About
Night Studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary area of its own in the past decade. Night can be conceived as not only a time, but also a space that has its own set of residents, visitors, and workers. Night studies can also expand the scope of social justice in the city from spatial concerns to temporal ones. Who has the right to the night?
Traditionally, the night was a space of police, surveillance, and exclusion. It has also been a space of refuge, especially for marginalized communities who find safety in being less visible. For people experiencing homelessness, the night poses questions of sleep equity. For the LGBTQ2+ community, nightclubs and bars are vital spaces for community-building and social sustainability. As political protests and cultural activities expand into the night, this has offered a festive and creative space to build solidarity and demonstrate the social value of protest assemblies.
This research focuses on three urban contexts:
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Sleep Equity and Tent cities (Homeless and Indigenous homeless communities)
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Entertainment Spaces and Experiences (LGBTQ community, nightclubs)
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Outdoor Public Projections and Assemblies (BLM and other protest events)
Montreal has long been recognized as a nightlife capital. The city’s investments in a certain “spectacular” remaking of its night are internationally known and tied to the city’s claimed pre-eminence in the fields of lighting and digital design. Awards for architectural excellence in nighttime design are often awarded to projects that target international tourists and promote the global marketing of the city rather than meeting the needs of marginalized groups.
This research brings together architectural and design professionals, civil society groups, and academics from McGill to interrogate spaces celebrated for exemplary night design and question whether they meet the needs and desires of people who inhabit the night