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Dark Skies and Your Grandmothers Broccoli

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The speaker was looking after horses as a hobby and learned that changing the lighting in the stall increased the hair growth of the horses, this discovery led her to further explore the effects of light on our environment. The speaker believes that the earth is affected by the “Theia Theory” and that Theia has become part of our planet. Theia is the light and dark of the moon forming that causes photosynthesis and allows us to have life on earth.

Light impacts nature and our environment, it has taken many years for humans to grasp the full understanding of how much we need darkness. In the 80s and 90s the speaker explored way ambient light effects on our biological clocks and the effects of LEDs on our Circadian Rhythm. She learned that our bodies are controlled by light: feeding times, temperature etc, if our bodies get a signal for example that we are reading in bed from a screen with blue light it wakes up to start its natural cycle. We are now losing awareness of our body’s natural cycles.

There are 1.7 trillion species on the earth, but humans have only named 1.8 million, if we do not know all the species inhabiting our planet how can we be aware of the ways in which we might be impacting species with light pollution. For example, eel grass grows in the water, it feeds many other life forms generating economic support. Eel grass growth is supported by zoo plankton faeces, but because of the lack of darkness zoo plankton is dying off because it has an aversion to light which is created by the reflection of light from the bridge it grows under.

Lighting designers have a responsibility to look beyond the immediate environment when designing lighting. Epigenetic design is a response design i.e. what we illuminate effects spatial materials and our contextual sensitivity this effects our memory. That is why it is important to illuminate things correctly, so we do not lose our natural abilities generated in darkness. Scientific evidence needs to be combined with our natural intuition, for example, if our grandma tells us to “eat broccoli because it’s good for you” we still wouldn’t do it unless we knew that this was the truth, and we had evidence of how good it is for us. “All species need darkness no just dark skies.”

Burnett, D, 2021

Portrait Gallery/St James Visit

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Week 5s first task was to measure the illuminance and luminance level in the portrait gallery. Our group chose two portraits in contrasting spaces to access the difference in illuminance and luminance levels.

(George Seton Portrait/Luminance Contrast – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

This room was painted with a blue matte paint. Blue Wall luminance 1.58, Glass Surface Portrait luminance 3.21, Gallery illuminance 27.5 lux, Surface mounted track lighting providing lighting close to portrait measuring at 65.1 lux. Natural Light was minimal in this gallery preserving portraits. Darker space with track lighting on portraits made them stand out. These portraits have minimal light to preserve them.

( Portrait/Luminance Contrast – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Green room with matte paint. Green wall luminance 2.89, Portrait canvas luminance 10.15, Gallery illuminance 17.4 lux, Close to portrait 66.6 lux. This gallery had some natural light but the lux levels in the overall gallery were a lot lower than the blue room but the room was a lot brighter, this was partially due to natural light within this space. Higher luminance and illuminance levels closer to portraits and no glass on the portraits.

( Portrait Library/Library Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

The library had no windows and no natural light within the space. Down lighting in the form of pendants, and recessed in shelving. Lighting was cool white in this space. Mini spotlights lighting objects in cabinets from specific angles with narrow beams. Space felt cold.

 

(Portrait Play Area/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Natural light from windows, diffused with coverings. Track lighting on celling with warm directional light. Lighting highlighted material textures making the room feel warm.

(Zara/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Cool blue lighting throughout store. Featured down  lighting in curved spaces, spot lights on celling. Overall space is brightly lit but feels minimalistic.  Products were all equally highlighted, no focus on specific products. Lighting temperature is intentional to create a bright minimalist feel to the space, making it feel light and airy. 3002 lux.

(Super Dry/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Warm yellow lighting throughout store. Directional track Spotlights, Tracks with pendants hanging lower to highlight specific areas.  Bit overkill with the lights but space felt warm and cosy.  Did not feel intentionally lit, although spotlights were purposely directed at mannequins which was intentional. Superdry sign was neon lit behind counter which is intentionally highlighting the brand which aligns with their products that are all highly branded. 826.1 lux.

