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Travelling Stockholm from underneath : A journey of light

The report Stockholm city’s regional biking plan presents information of a continuously rising numbers ofcyclists in central Stockholm. However, the central parts of Stockholm have not now, or in the near future,the capacity or structure to provide a functional as well as safe traffic situation, especially for cyclists. Theincreasing demand from traffic of the commuter street network in central Stockholm make the 6 km longunderground maintenance tunnel along the newly build Citybanan commuter train tracks a possible andinteresting alternative for safe, fast and easy bicycle travelling underneath Stockholm. The tunnel stretchesfrom Fatbursparken to Tomteboda, with exits/entrances along the route in central parts of Stockholm[Fig 1.]There are several examples in the world where former car, train and maintenance tunnels are used as bikingtunnels. The longest existing example is the Croix Rousse tunnel in Lyon, France (2013). A 1,3 km longtunnel with separate lanes for cyclists, pedestrians and commuter busses, which also functions as anevacuation tunnel to the parallel car tunnel. Another example is the Lugaritz-Morland bicycle tunnel in thecity of San Sebastian, Spain (2009), which is a former railway tunnel (850 metres) that connects twoneighbourhoods in the city.The specific conditions a tunnel have with no daylight and limited access, give the lighting designer theimportant task to shape the space using light.Light is the factor that makes us see the world, our visual ability is depending on the light. Light has theability to reveal and transform the character of a space and influence how the observer experiences thesituation, both physically (by vision) and psychologically (emotional experiences as comfort and feeling ofsafety). Therefore a good visual condition in public space, traffic as well as enclosed spaces like tunnels, arevery important and a basic need for humans in the city.The aim with this thesis was to develop a lighting strategy and proposal for the maintenance tunnel ofCitybanan in Stockholm, based on literature and case studies research, a full-scale light observation by areference group in a tunnel context as well as research by questionnaires. The primary purpose of the fullscalelight study was to confirm literature research hypotheses about the importance of light distributionand experienced spatial atmosphere in relation to psychological effects, as well as the importance of lightgiving information. Findings confirm and shows that light distribution have a great impact on how theobservers experience the space visually, as well as emotionally. Findings also show that light can influencepeople’s behaviour to intuitively slow down or be alert. Further this thesis results show that giving a spaceit’s own identity by collaboration between light, colour and architectural elements have a great impact onthe psychological experiences of a space regarding safety, comfort and social interaction, crucial factors in atunnel environment for cyclists.The thesis results in a concept presented in the Proposal chapter, based on design principles and a lightingstrategy where a combination of light typologies is used to create a human centred and comfortableenvironment. Light is used as guiding element and for spatial understanding to create comfort and supportsocial interaction. In addition the concept includes a theme used as inspiration in the lighting strategy tocreate a connection on a human scale between the cyclist and the space. The theme is based on a commonpreference of the reference group, as well as my personal, for the ideal dream biking environment;In the nature. Experiencing for example the variation of light filtered through the leaves, the sunset and theabsence of traffic.The aim with the proposal is to transform the tunnel to an attractive bicycle route for daily cyclists inStockholm, as well as being an interesting tourist attraction.- A large underground landmark and art piece stretching under the city of Stockholm.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-214828
Date January 2015
CreatorsAhrenstedt, Irina
PublisherKTH, Ljusdesign
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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