The Lijnbaan area lights up with special projections featuring Art Deco women's faces framed by birds and flowers. This creative concept was developed by Integral Safety Science students from Inholland University of Applied Sciences, with which they win the Student Safety Award.
You will admire the first light projections on Korte Lijnbaan. Here, you will see two static projections aimed at the benches of the fast-food chains with 1950s women's faces surrounded by flowers and stylised birds. In the middle of Korte Lijnbaan will be a rotating projection of flying birds. The designs are by Manuel López, lecturer-researcher at Inholland, and refer to the Lijnbaan's early years when there were bird cages containing parrots.
Mayor Aboutaleb will present the Student Safety Award on Tuesday evening 21 May to the four Integral Safety Science students who developed the best concept for light projections. The first round of testing will be done with the simplest form of projection. López is already looking ahead and is thinking of cinematic projections with a new theme each season, such as a short film about the bombing and reconstruction or a winter film in December.
The purpose of the light projections is to increase the feeling of safety and to improve the experience for all residents, visitors and shopowners. To measure this effect, a number of graduates have started their research into the perception of safety in the Lijnbaan area with the light projections. Marjolein Hilberts interviews visitors and entrepreneurs in the area, while Elferoy Lobotoe lets people walk through a digital version of the Lijnbaan area with VR glasses. Nick Blom tests safety perception with physiological measuring equipment: 'Galvanic Skin Response'. By measuring physical reactions when respondents see pictures with different features of the built environment, he is investigating whether this is a more reliable method of measuring safety perception than surveys.
"Our ultimate goal for this project was not only to come up with innovative interventions, but also to ensure that they are practical, effective and embraced by the community," says Manuel López. "We want visitors to know that Lijnbaan is a shopping street absolutely worth visiting - both in daylight and during the atmospheric evening hours."
Rotterdam Municipality, Hogeschool Inholland and BIZ Rotterdam Centrum are joining forces in this project to make this area even nicer, better and more pleasant for everyone. When will you drop by to admire the projections?