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

MAKING LIGHTING DECISIONS THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS
An articulated approach to making lighting decisions is most effective when applied within the framework of one of our favorite maxims: “Make lighting design decisions at every step of the design process”. Far too often, architects and designers “design in the dark”. They often embark on a path of “design, design, design”, and once the space is completely “designed,” it is then “lit up.”
The thought process that is implemented in this text is nearly the opposite.
A designer should look for every opportunity to think about how light should be used in a design. Light can certainly be “applied” to an already-designed space, but the result will never reach the level of greatness that is possible when light is integrated into a project every step of the way. For design to transition to greatness, lighting has to be considered at each significant design juncture. The great design projects that we admire come from all realms of taste and style, but the one thing they share is thoughtful lighting integration.
For every design decision, there is a lighting decision to be made that can either support or erode the design.
The more comfortable a designer becomes with light, the more likely that
designer is to automatically consider light in the decision-making process. For every form decision, scale decision, material decision and color decision, there is a complimentary lighting decision. If these lighting decisions are made through the design process, the result is a depth of design that cannot be obtained by simply pouring light onto a completely designed project.
HOW HUMANS USE LIGHT
To warm ourselves up to the notion of the importance of light, it is useful to account for some of the ways human beings react and respond to light. Once we recognize how we use light in our daily lives, we can start to produce very sophisticated effects through our lighting decisions. Because of our long- standing relationship with light, it has the power to affect our subconscious in ways that no other medium can. It this subconscious relationship that provides
our most powerful lighting tools. When we consider how long humankind has spent experiencing light, we can begin to appreciate all of the ways that light is utilized beyond simply “seeing.”
It is important to recognize that for the vast majority of our history here on earth we, as humans, have grown accustomed to the sun as our primary source of light. In all of its incarnations - sunrise, sunset, high-noon, shaded and diffused - the sun is responsible for most of our responses to light. This relationship explains why we rely on the light quality in our environment to inform so many of our behavioral cues.
Light as Mood
We rely on light both consciously and subconsciously to tell us the level of activity and the type of mood we should carry into a space. These effects likely relate back to light qualities that we associate with different times of day, as well as light qualities of different seasons. As discussed earlier, we all have an innate understanding of the types of light conducive to activity and excitement, as well as light that encourages calm and relaxation. These light qualities can be extended to encourage moods of sadness and melancholy or happiness and joy. Humans rely on light to inform them of the time of day and consequently, the mood and activities that should follow. Light quality may remind us of seasons that call for celebration or seasons that call for work and diligence. There is extensive study of how specific wavelengths (colors) of light affect our well- being and how light deficiencies negatively affect our physiology. All of these topics become critical when implementing modern electric light sources and making use of daylight.