(Lane 7/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Warm light. Low pendant lights over tables creating intimate spaces. Spotlight purposefully pointing to service areas. Lots of depth, drama, shadows created within the space from the lighting creating multiple points of interest within the interior. 20.5 lux (general areas) 118 lux (at tables).

Lighting At The Museum

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Week 4 the tasks were to explore the museum noting the different lighting and analysing the lighting temperature, location, ambiance, appropriateness for the materials and objects displayed.

Kingdom Of Scots:

Material Stone 12.3lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Elevation Sketch Illuminance On Stone (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Directional lighting from above natural light appearing warmer on materiality of stone. Creating lots of depth, shadow and texture.

Material Metal 45.1lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Illuminance On Metal (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Warm light from small spot lights covering all angles. Highlighting shine of metal. No Shadows created. Brightly Illuminated makes material feel expensive.

Material Wood (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Illuminance On Wood (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Warm illumination one spotlight, specific direction creating shadow and highlighting harp details.

Fashion & Style:

This room was dimly illuminated, Light boxes under garments and small spotlights with low UV lighting garments. Intentionally lit to look like runway/show.

Court Mantua 19.4lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Court Mantua (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This garment contained a lot of detail in the fabric and had no lighting below. Small directional spotlights with a soft warm illuminance highlights the centre of the dress.

Kids/Imagine Zone:

Kids/Imagine Space (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Kids/Imagine Space Light Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Initially the lights felt bright, fun, playful and exciting. After time the illuminance felt overstimulating causing a strain to the luminance on the eye, making it hard to adjust to the room. Use of different coloured lights to signify different areas within the space. Mostly matt surfaces/materials (to reduce glare??)

Traditions In Sculpture:

Cain & Able (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Cain & Able Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Brightly Illuminated, 630-670lux. Lots of natural Illuminance creating shadow of bust on walls. Illuminance fluctuates as sunlight alters. Material texture and form easily visible. I thought space was to brightly Illuminated, a darker space with direct Illumination of objects could create more drama or distinction of objects making them stand out from neutral surroundings.

Animal World:

Hedgehog (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Hedgehog Illuminance Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: 20.3lux this was poorly Illuminated with warm muted illuminance above object. Lighting was behind frosted plastic light coverings dimming our luminance. I think this was intentionally lit in this manor to mimic the natural habitat of this nocturnal creature.

Dinosaur Illuminance (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Dinosaur Illuminance Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This object was extremely well Illuminated with multiple directional spotlights from every angle. Warm Illumination. Created interesting, fun shadows of the object as pictured below.

Dinosaur Shadows (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Shadows:

Bell Object (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Bell Shadow Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This object was successfully lit to enhance the form and materiality of the object. Directional, warm spotlights from above cast a soft warm illuminance on the object. The lefthand side had two spotlights closer together and the righthand side had two spotlights place further apart, this created unique shadows underneath the bell and down the metal of the bell the created an intensity and mystery to the object.

Measuring Light

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Week 3 we visited St Alberts Chaplaincy to analyse the lux levels of natural light within the interior space. The building interior was a striking mix of natural materials highlighted by the lighting to create an atmospheric space.

Task A: Find the locations where you could no longer see the sky.

Analysis: It was possible to see the sky from all seated locations within the interior space. The only space where you could not see the sky was standing in the back passageway of the space as demonstrated in the below images.

Daylight Coming Through (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Outward View Of  Chaplaincy (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Daylight From Above (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Task B: Draw light and shadow in the space.

Analysis: The spot marked below was the place within the interior where you could see the most sky. Shading on plan reflects shadow and light within the interior. Light above and in the windows to the right hand side of the building create natural light on the edges of the space creating a darker pathway in the centre of the interior leading you towards the large windows/alter at the front of the interior.

This led us onto calculating the real daylight factor inside the interior which we measured at different points within the space. At the time of measuring it was 11am and the outside indirect light was measuring at 12000 lux. The real daylight factors read as follows:

Alter-18.8

Rear Left Seating-0.7

Narthex-0.04

Foyer- 18.6

How Daylight Affects The Interior Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Sketching how the afternoon light creates shadow on the right hand wall within the space. The deep set windows create direct beams of natural light into the interior creating bright openings and shadowed walls.

Daylight/Shadow Affects Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

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