Vegas baby!

Posted by Sharon Stammers

Determined to get to Lightfair this year despite rocketing air fares, I endured an extra ash-caused 7 hours at Gatwick with only Martin for company (hellish!) and finally arrived in the Atomic City. The main reason for the trip was to support the PLDA US co-ordinator at the third incarnation of Darknight.

The event format started in the UK with a trip to Rainham Marshes, a location one hour out of London, designed to plunge urban designers into nature and to experience some darkness. This time round, it was a trip out of Sin City into the Nevada Desert. Spot the difference. I get to organise star gazing in East London and Glenn gets the Nevada Desert!

After a call from the bus driver ten minutes before kick-off to tell us that he had crashed his bus and wouldn’t be coming, Vegas didn’t disappoint and we found another bus in time to go. Fifty international designers jumped on and headed out into the dark. Amazingly, you only have to travel for half an hour before hitting real and proper desert. An authentic american BBQ with beans and peach cobbler was served upon arrival, followed by some serious star gazing led by the local astronomy group. We saw the rings of Saturn and Mars and looking in one direction, real darkness. Facing the other way though, it was hard to ignore the crazy sky glow caused by Vegas punctuated by the Luxor Hotels space cannons into the clouds.

The event was sponsored by Philips and was an excellent example of the PLDA’s ability to organise unusual, creative and thought provoking events. Obviously, after all the talk of respecting darkness and the shocking experience of first hand light pollution, we all merrily headed back to said city and took advantage of all that it had to offer…

Darknight in the Desert took place on 12 May 2010

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