Revitalization of the historical center of Kanazawa, based on illuminating

Today, enhancing the quality of urban spaces through providing pedestrian night life is the main concern of architects` and urban planners` main concerns. Since urban space lighting can lead to the presence of citizens at night, lighting plans, especially in developing and rejuvenating the older urban spaces has been taking more attention. This importance and global attention to the lighting of urban landscapes, has lead to various national and international lighting ceremonies and competitions. One of the most famous lighting competitions is an international competition named "City-People-Light ", which is considered a premier project due to its reduction of energy consumption and incorporation of the principles of sustainable development. Lighting of Kanazawa`s castle park won this competition`s third prize in 2011. This project`s first phase began in 2000 and the second phase was completed in 2010. In this article, this lighting project`s positive and negative points and its mutual effects on reaching the urban landscape goals are discussed and analyzed, especially in aspect of landscape managing of the Kanazawa`s older area. Through creating a dramatic sense between the modern and historical parts of the city, this project achieves to emphasize on the city`s culture and history. This article also represents and emphasize the city`s identity through creating a harmony between the lighting elements. Lighting is both used to emphasize the natural elements and cultural historical symbols while keeping Kanazawa`s famous peaceful space. Recognizing the permanent and temporary landscape shaping components in various scales, makes the design to have a special cascading pattern. The Kanazawa`s castle park lighting project is a successful sample of using light energy with minimal damage to the natural environment which causes the presence of night life while keeping the area`s cultural historical identity using artifact elements.