The first good lamps in Brno

appeared in front of the railway station and on the Husova street (Jan Hus street). The fixtures are made by Thorn. The following images have been taken in front of the main post office.

The first one is a view toward Petrov (St. Peter and Paul Cathedral).

The other toward spas at Kopečná and Hybešova street. It appears the lamps are not hung perfectly vertically.

A detail of the first of the lamps from the previous picture. From the tram station, the Moon has been visible close to the lamp. (Sunday, Aug. 1, 1999, images by Jan Hollan).

Examples of good and bad lighting

view from the Red Church
View from the exit of the Red Church in Brno to the Janáček Academy and Jan Hus street. An example of horrible lighting at left and relatively good one at right.

The reflectors illuminating the church pour their light so much into one's eyes (like ,,by the interrogation``), that elderly people cannot see the staircase going down before them. The building of Janáček Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts is hidden behind the reflectors.

At right, view along the Jan Hus street shows it being illuminated perhaps too much, but well -- all the fixtures are fully shielded and their luminance is therefore low (just the three closest ones are brighter then car headlights). Much more light comes to the camera from the illuminated street than directly from the lamps themselves. If the fixtures with flat glass at the bottom end would have better reflectors inside, even the two closest lamps would not disturb the view.

view of the Joštova street
View of the Joštova street, ending with unpleasantly strongly lit façade of the St. Thomas church. A couple of bad lamps is visible -- these ones are incomparably brighter than the street below them. The fully shielded lamps in front of the Red Church are an exception. Note the strongly illuminated ground below the centre of the image and scarcely visible fixtures on two low poles above the lit pavement.

Nighttime images by Rudolf Novák, commentary by Jan Hollan, N. Copernicus and Planetarium in Brno, November 2 and 3, 2000.