Because the night ::an archaeology of the image of modern phantasmagoria

Abstract

The invention of industrial artificial lighting marked a turning point in the way buildings and streets were perceived and represented, as the bright lights of the modern metropolis were able to dispel the fear of darkness and the unknown. However, at the same time, the night-time city also became associated with the ideas and feelings of spectrality, as the new artificial lights illuminated the previously dark and opaque constructions, creating a sense of unease and uncertainty. The use of artificial lighting for architectural design developed simultaneously, albeit in different ways, in both America and Europe with the rise of electric lighting at the end of the 19th century.1 On one hand, in big metropolises, such as Chicago or New York, it is mostly the design of skyscrapers that attracted the attention of architects and engineers. Floodlighting and coloured external lights were used to create a new monumentality and celebrate the supremacy of the skyscraper as a national emblem