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

A Summary of Our Lighting Tactics
The vision system will adapt to make the most of low light levels and to mitigate excessive light.
Brightness is a subjective judgment based on contrast between neighboring surfaces.
Human beings are instinctively attracted to bright surfaces, areas and objects.
Humans gain their definition of brightness from the vertical surfaces around them.
These four elements of human perception work together to form the foundation of how we purposefully place light into our environments.
With this basis, our design approach becomes a study of how to create
maximum effect by directing light onto a few specific surfaces. This approach starts with identifying the surfaces that will best respond to light. Where can we create lighted goals to draw people through spaces? Where can we enhance the perception of brightness by lighting vertical surfaces and objects? Where can we rely on contrast of light levels to create visual interest? By answering these questions, we will create dynamic, visually-interesting spaces by painting specific pieces of light onto specific surfaces to accomplish the lighting design goals of a space. This lighting approach is the very opposite of providing even washes of light to define a space.
To accommodate the specific placement of light, many of the lighting
tools available to the designer are discreet, architecturally-integrated luminaires that deliver a focused pool or plane of light onto a specific surface. By employing these hidden, directional light sources, we define our environment as a collection of lighted surfaces, rather than a collection of overly-bright light sources or a flat field of generic even brightness.
Because we spend so much time in offices and classrooms that typically
employ an even level of light throughout, we come to think that this design is the correct or safe way to light a space. However, as we learn to articulate our lighting goals, it becomes clear that the only reason spaces are treated with these even light levels is so that a person may conceivably sit down anywhere and perform a visual task for an extended period of time. Because of this, we launch into our practice with the understanding that light is our medium or more accurately that lighted surfaces are our medium. This simple building method of designing specific pieces of light will guide all of our designs.