Carbon efficient LED lights are the future; that much is certain. More people are outfitting their homes – inside and outside – with LEDs. Towns and cities across the planet are reconfiguring their bodies and installing LED streetlights. Many see this as a positive development, as LED lights are environmentally friendly and financially efficient. Their adaptability is also desirable. Some, however, see this LED-ification as a slap in the face of history, a throwing away of old city charm, a throwing away of a people’s heritage. Presently, there is a battle being raged in Berlin. To LED or not to LED…
Did you know that the German city, although modern, still relies on gas lighting? Yes! With its 43,000 gas lamps, Berlin is the world’s most heavily gas-lit city. While these lamps are outdated, especially when compared to LEDs, they are an important part of Berlin’s identity, its atmosphere, so much so that they are on the 2014 World Monuments Watch List, alongside such sites as Historic Lower Manhattan and Saint Paul’s Cathedral in England.
Feargus O’Sullivan of Theatlanticcities.com sums up Berlin’s gas lamps the best: “Many of these lanterns are beautiful, ranging from elaborate hydra-like candelabra dating back to the 1890s to simple, single teardrops. They also shed an unusually warm, yellowish light, a little dim compared to most big cities, but soft and atmospheric, especially when there’s fresh snow on the ground to intensify its glare.”
O’Sullivan’s wording paints a vivid picture in our heads. Even if you are unfamiliar with Berlin’s gas lamps, you get a feel for their charm. Each lamp is a miniature Berlin, so imbued with that city’s history and culture that Germans can’t imagine the city without them. Not just that, but so much of Berlin’s history has already been lost due to World War II bombings and other causes. Regardless of the reasons why, much of the populace is fiercely protective of “their” gas lamps. 20,000 locals have signed a petition and some have even formed human chains around the gas lamps! These gas lamp loyalists are opposed by LED aficionados who want to cut carbon emissions and to save on money.
While LEDs don’t have much of a cultural history going for them, what they do have is an impressive ability to adapt to any situation. The situation in Berlin may be heating up, but one solution may be for LEDs to embrace more of a historical and cultural adaptability in their design, pleasing both historical and environmental groups. What do you think?
Source: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/10/fight-over-future-berlins-street-lights/7201/
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