Light and city

What if the light went out? Make cities dark, let the gloom in. Once a year the most iconic buildings in the world disappear from the city’s skyline. It happens on Earth Hour, an action promoting energy saving. The symbolic unplugging is to save us from climate catastrophe, teach us managing energy in an economical way. For a moment, in the darkness we wonder what will the future be like. And then everything goes back to its illuminated with millions of lumens norm.

Earth Hour probably will not save us from danger. Energy consumption is rising and cities add to it more and more notably. Maybe we are awaiting real and long-lasting blackouts? Energy experts are already alarming that we face an actual risk and warn that we should change our energy consumption habits. How should we then treat glowing cities while more and more alarming information about the climate’s condition is haunting us? Isn’t encouraging to managing energy in a sensible way in opposition to extravagant holiday illuminations our cities boast about or all-night lighting of classical landmarks? Maybe, out of concern for our planet we should not only remove our devices from the sockets but also cut power supplies of headlights that illuminate monuments and architectural icons so elegantly? Will we be able to feel good in darkness though? We will try to find the answer together with the guests invited to whom light and city do not hold any secrets.