Dark Heritage How darkness shapes heritage experiences and social-spatial affordances

Sammanfattning

In most Western societies, humans learn to fear darkness, the night and all the evil things and creatures that darkness brings along with it. It is commonly believed that darkness is the most important heritage we must preserve and fight for, learn how to appreciate and live with, let alone design for, if we aspire to create spaces that are not just to live in now but that are also spaces for the future. We must learn to appreciate and preserve heritage, things that were in this world before us, and learn how to respect them, and make them accessible, livable and experienceable. This master’s thesis aims to examine whether active darkness in heritage sites can change the way human interactions form, re-establish the relationship with the space and the above-human experience, and create an immersive and living experience. More precisely, it investigates different levels of darkness and contrast ratios in relation to the human experience in space. First, through an on-site observation in Skeppsholmen island in Stockholm, and then by recreating the qualities in a virtual experience. The results show how human interaction and perception of a space can be altered due to different lighting conditions and levels of darkness, and that a more concentrated and adaptive lighting strategy could help better understand a space and strengthen the human-sky-heritage relation.