As night falls over Stuttgart, the Kunstmuseum's new building lights up. This striking feature of the cityscape is the ideal location to document the history of architectural lighting design. The exhibition »Luminous Buildings: Architecture of the Night« took a detailed look at architectural illumination. Architects experimented with illumination for the first time during the great world fairs of the 19th century. For example, Paris's Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, was lit up at night. But it was not until the 1920s that architectural illumination began to fascinate architects looking for avant-garde city design concepts. The exhibition told the story of European and American architectural lighting design using illuminated models, photographs, paintings, visionary designs and architectural light sculptures. A large section was devoted to recent blueprints and buildings with unusual light features. The current debate on ways to accommodate commercial and aesthetic demands in lighting concepts for city centres was also a focus. UN Studio, Galleria Hall West, Seoul, © Christian Richters