The First Prize Winner of city.people.light Award 2013 is Rietburg, Germany; there are some excellent cities which also did great lighting masterplans and were rewarded prizes. In the second article of the city.people.light award series, we are offering you a glance on these exceptional cities.

Seoul, South Korea

Second prize – Yeoui Central River Park, Seoul, South-Korea

Seoul managed to really integrate urban planning in their city to create an open public space for citizens where normally space is very limited and used to put buildings. The renovation project aims to change the stuffy city image, developed as the land in riverside area was uniformly consumed for housing development. The park expresses harmony, down to earth design and good coherency link with the city, people and the river, improving the image of Seoul. It is admired to create a cozy feeling in such a huge city with very comfortable use of lighting in different levels. The control of the huge scale of the city was impressive for the jury and promotes the urban planning vision in Asia. The lighting design was done by Lee Yeon So, ULP Co.

Geneva, Switzerland

Third prize – Saint Gervais district in Geneva, Switzerland

A great example of a well thought and considered urban planning project where light is perfectly integrated in the urban design from the start as one of the core elements. The objective of the design was to transform a high traffic area into a smart developed pedestrian area for citizens and visitors. The quality of the implementation stands out, where three squares Simon-Goulart, Saint-Gervais and Bel-Air have been connected by coherency and lighting is also used as guidance to direct people to the different areas. An extra plus is the good treatment of light and shadow in the plan and the interaction between light, wind and people. The lighting design was designed by LEA, les éclairagistes associés in Lyon.

Zhengzhou, China

Special Mention - Millennium Royal Plaza in Zhengzhou, China

Millennium Royal Plaza, a 280-meter-tall main building, is the tallest tower in Central Plain of China at present. As a landmark of Henan Province and the calling card of Zhengzhou City, the new-classic style tower, the Millennium Royal Plaza, fits in well with its surroundings in an imposing manner. The peaceful Zen-concept-lighting and “inhale & exhale” lighting pattern remind people that they live in a city, which has over 3500 years history. People call this tower the Soul of City, because this laminated tower in night looks like a Pharos, a perfect linkage of city, people, light and even history. The jury awarded a Special Mention to the project for the lighting concept that is refreshing and might change the mindset of Asian lighting design to use very bright, sparkling and colorful lighting schemes. The tower gives identity and belonging. Silence and calm lighting designs fits the breathing effect.

Wuppertal, Germany

Special Mention – Nordbahnstrasse

The former railway line, known as the „Nordbahntrasse“ formerly the “Rheinische Eisenbahnstrecke“ and opened in 1879, has today been transformed into a cycling, skating and hiking path which runs 22 km through Wuppertal. The path passes through six tunnels, across four viaducts and has an endless number of bridges, giving citizens faster access to the inner city center, improving leisure for citizens and tourists. The Wuppertal project was acknowledged with a Special Mention for the regional character of the project and the special protection of fauna nightlife.

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