with depression. Untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide in the United States and the third leading cause of death between 18-25 year olds. The aim of the project was guided based on the idea that we could take sadness as a manifestation in order to allow the possibility of controlling and manipulating it.  The idea was based on a well documented understanding that melancholia creates a permeable boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.  In melancholia there is an internalization of behaviors that insulate and isolate the individual. With this level of introspection also comes an underlying gift of deep passion, curiosity and cognition.  This gift brings a deep understanding to the workings of the world.  It is in this dual reality that lies a realm of complexity and possibility.  This understanding of depression led me to believe in how powerful and how necessary the simple yet essential feeling of hope was. The concept of hope seems like an illusion but sometimes it\'s the only thing you have.  The hope is what keeps you going and allows a tangible identity to sanity.  How can architecture reflect hope and how can a space help the weary hearted? These questions pleaded for answers and this thesis is a result of the search.  The search for a better place in our minds. The desire for a hope that we are not prisoners to our sadness The quest for answers laid its journey on a cliff edge on the Olmsted Island of Great Falls, MD ; a site amplified with majestic soaring views and soundscapes of water and nature that accentuate the program of an alternative mental therapy retreat. / Master of Architecture

Beams of light can create volumes of darkness that help define an experience. That is an experience of darkness. Light and darkness in the enclosed space make me respond to myself. It is a canyon empty of everything, yet filled with the total absence of light. And the quality of this darkness is uniquely bewildering, what's more, a thick and viscous mass of black air that seems to brush against your face, limitless and seething. It is darkness visible. Darkness forces me to be isolated from the world. Without any external input, I start to talk to and hear from myself. As well as, I start to feel my body from top to toe with all senses except for the sense of sight. It goes slowly, and the interaction with myself, which is experiencing darkness, puts my mind in calm. In that level of calm, the experience of darkness wanes as we adjust to the environment, gradually becoming aware of people and walls and even faint shadows. This project is an attempt at designing spaces that allows a person to be absorbed in darkness. / Master of Architecture

The thesis Darkness as a Metaphor in Film Noir explores the theme of darkness in film noir. Darkness is not merely formal, but also metaphorical communication vehicle, which works as a semantic framework and therefore when "reading" interpretive efforts have to be expended. In question of theory the thesis is based on Paul Ricoeur's living metaphor that transmute existing meanings and causes interpretive activities, as well as on conceptualization of the text openness towards the recipient, which is represented by theories of Roman Ingarden's places of indeterminacy, Wolfgang Iser's gaps, and Umberto Eco's open work. The hypothesis is the presumption that film noir can be understood in a way that it brings to viewers a change of perception, or a new visual experience, which was not present in cinema until then and which leads to the perception of "third sense". The thesis provides analyses of film noir movies and highlights their specific narrative and stylistic elements. The research also refers to the history of darkness in visual culture, while asking whether the traditional stereotypes can be separated from the inevitable sensual experience.

Student Number : 0401052V - MA research report - School of Literature and Language Studies - Faculty of Humanities / This research report analyzes the representation of violence in Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying and She Plays with the Darkness. Ways of Dying questions whether social stability and democracy would be fully realized in post-apartheid South Africa as is predicted in Black South African literature written between 1970 and 1994. Mda’s disillusionment is shown in his examination of undemocratic and violent practices committed within the liberation movement against the oppressed and of “black-on-black” violence in South Africa. She Plays with Darkness posits that political corruption and repression in Lesotho occurred as a result of the erosion of African values and traditions, which caused political leaders and the middleclass to dismiss the well-being of their society for personal gains. For Mda, however, societies and individuals can be redeemed from violence through memory, testimony, fantasy and art. Both novels reveal his endeavor to creatively narrate the experience of violence.