The architecture of light: architectural lighting design concepts and techniques. A textbook of procedures and practices for the architect, interior designer and lighting designer pdfdrive com

Figure 3.5 The 2-to-1 accent ratio (left) - and thus the perceived brightness - remains the same when light is added uniformly (right). Visual interest is only enhanced when the contrast difference in increased (below).
When this 2-step procedure is implemented, the result is a designed space filled with emotional impact, engaging visual interest, and logic. We create design that truly encourages interaction.
This logic can prove useful
even for our open office spaces and classrooms, but is exceptionally effective in our
high-design interactive environments where visual impact and emotional effect
are the primary programs.
The magic of this procedure and understanding is that it requires no knowledge of lighting products and technologies. It uses no calculations or light level measurement. Lighting in this manner is simply a change in perspective and understanding that will allow one to assess lighted effect better and to better define the lighting needs of a space.
We will build off of this procedure by introducing a system of
determining where light belongs and articulating lighting goals. This simple, two-step process of lighting specifics first and then augmenting ambience will remain as the foundation.

Chapter 4 Adding Light in Layers

As with designing anything, lighting design is not nearly as spontaneous a craft as one would want to believe. Like all good art forms, design is much less an explosion of sudden creativity and much more a product of procedure and understanding. As designers concerned with light, we look to enrich our craft by expanding our possibilities to create room for great ideas. The maxim “form follows function” is as true in lighting design as in any design discipline. To truly master lighting is to establish justification for why we add light to a space. Design must have a reason for being, and to create opportunity for good design, we elaborate on the reasons for lighting to “be.”
We touched before on the important mental practice of making lighting
decisions throughout the architectural and interior design processes. To facilitate this goal, we will give ourselves as many opportunities as possible to stop and look at our design with fresh eyes. If we break up the lighting design process and focus on one aspect of light at a time, we have more opportunity to ponder the specific pieces of light that can be used to support our design goals.
One of the beauties of design is that there are no “wrong” answers, simply
ideas that are not well thought through. If we study our ideas over a long enough period of time, the great ideas are sure to rise to the top. Great lighting is a product of assessing design needs at numerous steps of the design process. Poor lighting is often the product of lighting design ideas applied all at once, at the end of a project.
To truly get a feel for the importance of light integration, we need only
visualize how powerful light is at changing the effect of a space. The moods of architecture are often subtle, and light can have a swift and potent effect on design. We must be keenly aware of what design goals are best fulfilled by light and what light is responsible for in our designed environment.
To these ends, the lighting procedure that we will implement is a method
of articulating the reasons we add light to a space, and addressing each reason individually. This procedure has been refined and laid out here as a system of
adding light in five distinct layers