Client: Bezirksamt Hamburg Altona
Funded by: EU, Interreg North Sea Programme: DARKER SKY
Lighting Design: Ulrike Brandi Licht
Completion: 2025
Darker Sky: A Night-time Walk Through The Dark Klöversteen Wildlife Reserve
We welcome any project which, from the outset, focuses not only on appropriate lighting but also on preserving the darkness. For the Darker Sky project, we designed a light-themed walk through the dark Klöversteen wildlife reserve.
Small light art installations evoked fireflies, bioluminescence on old timber, and a fairy-tale earth cave. Telescopes displaying photos of planets and galaxies complemented the circular walk.
Ulrike Brandi and the forest biologist Leonie Hitzigrat took turns: whilst Ulrike explained the effects of light and darkness, Leonie drew attention to the sounds of owls and other nocturnal animals.
The participants were moved by the different sensory experience in the dark surroundings. After the walk had finished, there were many interested, practical questions regarding how to avoid light pollution around one’s own home and garden.
Our forest light walk reinforces our belief in combining information on avoiding light pollution with direct sensory experiences in the darkness. This seems to us to be very effective.