DARK SPACE
''How can the design of a night sky tourist centre contribute to the better material and spatial understanding needed to appreciate the night sky ?''
A little more than 100 years ago, you could walk outside at night and see the magnificent Milky Way galaxy arch across the night sky even in the middle of a city. Today in most major cities the starry night sky is almost invisible to the naked eye due to the negative impact of Light Pollution. Light pollution is excessive, misdirected, or obtrusive artificial light. Amongst impacts such as interfering with astronomical research and wasted energy, too much light pollution can cause cascade disruption to the ecosystems.
''How can the design of a night sky tourist centre contribute to the better material and spatial understanding needed to appreciate the night sky ?''
A little more than 100 years ago, you could walk outside at night and see the magnificent Milky Way galaxy arch across the night sky even in the middle of a city. Today in most major cities the starry night sky is almost invisible to the naked eye due to the negative impact of Light Pollution. Light pollution is excessive, misdirected, or obtrusive artificial light. Amongst impacts such as interfering with astronomical research and wasted energy, too much light pollution can cause cascade disruption to the ecosystems.
RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE
The project is designed to have minimal impact to the natural context and landscape in Heidu Mountain not only from lighting design but also its tectonics. It provides an additional node of activity to the isolated mountain, allowing visitors and stargazers from all across the continent to have a fully immersed experience in the dark nights. The complex is composed of a tourist center, a camping area and an observatory space, connected by a long pathway sheltered with trees. The entire complex is designed to immerse into the landform sitting below the natural ground level with flowing roof over sheltering any excessive light from the sky above.
RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE 2
RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE 3
MAPPING
Heidu Mountain has been selected and studied as a site to explore this aim based on its unique weather, nature and its geographical location. The mountain is in Mangnai, a rather isolated area that has recently starting to become popular for stargazers across the world. This is because at night time, excess light in the sky can be absorbed by the darker soil to the area which in turn provides observers a pristine dark sky. The mountain is situated 20 minutes drive away from Lenghu Town, where the visitors will reach first in order to get to Heidu Mountain.
DRAWING-PLAN
DRAWING-SECTION
Yu He, RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE
Yu He, RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE 2
Yu He, RENDER IMAGE OF DARK SPACE 3
Yu He, MAPPING
Yu He, DRAWING-PLAN
Yu He, DRAWING-SECTION
