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Architecture and Lighting
Architecture and Lighting
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Architects know, or we should know, that it is of
This relationship between light and architecture prime importance to get the lighting right, whether it
occurs inevitably; sometimes consciously, other times is natural or artificial light: the right light enhances
unconsciously, and it does not matter whether we are and improves a space, bad lighting degrades it. The
talking about educated or popular architecture. That is best lighting is almost always one that you do not
why it is almost impossible to imagine the works of notice. You sometimes enter a place and you cannot
the grand maestros without establishing a masterly perceive it or appreciate what it contains, because the
relationship with light. An example of all these, as a light blinds you. Other times, you go to an exhibition
synthesis, is the Pantheon in Rome. Etianne-Louis and the reflections of the poor lighting do not allow
Boullé claims that “the art of touching with the effects you to appreciate what is on display. And we should
of light belongs to architecture”, and he is right, not forget what we were told in the cops and robbers
because, depending on how it is used, it can transform films when they wanted to interrogate somebody, they
the spatial context, creating agreeable or disagreeable, shined a bright light in his face to weaken or destroy
sublime or mysterious sensations, the sensations of his physical and mental defences and he would end up
enlarging a space or making it smaller, or simply confessing.
highlighting aspects of the space that interest us. And
above all, it makes the space more agreeable, more 3. Psychology of light
comfortable, more habitable, more visible. 3.1. Designing with light
Painting too can move us with the play of light, as The majority of the information that we receive about
David Madacsi made clear in his presentation in this the world around us comes through our eyes.Through
very conference. But light the light we see on canvas its intensity, the way it is distributed and through its
properties, light creates specific conditions which can
is the representation of a specific and personal form of
influence our perception. Lighting design is, in fact,
interpreting it. Think about Velazquez, Vermere, the planning of our visual environment.Good lighting
Rembrandt, or more recently, Sorolla, Van Gogh, design aims to create perceptual conditions which
Munch. allow us to work effectively and orient ourselves
safely while promoting a feeling of well-being in a
Artificial light is quite different, invented light that particular environment.
comes from a fixed and constant source of emission Light plays a central role in the design of a
and, therefore its effect does not vary and it obviously visual environment.
implies consuming energy and, far too often, it also The architecture, people and objects are all
involves visual “noise”. made visible by the lighting.
When talking about Architecture, it is important to Light influences our well-being, the aesthetic
distinguish between fashionable and avant-garde effect and the mood of a room or area.
It is light that first enables “what you see”.
architecture. Fashion and avant-garde are two
concepts that, at times, may be the same thing, but Our perception of architecture will be influenced by
have different, almost always contradictory meanings. light:
Avant-garde movements were always concerned with
essential aspects, which is why they break new ground o Light defines zones and boundaries,
o Light expands and accentuates rooms,
and always remain in time, enlightening us and
o Light creates links and delineates one area
freeing us. Fashion or trends pay attention to from another.
occasional, phenomenological, contingent, formal
aspects, and what they are really designed for is to go 3.2. Planning and process
out of fashion. Fashions in architecture enslave those
who follow them and even those who promote them, The basis for every lighting concept is an analysis of
the avant-garde, on the other hand, liberates. the project…
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standards will dictate how much light is 3.4. Emphasizing architectural features
needed,
the degree of glare limitation, •Rooms can be given a visual structure by
the source colour and colour rendering. illuminating the architectural features.
•As the design phase progresses, decisions are made •Grazing light accentuates individual elements or
regarding: –the lamps and fixtures to be used –the areas and brings out their form and surface texture.
arrangement and installation of the fixtures –any
•Grazing light can cause highly threedimensional
required electrical and control devices
features to cast strong shadows.
•The decision regarding lamp type can be made at the
•By using different levels of illuminance, different
beginning of a project or left until an advanced
parts of a room can be placed in a visual hierarchy.
planning stage
Because the sense of sight is contrast sensitive, the
•Lighting layouts (the plan) can be determined by the
brightness contrast of a space determines its
choice of a light fixture or could be the criteria for
emotional impact
fixture selection.
Emotional Impact:individual impressions of a space
•Lighting design process should be seen as a “back
are a function of brightness contrast –the relationship
and forth” check in which developed solutions are
of surfaces that are lighted to those left in the dark –
repeatedly compared to the predetermined goals and
the focus or foreground to the surround or
requirements.
background.
3.3TYPES OF LIGHTING
The degree of brightnesscontrast evokes emotions in
the same way as background music. It affects…..
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Spaciousness / Confinement available to a building. It is therefore, important to
Visual Clarity / Haziness have a good awareness of the obstructions on the site
Relaxation / Activation and the sky blockage they will create at locations on
Private/ Public the fascades of the new buildings. To check if good
daylighting on an obstructed site is possible, a sample
The description of the light in space: assessment can be made by drawing section of the
new building and an existing obstruction. Draw a line
level of lightness from a point 2m above ground level on the new
spatial distribution of brightness building to the top of the obstruction and measure the
shadows angles between the line and the horizontal, as shown
reflections in Figure 3. If this angle is less than the critical
glare obstruction angle h given in Table1 for various
color of light latitudes then there is potential for adequate daylight
colors of the new building.
