Lighting
Architectural Lighting Design
This article is about lighting design in architecture. If you are looking for lighting design in theatre, see Lighting designer. The skyline of Singapore at night; Many buildings can be seen illuminated for aesthetic reasons. Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of architecture, including academic, institutional, corporate, hospitality, monumental structures, residential, retail, entertainment and site, facade lighting projects.
1. Professional trade organizations
2. Concept of lighting design
3. Media and trade publications
Professional trade organizations
Prior to the 1960s, the concept of illumination in architecture was not considered to be important by many architects or consulting engineers. This changed with the formation of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) in 1969, the current mission of which is “to serve the IALD worldwide membership by promoting the visible success of its members in practicing lighting design.” This created a new attitude towards the profession and raised the profile of architectural lighting design, one of the principal goals of the organization.
The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) seeks to improve the lighted environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that benefit the public. The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) is an organization “devoted to international cooperation and exchange of information among its member countries on all matters relating to the science and art of lighting.” CIE works globally to develop and publish lighting design standerdization and best-practice documents. The Professional Lighting & Sound Association (PLASA) represents the interests of many lighting designers and manufacturers, several of which are invovled in the Architectural lighting market. PLASA is UK orientated, but does represent companies on a European and International level.
Concept of lighting design
Architectural lighting design focuses on three fundamental aspects of the illumination of buildings or spaces. The first is the aesthetic appeal of a building, an aspect particularly important in the illumination of retail environments. Secondly, the ergonomic aspect: the measure of how much of a function the lighting plays. Thirdly is the energy efficiency issue to assure that light is not wasted by over-illumination, either by illuminating vacant spaces unnecessarily or by providing more light than needed for the aesthetics or the task.
Each of these three aspects is looked at in considerable detail when the lighting designer is at work. In aesthetic appeal, the lighting designer attempts to raise the general attractiveness of the design, measure whether it should be subtly blended into the background or whether it should stand out, and assess what kind of emotions the lighting should evoke. The functional aspects of the project can encompass the need for the project to be visible (by night mostly, but also by day), the impact of daylight on the project and safety issues (glare, colour confusion etc.).
Architectural lighting design, much like architecture itself, qualifies as being neither an art nor a science, rather a mixture of both. While creative spirit is demanded of a designer, a qualified professional architectural lighting designer will generally have a good understanding of the properties of light from a scientific standpoint and of the functioning of a light fitting (known as a “luminaire” in field terminology).
[...] Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure. The most primitive composite materials were straw and mud combined to form bricks for building construction; the Biblical book of Exodus speaks of the Israelites being oppressed by Pharaoh, by being forced to make bricks without straw being provided. The ancient brick-making process can still be seen on Egyptian tomb paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The most advanced examples perform routinely on spacecraft in demanding environments. The most visible applications pave our roadways in the form of either steel and aggregate reinforced portland cement or asphalt concrete. Those composites closest to our personal hygiene form our shower stalls and bath tubs made of fiberglass. Solid surface, imitation granite and cultured marble sinks and counter tops are widely used to enhance our living experiences. Composites are made up of individual materials referred to as constituent materials. There are two categories of constituent materials: matrix and reinforcement. At least one portion of each type is required. The matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. The reinforcements impart their special mechanical and physical properties to enhance the matrix properties. A synergism produces material properties unavailable from the individual constituent materials, while the wide variety of matrix and strengthening materials allows the designer of the product or structure to choose an optimum combination. Engineered composite materials must be formed to shape. The matrix material can be introduced to the reinforcement before or after the reinforcement material is placed into the mold cavity or onto the mold surface. The matrix material experiences a melding event, after which the part shape is essentially set. Depending upon the nature of the matrix material, this melding event can occur in various ways such as chemical polymerization or solidification from the melted state. A variety of molding methods can be used according to the end-item design requirements. The principal factors impacting the methodology are the natures of the chosen matrix and reinforcement materials. Another important factor is the gross quantity of material to be produced. Large quantities can be used to justify high capital expenditures for rapid and automated manufacturing technology. Small production quantities are accommodated with lower capital expenditures but higher labor and tooling costs at a correspondingly slower rate. Most commercially produced composites use a polymer matrix material often called a resin solution. There are many different polymers available depending upon the starting raw ingredients. There are several broad categories, each with numerous variations. The most common are known as polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyimide, polyamide, polypropylene, PEEK, and others. The reinforcement materials are often fibers but also commonly ground minerals. The various methods described below have been developed to reduce the resin content of the final product, or the fibre content is increased. As a rule of thumb, lay up results in a product containing 60% resin and 40% fibre, whereas vacuum infusion gives a final product with 40% resin and 60% fibre content. The strength of the product is greatly dependent on this ratio. Category: material | Tags: composite_materials, environments, manufacturing_technology, materials You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave a Reply [...]
I think i just had a light bulb appear over my head thanks to your blog. lol good job.