Guerrilla tactics

A light in the dark

On the night of 30 November, a guerrilla army stormed the streets of Manchester’s city centre. Instead of the usual Kalashnikovs, mortars and hand grenades, the 60-strong army carried with them high-powered torches, battery powered LED projectors, luminous dot lights and an array of gels and filters. Their mission: to demonstrate how light could be used to transform the night-time environment.

The guerrilla lighting event was the brainchild of Martin Lutpon, head of BDP Lighting, and took the form of the temporary lighting of three different sites in Manchester city centre. Under the guidance of their team leaders, each member took part in creating transient lighting designs. Instructed to be in a specific position and at a given distance from their target, the teams simultaneously lit up various aspects of the city’s architecture on cue at the sound of an air horn, creating a spectacle that distracted even the most ardent Christmas shopper. The installation was photographed, the lighting was turned off and then the team moved on to the next site.

The teams were made up of local lighting designers, architects, interior designers and manufacturers, all of whom are keen to draw attention to the possibilities, and importance of, lighting in the urban environment. This is the world’s first guerrilla lighting event which was designed to challenge people’s perception of the city and inspire a new way of thinking within industry circles.

The event was carried out by Laura Bayliss, head of BDP Lighting’s Manchester team. Each of the individual schemes was designed by Bayliss and her team. After the event, an exhausted but elated Bayliss said: “It was fantastic to see so many people here to participate, but also seeing the public’s enthralled reaction to the lighting, with some members of the public keen to join in while walking from site to site. We are incredibly proud of the results, and hope this inspires a co-ordinated high-quality approach to architectural lighting within the city.”

The event was recorded in photographs and video with the intention of putting together a pack of information that can be sent to Manchester City Council.

• The results are also available on BDP Lighting’s website, visit www.bdplighting.co.uk