SINGAPORE — Ever wondered what Singapore looked like in 1800? Or how it might be in 2050? You can soon get a glimpse of when the month-long Nightscape 2050 Travelling Exhibition: A Dialogue between Cities-Light-People in the Future opens at National Design Centre on Saturday.

Berliners already got a taste of how their city has evolved in terms of its nightscape as this first kicked off at Berlin’s Aedes gallery in August. After its stop in Singapore, it will make its way to Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Nightscape 2050 is conceptualised and organised by Lighting Planners Associates (LPA), the company responsible for lighting up some of our most distinctive landmarks, such as Gardens by the Bay and National Museum of Singapore. The exhibition also coincides with the fact that 2015 has been declared the International Year of the Light by the United Nations.

“Lighting design is the profession which has cultural aspects that engage in the quality rather than quantity of light,” said Kaoru Mende, LPA’s founder and principal designer. “With 2015 as Year of Light, it gives us a good opportunity to consider the importance of energy and light. An important theme in lighting design for the future is to cherish this ‘locality’.”

With what in mind, Nightscapes goes beyond merely wowing visitors with its impressive collection of nightscapes across different cities around the world and proposed visions of the future in 2050, which are to be shown in the exhibition’s Lighting Pavilion. LPA director Reiko Kasai said each city has components addressing its own urban context and the event has been planned such that it can be appreciated by everyone—not just the design and architecture community.

Yes, even children can take part in a night walk, to be “lighting detectives”, helping draw Singapore’s future nightscape. A 14-metre exhibition, specially curated for SG50, chronicling the history of lighting in Singapore coupled with the nation’s critical events is another highlight. And to top of the experience, “luminous cocktails” will also serve at the event’s Night Bar every Friday and Saturday.

Of course, pulling off something like this is not without its challenges. “Getting enough funding to put this together was very challenging for sure,” revealed Kasai. “Without the support from numerous organisations in the lighting industry, this will not happen.” But the positive response in Berlin has shown the LPA team that the effort is well worth it. “Some people stayed within the pavilion for a very long time enjoying the projected lighting animation and images,” she added. “Kids in particular were very excited!” Serene Lim

Nightscape 2050 Travelling Exhibition—A dialogue between Cities-Light-People In The Future runs from Oct 24 to Nov 21 at the National Design Centre. Admission is free