whenlightswork

It had been 43 years since the publication of Junichiro Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows but the mystical qualities of shadows in space, as portrayed in the book, had never failed to amaze its readers. With modern lighting technology had developed in leaps and bounds in recent years and many lighting design ideas, which seemed impossible a few years back, can materialize with the possibilities that are made visible through the development in Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) technology. Now into the age of sustainability, development of OLED, we had seemed to forget the poetics of space that can be made possible by light. Yet, with the current focus on sustainability, use of green technology, and with the quest towards the endless possibilities offered by LED technology, will these compromise the quality of light in space? Or, perhaps, it is time for us to remind ourselves of the design criteria to good lighting and how can one achieve it whilst observing the need to utilize the latest lighting technology. Hence through this imagined dialogue with Junichiro Tanizaki through highlighting some of his quotes from the book and extracting ideas on how these ideas is essential in the design of space.

Lighting designers are now faced with the need to examine the idea of lower energy, higher efficiency lighting equipments, yet the lighting level required in each space will only be a quantitative value if there are no sensitivity to the users, the architectural context, nor the culture of space. Therefore, we will now need to question, if there is a need to light, so how much to light and are we lighting enough. As what was stated by Mark Major of Speirs and Major Associates in the recent PLDC 2009, maybe it is time for lighting designers to start designing for darkness instead.

The birth of architectural lighting started in the west, but in the east, the attitude towards light is different, where light renders a mystical dimension to space.

Light has a very symbolic meaning to our culture, where the subtlety of Japanese Architecture can only be made apparent through the soft bleeding of light through the washi screens, the Red Paper Lanterns that were being used by Chinese Households, the celebration of triumph over evil through the use of light in Diwali. So, in relation to culture, we have a different perspective towards lighting than the West, so should we define our spaces differently due to contextual differences?

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<Junichiro Tanizaki> The quality that we call beauty, however, must always grow from the realities of life, and our ancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presently came to discover beauty in shadws, ultimately to guide shadows towards beauty’s ends. And so it has come to be that the beauty of a Japanese room depends on a variation of shadows, heavy shadows against light shadows – it has nothing else. Page 18

<Swee Hong> Asian architectural space, particularly South-east Asian architecture, had always been defined by shadows, and in this part of the region, we have always been described as living in shadows. Yet, seldom does one realize that the intensity of darkness does build upon anticipation in space. Firstly, in defining space through light, one must always understand that shadows should not be eliminated, but they can be ‘designed’. This can be translated through the ‘intentional definition’ of dark and light spaces, whilst achieving the right equilibrium of these two seemingly opposing elements, taking into consideration the spatial program or drama required in space. Also, the choice of the illumination level and contrast level between different lit pockets of spaces can be equated to hierarchy of spaces, where contrast in lighting level can help enhance and visually ‘separate’ spaces. Furthermore, with the right use of shadows, we can intensify the emotive qualities of space, to create layers of spaces where one moves through, and to utilize silhouettes to enhance anticipation of the spaces beyond.

In the illumination of the architectural form, one must always consider the appearance of the geometrical form in light, and how the surfaces should be illuminated. So, one can break up the space, or architectural form into either horizontal or vertical planes, then visualize how the planes can effectively enhance the geometries, as vertical plane illumination can help create visual boundaries in space, but the illumination of the horizontal surfaces can help complement the width of the forms, or to visually extend spaces. Such lighting techniques are usually employed in the illumination of interior spaces, so as to ‘break down’ and compose spaces.

On Designing for Shadows

<Junichiro Tanizaki> And I realized then that only in dim half-light is the true beauty of Japanese lacquer ware revealed. The rooms at Waranjiya are about nine feet square, the size of a comfortable little tearoom, and the alcove pillars and ceilings aglow with a faint smoky luster, dark even in the light of the lamp. Page 13

<Swee Hong> But, amidst the current variety of lighting design techniques, the physical appearance of lighting fitting must not overwhelm the lighting intention, as in architectural lighting design, it is the lighting effect produced by the fitting that is of primary importance, with the physical appearance of the fitting as secondary. But in the integration of the fittings into either the building façade or the interior spaces, one must always take care to minimize the prominence of these fittings, and to, as much as possible, integrate the fittings into the architectural details, for the users to appreciate the effects of light, instead of being distracted by the physical appearance of the lighting equipments. Besides considering how the fittings should integrate into the design, one must also consider the directionality of light and how it might impact perception of space. Research had shown that, upward lighting creates harsh shadows and might distort the visual appreciation of forms. This is in contrast to indirect lighting, which are optimum for social spaces, as it result in spaces that have soft, ambience general lighting.

On Architecture

<Junichiro Tanizaki> In the temples of Japan, on the other hand, a roof of heavy tiles is first laid out, and in the deep, spacious shadows created by the eaves the rest of the structure is built. Page 17

<Swee Hong> Light and space, the intimate, yet sometimes mystical relationship between architecture and light has intrigued many architects, ever since the fascination with the strong blade of daylight that streams through the skylight of the Pantheon, or the soft bleeding of light through thin washi paper screens that cloaked the vernacular Japanese Houses. Architects have long yearned for a time when they can ‘manipulate’ light in space. Le Corbusier, made the very fitting statement on the integral relationship that exist between light, space and form, through advocating architecture as “the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.” This statement has illustrated one of the main principles in architectural lighting design: that light should complement architectural form and to sculpt the three-dimensional qualities of space. But, the term lighting often refers to both artificial and natural daylight, hence in designing for light in space, we will need to see how light can enrich the form at different times of the day. But, if the building will need to take on another perspective at night, artificial lighting should take into consideration of its architectural program. Also, in the manipulation of light in the process of form-making, we have to understand the physics of both daylight and artificial lighting, where in the latter, there are different technical properties that can be controlled: colour of light, directionality, spread and distribution, the definition of architectural detail in the housing of light, yet in daylight, it is the ephemeral qualities of daylight that creates subtle surprises in its modeling of forms.

“During overpowering emotional experiences, we tend to close off the distancing sense of vision; we close our eyes when dreaming, listening to music, or caressing our beloved ones. Deep shadows and darkness are essential, because they dim the sharpness of vision, make depth and distance ambiguous, and invite unconscious peripheral vision and tactile fantasy.” Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of The Skin, Page 46.

With the existence of a variety of lighting fittings, coupled with the complexity in the technical properties of different lamp sources and fitting types, architects and lighting designers are faced with an overwhelming array of options. So, prior to the design of light in space, architects must understand how the spaces should model in light, and whether the program of space does require a certain lighting strategy. Good use of light in space can enhance the emotive qualities of space, yet when used otherwise, it can ‘flatten’ or distort the intended design language of space. Besides the above strategies that addressed to the visual hierarchy, creation of visual enclosures and the integration of light in forms, artificial lighting does allow the flexibility of manipulating light to ‘add’ colour in space, and the use of colour-changing lighting has been made accessible through the advancement in LED technology, but despite being overwhelmed by technology, architects need to assess what needs to be lit, the appearance of the architectural form in light; then the discussion of the use of appropriate lighting technology can be established with the lighting designer. So, other than lighting everything, let’s start thinking about how we can start, not to light, simply as how Peter Zumthor has written in Atmospheres, “to plan the building as a pure mass of shadow then, afterwards, to put in light as if you were hollowing out the darkness, as if the light were a new mass seeping in…”