The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in Lighting Design and Architecture

Ruairí O’Brien

We sit as lighting designers in our offices and look at beautiful pictures of beautiful lighting scenarios in beautiful glossy magazines. We are inspired by possibilities that new lighting technologies can offer us and allow ourselves to dream of the beautiful projects to come.

Reality hits us as soon as we enter the majority of our public buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, banks, offices, and even, sad but true, in the homes of our friends and families. Cheap and not so cheap, bad, glaring, soupy and creepy lighting everywhere you look. Bad daylight planning and obsolete artificial lighting concepts plague our interiors and at night the lack of light master planning destroys our romantic and playful encounters.

The emphasis on efficiency in the last years has not helped the situation (some have even mistaken this for lighting design). The long tradition of leaving the planning of lighting to technocrats has accelerated the negative effect that bad lighting has had on our buildings, towns and cities. The technocrat often has difficulty in understanding the philosophical and aesthetic dimensions of good lighting. They joke about the “art” of lighting as people often joke about things they are afraid of or do not understand.

Today with the huge array of new technologies available to us lighting is too important to leave to the unimaginative. “The Times They Are A-Changin…” sang Bob Dylan, this could be an inspiration for the lighting industry, politicians and decision makers, a wakeup call for a true human centric lighting. Planning light is, as in all areas of culture, music, science or art, always about bringing the measurable and the immeasurable together. The lighting designer brings the “art” of lighting and technology together; it is only with this holistic and humanistic approach that we can create a truly human centric light. As words and grammar alone cannot produce literature, successful planning of light is not just about energy consumption and light sources but also about the quality of light in terms of the mood and joy it can create. That is the true meaning of human centric light, a light that is healthy to the mind, the body and the soul.

Good lighting can bring something godly to the simplest of buildings; lighting is the true king of spatial design and can transport humble spaces and structures onto another architectural level. Good daylight planning and good artificial lighting is the most cost-effective way to create spaces of quality where people are happy to live, work and play. That is why lighting designers are becoming the most important design profession in the building industry. In times of BIM, modular building, dwindling resources and the Internet Of Things, lighting designers need to step up to the block and play a leading role in the design team. In the future “Heavy-Ugly-Vanity Architecture”, HUVA in short, will be side-lined and a new world of lighting design architecture with its mix and cross over of virtual and real will take its place. Perhaps we will call this the time of light tectonic architecture, a period of light centric design where building facades, interior and public spaces, towns and cities will be designed with the smart usage of light and shadow as its central idea.

In lighting design, efficient is not always effective, successful or even sustainable. Effective is when people use the space lit, enjoy the space lit and come back to the space lit, that is long term sustainability. That is why a market square requires different lighting scenarios, can cost more money and require more energy than a parking lot. After all, you do not have the same lighting in your living room as in your garage.

Text first published in TiL (Trends in Lighting) 2017.

Four years later, the arrival of Corona and the resulting increased awareness for the importance of good office and home office lighting, the greater use of urban public space with adequate shading by day and „Darkness friendly“ lighting by night makes this text more actual than ever. Added to this the increased interest and awareness for environmental friendly urban and architecture concepts require a greater understanding for resource saving lighting design solutions and philosophies.

The „Times Continue to Change“…

CEO – RUAIRÍ O’BRIEN ARCHITEKTUR + LICHT + RAUMKUNST Dresden, Deutschland

Seasons Greetings

2017

Liebe Kollegen, Dear colleagues,
der FILD Vorstand wünscht Euch einen friedvollen und frohen Jahreswechsel und für das kommende Jahr Gesundheit, Glück und Erfolg in allen persönlichen und geschäftlichen Dingen.
Wir bedanken uns für euer Vertrauen und setzen auch für das Neue Jahr 2017 auf eine positive Entwicklung der FILD.

 

The board of FILD wishes all fellow members and friends a wonderful holiday festival and best wishes for 2017. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support throughout the last year.
We look forward to working with you all on the further development of our federation in the coming year.

Erwin Doering – Ruairí O’Brien – Beate Schulte – Reinhard Vedder

Interview der „LICHT“ mit unseren Vorständen

Im Interview der Fachzeitschrift „LICHT“ erklärten auf der „Light & Building“ dieses Jahr unsere Vorstände Erwin Döring, Ruairí O’Brien und Reinhard Vedder wofür wir stehen und wo die Stärken und Ziele der Vereinigung professioneller Lichtplaner liegen.

