Lighting projects

For the private individual as for a company, a lighting project ought to first reflect about the purpose of the light, (working, reading, ambiance, etc.), then on the locations to site the light sources, and then only finally on the products (lamps and fittings), because the locations of the products are just as important as the products themselves.

This is often the case, for example, when it comes to work place lighting. When you have the light source in your range of vision, it can easily blind you and then hinder you much more than it assists. On the other hand, if you set your light between the eye and working surface, you would certainly have better illumination. Whatever your project is, there is one unavoidable rule: you must pay attention to the lighting background to avoid light/shadow contrasts that are too pronounced. In fact, if the background is dark, then bright lighting will be very tiring.

This means that for the private individual and the interior designer who wish to improve a lighting situation, that they should not only think in terms of the lamp, but in terms of the lighting environment and its overall perception; the whole room, nay, even the whole house, needs to be imagined as a cohesive whole. For example, if you have a corridor between your lounge and your bedroom, and your corridor is poorly lit, you will experience an unpleasant sensation every time you go to your bedroom and need to pass through that corridor. The same think applies to corridors connecting offices.
To simplify things, incandescent and CFL lamps should generally be preferred in the home, while fluorescent tubes, erroneously referred to as "neons", are more often to be employed in offices or workplaces that require more intense lighting. A fair number of safety and design standards also need to be respected in regards to workplace lighting.

Good lighting is that which isn't noticed .

How can lighting quality be objectively evaluated?

Perception is everything, and absolutely vital when approaching a lighting challenge. The best lighting specialist is one who keeps his eyes open. There is no light without a visual perception, and so everything hinges on that perception and how it is interpreted by each individual. Perception and the way that the majority of people feel about light are the keys to our business.

A typical case is with street lighting. In fact, the most important thing is to have intense illuminated areas, but how are they perceived by other people in the city. If we can identify people at a reasonable distance that allows us time to avoid collisions, then there will be no problems in the city. But if we arrive at just 10 metres away from someone without being able to ascertain their intentions, then this can create a sensation of insecurity. Perception is THE key to lighting.

What are the differences between soft and hard lights?

There are two aspects to be considered regarding hard or soft lighting. The first is the colour rendition. These days most lamps offer fairly good colour rendition. Nonetheless, coloured light should not be used in the home, since there will then be a poor rendition of colours, which will affect perceptions and can be translated into a very unpleasant feeling about the light.

Independently of that and of the type of lamp, whether it be CFL or halogen, the problem of raw light or softer light is one of contrasts, that is, one of the relationship between the lamp in the range of vision and the light in the surrounding environment. This is often the case in restaurants. If you have a 12° dichroic lamp that lights up your table and the ceiling is black, then you'll find yourself in rather harsh light, quite white, and therefore rather unpleasant. Not because the lamp itself is unpleasant, but because the background is so dark. In such case, all that need be done is to have a lighter background. Generally speaking, then, it is best to avoid contrasts between light and dark that are too pronounced.

How important are the lighting locations?

The locations are very important, as can be readily seen with bedside lamps. If you would like indirect lighting, it's better to opt for lighting locations on the walls, with wall-mounted fitting housing bulbs that are entirely hidden. Do remember, though, that there are some wall sconces which are really only decorative; so they should not be used to try to generate too much illumination, meaning that you should avoid seeing the bulb itself, even with traditional incandescent bulbs.

If the sconce is simply decorative in purpose, then make sure you fit it with a low wattage bulb. It really only serves as an object, not as part of the lighting plan. A lamp can function as an object, as a light source, or both at the same time. You can quite easily install wall sconces in a living area which only have decorative utility, even as much so during the day as at night. So you should pay careful attention with the brilliance of such sconces depending on their intended usages.

With indirect lighting, we often illuminate our ceilings, but this isn't considered invasive because it's so common: during the day, light normally comes from the sky. So one's normal perceptions are not impacted by a very light ceiling.

On the other hand, if there is very bright direct lighting used, the ceiling can become too dark and the consequent contrast gives the impression that the light is falling on your head. In such cases, all that is often needed to resolve the problem on a dark ceiling is a sconce, even just a decorative one, which puts some light back in to the ceiling surface. Don't hesitate for an instant to use indirect lighting which might not actually provide much functional lighting, as it may well rebalance the overall ambiance instead.

And finally, it is important to make difference between functional lighting, which assists with reading or eating for example, and the overall lighting which will determine the room's atmosphere. For a better balance, it is always preferable to use both.