A debate invovling color and light is underway in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus Bridge a monument rich in symbolic meaning as it brings together two continents has been decorated with 16 million blue, red, and yellow LED bulbs at the expense of the Turkish Phillips Company.
However the bright lights have been received with mixed reviews and everyone from statesmen to the people on the street seem to have a strong opinion on the project.
In order to resolve it and how the bridge will be illuminated a commission has been formed. Representatives from the municipality, the highway administration, universities, architects, and color scientists will convene to determine an image befitting of Istanbul. City brand expert Muhterem İlgüner points out that the current illumination is an indicator that the Istanbul brand is not managed well.
In addition to the overall concern for the city branding it was interesting to note the warning from a color scientist that the red lights may cause a hike in suicides.
As a color scientist, Metin Yahya Üster, warns that Istanbul is almost being pushed into the arms of danger. Saying that the only color to be used in the illumination must be blue, Üster says: “As a scientist, I oppose the painting of the bridge ignorantly in a blazonry of colors. This will cause many accidents on the bridge. Each color has a character. Blue is a calming and therapeutic color. Red, on the other hand, is [symptomatic of] the internal devil. Most suicides take place during the night. Because [at that time] both the blue of the day and the blue of the sea are not visible.”
Stating that London’s Tower Bridge has been painted in blue on his suggestion, resulting in a decrease in the number of suicides, Üster says that the Bosporus Bridge has been adorned in red as this was not known in Turkey.
