Summer Night City

Light Path in Auckland

Monk Mackenzie Architects, LandLAB, GHD

About

The „Light Path“ (also named Nelson Street Cycleway or „Te Ara I Whiti“) is a cycleway (and in some sections, a shared pathway for walking and cycling) in Auck­land, New Zealand. The most famous part of the path is Māori Te Ara I Whiti section, trans­lated as, and commonly known as Light­path or also as the Pink Path.

Light Path trans­forms six hundred meters of redun­dant highway infra­struc­ture into a dynamic cycleway comple­ting a vital link in Auckland’s inner­city cycle network. Stage 1 of the Light Path was opened in December 2015, stage 2 opened two years later.

Google Maps

Striking

The Light Path uses a strict economy of means to trans­form the city dwel­lers’ expe­ri­ence of this piece of trans­port infra­struc­ture. The striking coloured pave­ment and inter­ac­tive lighting bring a distinc­tive and chan­ging character to the reuse of this piece of motorway. This changes the expe­ri­ence of the path for the user and also changes their expe­ri­ence of the city beyond.

The design is bold and confi­dent with all elements well inte­grated into the singular and simple form of the path. It is the power of this design stra­tegy that elevates a utili­ta­rian pathway to a much more complex space of inha­bi­ta­tion, and creates a distinc­tive urban land­mark for the city.

The city and the individual

Archi­tec­tu­rally the project had to work simul­ta­neously at two scales: the macro and the micro — the city and the indi­vi­dual. The project was also prima­rily conceived equally as a piece of urban art as it was urban design.

To create an impact at this wider city scale a simple yet bold stra­tegy was employed. The former asphalt highway was given a highly vivid and provo­ca­tive pink resin and aggre­gate surfa­cing. This trans­formed the space from a disused highway into a highly contem­po­rary urban space used by cyclists and pede­strians.

Urban connectivity

A dusk and evening dimen­sion was created by placing over 300 LED custom light boxes along the eastern edge of the cycleway to create a light spine. These were fully programmable and contained sensors to create a digital infra­struc­ture to allow an artist to create an infi­nite array of expe­ri­ences.

Alumi­nium plates, engraved with original Maori artist Katz Maihi artworks were subtly inte­grated into the western edge of the cycleway barrier. In addi­tion to this, the pink surfa­cing was concluded at its nort­hern end in another 27 metre long original artwork that morphed the surfa­cing back to asphalt.

Soundtrack

The project is a bold state­ment in Auckland’s urban realm, illus­t­ra­ting move­ment, speed and aspi­ra­tion. It takes on the often over­used defi­ni­tion of urban connec­ti­vity and profoundly rede­fines it with a persua­sive use of colour, mate­ria­lity and tech­no­logy. In the process, it contri­butes to a dispersal of ones percep­tion of what it is to move about a city with an into­xi­ca­ting cycling, pede­strian and trans­por­ta­tion event.

 

„Can’t resist the strange attrac­tion
From that giant dynamo
Lots to take and lots to give
Time to breathe and time to live“

ABBA, Summer Night City

We did this.

Project data and compa­nies involved

Designer

Monk Mackenzie
Level 3, 23 O’Connell Street
PO Box 3457
Short­land Street
NZL — Auck­land 1010

Opening

2015 & 2017

Client

New Zealand Trans­port Agency
Ronnie Salunga

Auck­land Council
Gyles Bendall

Construction management

GHD
Gansen Govender, Stephen Cummins

GHD Centre Level 3
27 Napier Street
Free­mans Bay
NZL — Auck­land 1010

Design

LandLAB
Level 2, 17 Sale Street
Free­mans Bay,
NRZ — Auck­land 1010

Photographs

MMA
Russ Flatt

Text

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
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