lighting by design

[...]... first thing about the lighting, is not the issue To become a lighting designer it is necessary to understand the role of lighting in revealing that experience This is done by objectively examining interactions of light and matter and developing an extensive range of observation-based experience of lighting Part Two is titled ‘Visualization’ A lighting design concept develops in the designer’s mind, and... image in the designer’s brain The image comprises more than a view 7 8 Lighting by Design Depending on the designer’s philosophy, it is likely to incorporate subjective concepts that relate to evaluative responses to the luminous environment This luminous environment is to be achieved by applying lighting to a physical environment, and this is the essential function that the lighting designer controls... professional designers working on the project Part Three is titled ‘Realization’ Unlike stage and studio lighting designers, the architectural lighting designer realizes the design xii Introduction concept through the medium of a technical specification This leap from the cerebral to the technical involves calculations and understanding the performance characteristics of lighting equipment, but the designer... is governed by so few processes Lighting is both the medium that makes things visible, and a visible medium At one level it reveals the identifying attributes that 4 Lighting by Design enable us to recognize the objects that surround us, and at another level it creates patterns of colour, and light and shade, which add other dimensions to the visual scene This chapter examines the role of lighting at... Kit Cuttle Auckland, 2002 INTRODUCTION This book is concerned with devising electric lighting installations for architectural spaces that will contribute towards achieving architectural design objectives It is written for architects, interior designers and specialist lighting designers It presumes a basic knowledge of lighting technology, although a brief summary is given in the Appendices for the benefit... described as the process by which perceived objects maintain more or less stable attributes despite changes in the retinal images by which they are recognized An understanding of how we develop perceptions of our environments and the role that perceived attributes play in enabling us to come to terms with surroundings is crucial to understanding the roles 9 10 Lighting by Design that lighting can play in... photon energy level e (joules) is given by the expression: e = h␯ joules where h = Planck’s constant and ␯ = frequency (Hz) Life would be more simple if every observed property of light could be explained by this simple model, but such is not the case 19 20 Lighting by Design It is, in fact, slightly embarrassing to have to admit that this book, entirely devoted to lighting, will not attempt to provide... curvatures for near and distant focus (Source: Coaton, J.R and Marsden, A.M (eds) Lamps and Lighting, Arnold, 1997) 6 Lighting by Design vision, we have no way of examining it So, we are forced to accept measures of the luminous environment as practical indicators of the stimulus for vision, which means that we are, by default, assuming a notion of ‘normal vision’ This notion presumes that those who need... ‘Observation’, and the thesis is that the aspects of lighting that concern a designer are those that can be seen to make a difference The problem is that we all take lighting for granted, and we simply do not notice what lighting can do until we direct ourselves to look for it If people enjoy the visual experience of a space or the objects it contains, the lighting must have been working well for them That... appearance can be influenced by subtle aspects of lighting, and so too can our more complex assessments of the appearance of architectural spaces A basis of theory enables designers to examine their own observations of the things that surround them Differences of object appearance have their origin in the physical processes by which light is reflected, refracted, dispersed and scattered by matter But human . and interior designers who seek to achieve their design objectives both by day and by night. However, that does not mean providing a daylit appearance around the clock. Electric lighting has. observation-based experience of lighting. Part Two is titled ‘Visualization’. A lighting design concept devel- ops in the designer’s mind, and its strength depends on the designer’s ability to visualize. project. Part Three is titled ‘Realization’. Unlike stage and studio lighting designers, the architectural lighting designer realizes the design INTRODUCTION concept through the medium of a technical