Auf www.lichtnet.de/videos und in der aktuellen Ausgabe der „LICHT“ wurde das Interview veröffentlicht.

Light & Building 2016 – Review

160315_FILD_L+B_Vortrag_Frank

I am happy to report that the Federation of International Lighting Designers enjoyed a successful week at the „Light and Building“ in Frankfurt. The inaugural stand presence proved to be a popular meeting point for old and new friends of the lighting design scene. The FILD lecture series “Seeing Light, Understanding Light!” was well attended. The Board conducted several very positive meetings regarding future partnerships with representatives from the lighting industry and other lighting associations. In all a very good weeks work and a big thank you to all FILD members who supported the action.

Ruairi O´Brien – Vice-President

Light & Building 2016 – Rückblick

 

Zusammenstellung

Letzte Woche, vom 13. bis zum 18. März, fand die Light & Building 2016 in Frankfurt am Main statt. Nach der Gründung des Vereins war die erste Teilnahme der FILD auf der Weltleitmesse für Licht eine Selbstverständlichkeit. Bereits auf der PLDC – Professional Lighting Designers Convention in Rom haben wir ein klares Signal für das neue Bestehen einer in Europa basierenden Lichtplanervereinigung gesetzt und zahlreichen Interessenten die Ziele und Ansprüche des Zusammenschlusses vermitteln können. Auf der Light & Building haben wir nun noch deutlich mehr Aufsehen erregt. Durch die Präsenz der FILD auf einem eigenen Messestand in der Halle 3 der Frankfurter Messe kamen zahlreiche Gespräche und überaus viele neue Kontakte auf internationaler Ebene zustande. Davon sind einige neue Mitgliedschaften noch direkt auf der Messe angemeldet worden.

Weitere Professoren und sehr gute Planungsbüros sind konkret an einer Mitgliedschaft interessiert.

Auch das Feedback der Vortragsveranstaltung ist deutlich positiv ausgefallen. Die Vorträge wurden vom Fachpublikum sehr gut besucht, und die hohe Qualität anschließend gelobt.

Gleichgesinnte Interessensverbände sowie die Fachpresse hießen die FILD willkommen. Am Donnerstag interviewte die „Licht“ auf ihrem benachbarten Messestand unsere Vorstandsmitglieder Erwin Döring, Ruairí O’Brien und Reinhard Vedder zu den Zielen und Plänen der FILD. Das Interview soll in den kommenden Wochen online veröffentlich werden.

Building Performance, Seminars and lectures

 

lectures

Lectures organized by: F I L D – Federation of International Lighting Designers

Programm

Tuesday 15.03.2016

Time/Zeit Themes/Thema (Language/Sprache)


9:25 am Opening words – Eröffnung

9:30 -10:10 LED in interior design  (english)
Requirements for the planning of light.
Prof. Michael Schmidt / Lighting Designer

10:30 – 11:10 Light or Lights? (deutsch)
Über die identitätsstiftende Wirkung von Licht in der Architektur
Werkbericht mit Projektbeispielen
Helmut Angerer / Lighting Designer

11:30 – 12:10 Lichtdesign und/oder Lichttechnik? (deutsch)
Gestaltung und/oder Lux?
Prof. Dr. Heinrich Kramer

12:30 – 14 :00 Lunch – Mittagessen

14:10 – 14: 40 NIGHTDESIGN (english)
Buildings and spaces defined by luminance
Frank Vetter / Lighting Designer

15:00 – 15:40 Licht schafft Emotionen (deutsch)
Faszination von Licht und Schatten als Gestaltungsmittel
Reinhard Vedder / Lighting Designer

16:00 – 16:40 “Back to the Future” (english)
Light, Architecture and Urban Space
Ruairí O’Brien / Lighting Designer

For further Information, visit our Info-Stand in Hall 3 Stand A26

To all Lighting Designers and friends of lighting

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Dear Colleagues

The Federation of International Lighting Designers, FILD, is an international professional association for lighting designers founded in December 2014 in Frankfurt am Main by 12 lighting designers and educators of lighting design. In its first year the association has achieved many of the prerequisites required to ensure a successful future. However, in order to establish the association in the professional world, several major projects need further development. This requires joint efforts from committed colleagues from all countries to support the association with their membership and their expertise.

Remember, together we can be stronger!

You can contact us via Email: office@fild.eu

Erwin Döring – President
Ruairi O´Brien – Vice-President