4. DAYLIGHT DESIGN
Daylight design has to be an integral part of the
overall design process. A design strategy to ensure
good daylight conditions in a building should
consider:
The design sky for many parts of the world is ‘worst 4.2. The Form Of The Building
case’ situation of a grey overcast sky with no visible
The greater the surface area to volume ratio of the
sun. Such a sky will produce low levels of diffuse
building then, normally, the better the daylight levels
light and window openings(both in walls and
will be in the building. Consequently, a long and
roofs)will need to be quite large to bring adequate
narrow building(measuring say, 60m wide by 15m
amounts of daylight to interior spaces. These openings
deep in plan) is generally preferable to a square
are potential weak spots in the fascade for solar over-
building(measuring say, 30m by 30m in plan0 even
heating and winter overcooling, and so shading
though both buildings have the same floor area. If an
systems and energy efficient glazing systems are
atrium is formed in the core of the building then the
integral components of a daylighting strategy. For
daylight levels will be even higher. Before artificial
areas of the world where clear sky conditions prevail
lighting was available building designers were aware
then both the sky and the sun will represent sources of
of the need to keep building shallow for good natural
very bright light. Openings can be much smaller but
lighting and, a variety of such building forms were
the ingress of direct sunlight must always be
developed
controlled. For all sky types it is desirable to make
most use of south and north facing glazing for
daylight. Southerly glazing is relatively easy to shade
using horizontal devices that will not interfere with Table 1 Critical obstruction angles for diff. latitudes
the view out and north glazing will require no shading Latitude Critical obstruction angle h less than
and admit skylight.
Up to 40° 40°
40° to 45° 35°
4.1. The Site And Any Obstructions 45° to 50° 30°
50° to 55° 25°
Any obstructed sky, particularly for cloudy climates, 55° to 60° 22°
represents a potentially significant loss of daylight Over 60° 20°
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envelope are as important for good daylighting as the
size of the glazing elements. Windows should be
4.3. Interior Planning And Design placed high on a wall and, if feasible, ceiling heights
should be raised to accommodate this. The number
Open plan spaces are advantageous for daylighting
andseperation of skylights needed to provide good
and any partitions, for example, for acoustic privacy,
light levels in a space can be expressed as a multiple
should be made from light-transmitting
transmitting materials such
of the height of the space. Any side windows will
as glass blocks. Non light-transmitting
transmitting partitions
reduce the number of skylights required
should be positioned perpendicular to t the window
wall,
l, be light coloured and as low as possible. Work A similar approach is adopted for clerestory and
and activity areas should be positioned in locations sawtoothwindows
appropriate to the level of lighting task. Large areas of
dark colour should be avoided, and surface finishes
should have high reflectances in the range: ceiling >
80 per cent; walls 50 per cent to 70 per cent; floors 20
per cent to 40 per cent and furnitures 25 per cent to 45
per cent. Surfaces should have matt rather then gloss
finishes to ensure good daylight distribution and avoid
reflected glare.
The position
sition and shape of opening in a building’s
Figure 8 clerestory window
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Figure 5 daylight penetration
prismatic glazing and light space.
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models can be readily used to assess either lighting
levels or visual appearance. The easiest way is to put a
model outside and take measurements or photos.
Provided that details such as surface colour,
reflectance and texture in the model are similar to the
real space then reasonably accurate results
resul can be
obtained Figure__ shows a typical arrangement.
Table 2 Aguide for recommended light level in different [4]Light In Architecture and Psychology of
workspaces Light. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2017, from
Activity Illumination www.rsltg.com/.../ArchID_-
(lux, _Light_in_Architecture_and_Psychology_of_Li
lumen/m2) ght.pdf
Public areas with dark 20 - 50
surroundings [5]Energy Efficient Lighting Design. (n.d.).
Simple orientation for short visits 50 - 100
Retrieved February 19, 2017, from
Working areas where visual tasks 100 - 150
are only occasionally performed www.teriin.org/ResUpdate/reep/ch_4.pdf
Warehouses, Homes, Theaters, 150
Archives [6]Fontenelle, C. %. (2008). The importance of
Easy Office Work, Classes 250 lighting to the experience of architecture .
Normal Office Work, PC Work, 500 Retrieved February 19, 2017, from
Study Library, Groceries, Show https://www.kth.se/polopoly_fs/1.176688!/Men
Rooms, Laboratories
u/general/column-
Supermarkets, Mechanical 750
Workshops, Office Landscapes content/attachment/1%20Ciro%20Fontenelle%
Normal Drawing Work, Detailed 1,000 20-Lighting_in_architecture.pdf
Mechanical Workshops,
Operation Theatres
Detailed Drawing Work, Very 1500 - 2000
Detailed Mechanical Works
Performance of visual tasks of 2000 - 5000
low contrast and very small size
for prolonged periods of time
Performance of very prolonged 5000 - 10000
and exacting visual tasks
Performance of very special 10000 - 20000
visual tasks of extremely low
contrast and small size
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