Contemporary cities have largely displaced the expe- rience of night through pervasive artificial illumination, transforming darkness into a managed condition asso- ciated with risk, inefficiency, or absence. This shift has not only altered cultural perceptions of nighttime, but has also produced ecological and physiological conse- quences. In response, this thesis reframes night as a crit- ical environmental and experiential condition. Positioned at the intersection of phenomenology, eco- logical thinking, and cosmological architectures, the project investigates how architecture can engage night as a medium rather than a problem to be solved. Through site-based fieldwork conducted at night along Vancouver’s False Creek Seawall, the thesis develops a series of small-scale architectural interventions that am- plify existing nocturnal conditions. These pavilions op- erate through minimal means, working with reflection, shadow, and acoustic modulation to recalibrate percep- tion and encourage slowing. The project proposes a re-engagement with the urban night and positions architecture as a mediator that sup- ports more attentive and embodied ways of inhabiting the city after dark.
Isabella Dominelli (Thu,) studied this question.