Lighting in Design Q2 2019

Bring buildings to life with façade lighting design in Revit The final look of the building is determined not only by the materials, texture, colours and forms of the space, but also by lighting design. Architecture is all about vision, and lighting enhances the way we perceive architecture even more. For example, in the case of outdoor lighting design, lighting the façade will give a new opportunity for a building to showcase its nightlife ‘personality” by creating a completely different atmosphere in the surroundings. The LIGHTS add-on for Revit is a lighting design application, which features over 70 fam- ilies of lighting fixtures, includes photometric web files, accurate technical data, and real-life functionalities. The LIGHTS plugin includes a variety of lighting fixtures for different applica- tions ranging from industrial lights to bollard lighting fixtures for both interior and exterior use. It enables its users to create lighting design easily, quickly and stress-free whilst working within Autodesk Revit. By using the plug-in the users can drag and drop selected lighting fixtures directly to the model as well as easily adjust specifications such as colour temperature, beam angle or cashing colour. can be extremely helpful in this context. Many de- signers regard light solely as a means for accentua- tion. And yet there are far more subtle ways of using light, if it is applied indirectly or integrated into the architecture to achieve its ‘centre-stage’ role.

The first to mention are façades that are not illuminated. That is a shame, but as a rule better than the second category, which refers to façades that are poorly lit. When it comes to architectural lighting, this can also include the misconception that two-dimensional projections have something to do with enhancing the architecture. Thirdly, there are a large number of façades that seem to be illuminated in the same way, leaving them looking boring or not in line with the times. The use of colour in such cases does not change the overall impression. It is generally historic façades featuring columns and pillars that fall into this cat- egory. The lighting solution appears to be obvious, and in a city as rich in culture as St. Petersburg, which has many similar looking façades, it can turn a design opportunity into an urban concept that is dull. Design means lighting every façade individu- ally to purposefully bring out its charm and quality. And finally, façades that are well designed and illuminated. Professional lighting designers can ap- ply conventional lighting equipment or exploit the opportunities state-of-the-art digital lighting offers to implement different techniques to achieve a wide range of solutions. This includes creating a media façade. However, care is needed. Inexperienced or less creative designers quickly run the risk of transforming a façade into a two-dimensional media wall. In this context: where does the media content end and where does the architectural lighting be- gin? Opinions vary immensely, and ignorance often stands in the way of helpful discussion. The fact is that we live in the age of media and digitalisation and this also affects modern architecture. This does not mean that we have to sink into despair or anxiety. Toyo Ito‘s well-known Tower of Winds project, the lighting for which was designed by Kaoru Mende, is a fine example of the true meaning of media architecture and was celebrated back in 1986 as lighting design – at a time when LEDs were still two decades away from being taken seriously as a light source. And yet the question still remains as to how media design and architecture can be integrated without one taking the lead over the other. Converting a building, giving it a new image and lease of life while maintaining its historic identity is one of the exciting challenges of architecture. Light

Sources: technoled.eu; ledworldmag.com; 2018.pld-c.com

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LiD Q2 - 2019