THE INTEGRATION OF LIGHTING INTO ARCHITECTURE

DESIGNING LIGHTING THAT POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE HUMAN SPIRIT REQUIRES DRAWING TOGETHER VARIOUS ELEMENTS, SOME TANGIBLE AND SOME NOT SO MUCH. ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING DESIGN IS AT ITS BEST WHEN BALANCE IS REACHED BETWEEN HUMAN COMFORT AND AESTHETIC APPEAL, AND ACHIEVING THIS RESULT IS IN LARGE PART POSSIBLE WHEN THE LIGHTING IS WELL-INTEGRATED INTO THE ARCHITECTURE OF A SPACE. Local and international lighting experts, many of whom have a number of prolific awards under their belt, will be hitting Melbourne next March 27th for the Light·space·design 2019 summit to impart their knowledge on efficient human-centric lighting design and its connection to architecture.

The Melbourne Airport’s Forecourt Enhancement was treated to the development of a dynamic lighting installation by Mint Lighting Design, led by director Adele Locke. In an effort to provide both ambience and entertainment for the area while welcoming newcomers to the city, Mint created a ‘sense of arrival’ through the visual impact of light, while injecting the forecourt with a ‘beating heart’.

Of Mint’s work, Locke says that because you “cannot light a tree in the same manner in which you light a bridge, my creative design had to work around the existing structures and lighting, and not impinge on the safety of travellers.”

Locke adds that key design elements of the project were indeed well-integrated and visually pleasing - including the airport’s landmark 14-metre ‘Melbourne’ sign, the projections of programmed colour changing light underneath the elevated roadway and the canopies placed within pedestrian walkways – the critical key was to ensure the presence of these coloured lights did not overwhelm weary travellers.

Traditionally, airports need to provide as much spatial and visual enjoyment and comfort as possible – not only for exhausted travellers passing through, but for, as emphasised by Locke, “those who work tirelessly in the forecourt providing information and support to travellers,” who also require more useful cues to provide travellers with directions.

Locke will draw from her multi-varied career at Light·space·design 2019 to zero in on how broader lighting design industry shifts can be applied when lighting residential settings.

Architecture strongly informs even the way lighting is designed for houses of worship. More traditional churches are often likened to theatres by lighting designers, in that the church is a large room with a stage and an audience where the priest is performing, with surrounding scenery. The architecture was conceived to command awe, respect and even fear, with light drawing attention to elements that heightened such emotions. Highlighting the altar would often be a way of drawing these emotions out of visiting churchgoers.

Lighting a traditional church is much like lighting a heritage building. Martin Klaasen, principal and founder of the award-winning Klaasen Lighting Design says that “the overall feeling is not about the lighting itself but how it brings out the totality of the building, validating its architecture and heritage”. Klaasen will present at the event on the various intricacies of lighting heritage buildings.

Bergamo’s Church of St. Maximilian Kolbe, dating back to its 2008 inauguration, exemplifies lighting design’s role in newer churches. Church rituals now err towards being more participatory, with the role of audience and priest becoming more collaborative. St. Maximilian Kolbe reflects this shift, with its layout more compact and circular, its altar smaller and less pronounced; the architectural proportions shrinking to favour the human scale.

Nicolò Brambilla, senior lighting designer of Schuler Shook led his team on this project. He accommodated the collaborative shift occurring in modern churches by ensuring that natural and natural-like light was primarily utilised, in order to create a softer, more diffuse feeling rather than one imbued by drama. ‘Spreading out’ the light rather than containing it to a sole player (the priest), encourages participation by audience members, instead of confining them to the background

Brambilla, who will be participating in a panel discussion centred on effective collaboration between lighting designers and architects, says that having everyone on a project team understand the importance of lighting within the architecture can be a challenge.

“In Australia the lighting design profession, despite the many fantastic designers active all around the country, is not yet as well recognised as elsewhere in the world.”

Brambilla adds that “many projects — also of a major size — do not have a lighting designer involved at all; lighting projects are still being developed by non-lighting specialists, and many architects and clients still have a hard time understanding what we do.”

When utilised efficiently, as Light·space·design 2019 participants have demonstrated, light can live up to its potential to enhance wellbeing for tenants. Arup global lighting design leader Florence Lam sums up the relationship between lighting and architecture well when she states that “we know experiencing architecture is multisensory: it is as much about ‘feeling’ as it is about ‘seeing’ – light plays a key role in connecting people and space as it breathes life into a building and gives it character”.

Achieving this result is possible, as stated by Brambilla, “when a working relationship between architect and lighting designer is solid”. Mutually-beneficial dialogue between each design professional ensures that “there’s also an increased creative potential: by this I mean that where the lighting designer understands better the architectural intention, is able to come up with stronger and more meaningful lighting concepts, and on the other hand the architect who understands the role of lighting design — and trusts the lighting designer — may be more open to the lighting designer‘s recommendations even of an architectural nature where they’re aimed at achieving a better visual appearance of the architecture”.

The key to well-integrated lighting, then, is realising that much like a modern church, collaboration is key. When a well-informed lighting designer understands the context, architecturally and societally, and they are backed up by an architect who is willing to utilise them, a truly efficient balance between aesthetics and human comfort can be reached.

Significant lighting design projects will be discussed in depth at Light·space·design 2019 in order to underpin lighting’s potential, when contextually appropriate, to transform human-occupied spaces for the better. For more info visit: lightingdesignsummit.com.au