Create space for the warmth of shadows
Whenever I am on a flyover that’s flanked by residential apartments, I like to peer into the spaces. Taken as a whole, a group of buildings is a slice of the cityscape. However, rather than a feeling of cosy homeliness, the white tube-light clarity that shows through can feel like you are seeing too much, and even if it’s evening, the homes exist in an awkwardly bright plane, as though the sun has gone inside to roost. I’ve been wondering how we have come to this: How have we as a culture come to see fluorescent light or unnecessarily bright lighting as essential to our homes? Is it possible that the general chaos of our lives in crowded cities, the obscurity of the forces that control our lives, that general feeling of helplessness when faced with potholes, corruption and rising taxes, means that when we get home, we want absolute clarity? I do think over-practicality and some level of emotional chaos management is at play when it comes to choosing lighting.
Light can elevate a place that’s banal into one of domestic cosy, or make it a sterile environment that looks like it’s trying to scare the dust mites. Junichiro Tanizaki, in his 1933 essay In Praise of
Shadows, says, “In making for ourselves a place to live, we first spread a parasol to throw a shadow on the earth, and in the pale light of the shadow we put together a house.” He goes on to cite the example of Western houses, which he says are built to create as few shadows as possible and “to expose the interior to as much light as possible”. Tanizaki’s piece is essential reading on aesthetics and the psychology behind design decisions; many designers and architects swear by it. Yet, when it comes to actual space-making, the tendency to err on the side of too much—just like the Western example he’s so disdainful of—has become one of the most egregious foibles of contemporary Indian interior design.
I was in Copenhagen recently and walking around the streets of Norrebro, a district lined with old brick buildings. By late evening, the flats in its neighbourhoods are twinkling with gentle orange light, usually dressed in white IKEA Regolit paper lampshades or Louis Poulsen designs. Seeing these warm spaces in the culture that has exported “hygge” as a design philosophy to the world, it was clear how much of that feeling was communicated through the quantum and nature of lights used. A friend’s home had candlelight at the window, a floor lamp by the sofa and a hanging lamp above the dining table, creating a glow of welcome. In India, “hygge” is quoted by many interior designers in their project statements, but that Danish principle is about creating an environment of contentment and nurturing, achieving a lot with very little. In our cities, new interior design projects are usually flats in freshly minted real estate developments, most of which come outfitted with false ceilings that homeowners then accessorise with recessed lights to accentuate the ceiling itself or line with down-lighters. False ceilings also reduce the height of a room by several inches so the final effect is simply unpleasant and too bright.
If one end of the spectrum is excess, on the other end is the epidemic-level use of white light. The 9-watt white LED bulb (equivalent of a 60-watt traditional bulb) is the best-selling product from the light brand Philips, while 20-watt white batten LEDs are the bestselling in their category across brands. The unilateral clarity of white light and the ability of a single one to throw light evenly make white battens a particularly attractive combination. That makes me wonder when we became so scared of shadows. What has caused us to need clinical views of our personal spaces? How did a culture that lived by oil lamp light for centuries suddenly become slave to white light battens and spaces lit up like stadiums?
My friend, Sunil Eapen, a retired creative director who now lives in Bengaluru, says it was his ex-wife who first told him that “using white light in a home is lighting hara-kiri”. Sunil’s home is a gently lit space where ceiling lights are always off because he says the ambient light is too harsh and throws far too much illumination in places that don’t need it. He never uses them. He planned his lighting on a “zigzag model”—twin lamps at the ends of his L-shaped sofa with a standing light and a smaller lamp sitting parallel to the twin lamps, creating a sort of “Z” line of light. “You have to consider the mood you are creating,” he says. “It’s not about clarity. You want to feel warm and cosy.” Too much light in the evenings can also be a serious disruptor to the circadian system. So, if you are facing sleep issues, you may want to examine how much light you are consuming in the hours leading up to your bedtime, particularly in the bedroom.
Another spot I love for its lighting is the Americano restaurant in Mumbai. Dark blue colours on the ceiling and the walls are offset by precise but gentle glinting light across the room. When it’s filled with people, you hear the glasses chinking and people laughing, and there is a general feeling of conviviality that is an emotional by-product of the design decisions of its architect, Anne Geenen of the Mumbai-based studio, Site Practice. Geenen used mock-ups to ascertain how different lights would work in the space. “We tried to create an atmospheric design keeping in mind that while sitting at the table the light shouldn’t shine in your eye, there shouldn’t be shadows on people’s faces. When people go out, they are dressed up and feel good, so it is important the light makes people look good.” The signature brass fixtures in the restaurant were custom-designed by Site Practice, and are supported by a cluster of hidden light sources spread throughout the restaurant. Geenen says she minimised the number of lights, using only what was needed.
Geenen uses the same principles for residential projects. “I always have just a few main lights from the ceiling, mostly one or two above the dining space and the living room. For the rest, I use loose lighting fixtures, various elements of task lighting such as a table lamp or a loose light that is at eye-level. I combine those with standing lamps so there are light sources at different heights.” And most importantly: “The colour of the light bulb has to be warm, not harsh white light.”
It’s a great piece of advice for homeowners. Generations of us have grown up in white-light homes and so we think over-illumination is the key to lighting homes. But creating a homely feel is not always about banishing a house of its shadows, it is about highlighting its best features and creating a sense of warmth. Let the demons hang out in the closet, we don’t need to see everything.