Page 83 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

distributing goods and services organised them-
selves and modes of transport developed.

Night-life took on a whole new dimension,
with reading and the acquisition of academic
knowledge in particular. The bad habit of using
electric lighting during the day was also very
soon adopted.

Urban buildings, which were now “connec-
ted”, were gradually but profoundly changed by
this, while isolated buildings outside the towns
and cities still retained their autarchic and
protected physiognomy for a long time. Urban
housing, for example, was able to dispense with
its coal cellar, waste and compost heap, pantry,
laundry and linen store, cellar and attic, as all
the functions once performed by these ancillary
spaces were now ensured by supply networks 95.
Electric lighting does not produce either flames
or gaseous emissions and greatly reduces health
hazards and the risk of fire. Structures can
become water- and airtight, making the neces-
sary air renewal a mechanical possibility. Ceiling
heights can also be reduced and floor areas made
deeper.

95 The system reaches its limits, and increasingly loses its balance
with nature. In particular, the cost of networks per unit of floor
area increases exponentially as towns and cities expand, resul-
ting in either social isolation, or the collapse of urban finances
(see: The vertical city, op. cit., footnote no. 16).
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