Dark Potential: Navigating Spatial Possibility in the Paris Night

Abstract

This dissertation investigates spatial possibility in the emerging darkness of the Paris night. Given urgency by the global call to reduce light pollution, it argues for the as-yet undeveloped potential of darkness in the generation of nocturnal spatial experience. Since the first streetlamps appeared in Paris in 1667, lighting solutions have come to dominate the nocturnal landscape. As this dominance is no longer economically or environmentally tenable, my research looks to an alternate solution, one that operationalizes two, readily available resources in the urban night, darkness and the built frame of the existing city. I argue that perceptions of night space are conditioned by interdependencies of artificial light and darkness and the built city. Key to my argument is the positioning of darkness as matter which, in interaction with urban architectures, actively participates in the composition of space. By considering darkness as an integral element in the design and planning of the urban night the need for artificial light is reduced.
To build a critical foundation for my research, I employ concepts of possibility as defined by Ernst Bloch and Henri Lefebvre. These concepts provide a theoretical framework capable of articulating a space and time in transition, such as the urban night. However, to add to this foundation, there is limited urban research surrounding the distinct spatial experience and perception of the night city. Therefore, I have elaborated an interdisciplinary methodology, one that engages with resources in urban literature, as well as across architecture, art, film and the evolving field of night studies. I have mobilized three distinct yet complimentary methods of research: the close reading of nineteenth- to twentieth-century Paris nightwalking literature, the assemblage of multidisciplinary case studies; and autoethnographic nightwalking practice. The first method of the research, the close reading of urban nightwalking literature, informs my navigation of the night city, as well as my understanding of emergent spatial experience.
In my second method, I expand the scope of the research across 24 case studies from multiple disciplines, providing access to contemporary strategies for practicing and apprehending the urban night. The third method of the research, my nightwalking fieldwork, enables an enunciation of emergent darkness, to perceive its situated, material and compositional qualities, and to formulate proposals for designing in, and with, darkness. I completed over 50 night walks, documenting my journey in photography and writing. Nightwalking fieldwork allowed for an embodied consideration of relational, and more specifically, gendered perceptions of darkening nocturnal space. My experiences as a woman walking in the city at night adds relevance to the overall goal of this dissertation: to valorize the role of darkness in the conception of an accessible, equitable and responsible city, attributes that benefit the well-being of the city across the 24-hour day.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English (Ireland)
Supervisor	Michael G Kelly (Supervisor) & Anna Ryan Moloney (Supervisor)