As part of the development of their pilot site within the Art of Darkness project, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole partnered with Yannick Sutter, Associate Professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Montpellier (ENSAM), to lead a collective reflection on the creation of night-time experiences through lighting scenarios in the Royal Place of Peyrou. The workshop was conducted with the support of Lionel Brunel, lecturer and researcher in psychology and ergonomics at Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier.
A pedagogical approach to night-time experience
Within this pedagogical framework, ENSAM students were invited to rethink the lighting of the Peyrou Gardens and to design a sensory experience of the night in this emblematic heritage site.
Their proposals highlighted the multiple “values” of the site — historical, landscape, architectural, heritage, social, aesthetic and vegetal.
The lighting installations focused on parterres, vegetation, basins, staircases, bas-reliefs and benches, developed in collaboration with the Public Lighting Department team and Portal Éclairage.
Particular attention was paid to respecting darkness and reducing energy consumption, notably using LED sources.
From immersive walk to co-design process
At the end of the workshop, around sixty participants took part in an immersive and temporary night-time walk.
Their perceptions were collected through a questionnaire, which will form the basis of a comparative study between the current lighting of the gardens and the scenarios proposed by the students. These experimental works contribute directly to the co-design process of the Art of Darkness lighting scenarios, serving as a “beta version” to be further developed in collaboration with all identified stakeholders.
Text and photos: © Pauline Lavigne Du Cadet / ENSAM