light series 3 | effects on color & texture

in this series, four fabrics were selected--warm and cool colors with interesting textures--and place in each of four places: a harris teeter grocery store, the gift shop @ nc museum of art, the greensboro library, and my bedroom. for each space, the type of light source is recorded, along with the effects that the type of lighting had on the fabrics.

• harris teeter - metal halide (industrial)
• museum store - spot lights (halogen), fluorescent, LED string lighting
• greensboro library - fluorescent tubes (lens)
• bedroom - pink incandescent

after studying the fabrics under each light source, i determined that the metal halides were almost true to natural light, except that it contained a little bit of yellow that really changed the reds. the museum store had very warm lighting, an amber tone, that changed the fabrics more than the other light sources. the cool blue fabric became a warm grey in the museum store; the green fabric became gold. the lighting closest to natural lighting was that at the greensboro library. the pink lighting of the bedroom makes the blue fabric a very cool grey.

i like this fabric the most under harris teeter lighting--it's just slightly warmer than in the greensboro library.

amazing how light changes the color and texture of a fabric. the greensboro library lighting, again, is most like natural light, and textures are more apparent. under the pink bedroom lighting, this one becomes a 'racy' red.

this green certainly concocted some surprises--in the museum store and bedroom, it reflected 2 shades of gold. of course, it is easier to figure that the pink light in the bedroom mixed with the off-green creates an off-brown/gold. this is where i realized that the museum store lighting contained some red, perhaps reflections from the abundance of wood furniture.

amazing color changes with this red silk. under harris teeter lighting, it has a "sunset" appearance, reflecting bright gold to deep red. the texture show well under the HT light as well.

light series 2 | public spaces

in this series, i studied the lighting in 3 public spaces: gift shop @nc museum of art (retail store), the nc museum of art, and sushi republic (a restaurant). i've identified the lamps and luminaires used in each space, and examined their effects on the spaces.

light series 2 | sushi republic

i experienced the lighting in sushi republic at night, and found the lighting to be quite uneventful/dull. the recessed lighting in the lounge and dining areas is sufficient quality for seeing your food/drink, but nothing special--no interesting patterns or shadows. the sconces over the few dining tables in the front dining area immediately attract one's eye so they end up looking at the people dining there. (those poor people!) i recommend a little sparkle overhead--some interesting pendant lighting that enhances the lighting provided by the recessed as well as provide more of a pattern to the lighting; and remove the sconces.

recessed lights in the bar area

discomfort glare--aren't these awful! those poor people...

this image does not communicate the harshness of the bright fluorescent lighting behind the decorative glass panel. it creates a distracting, discomfort glare that is facing you when you walk in the restaurant.

light series 2 | north carolina museum of art

i'm still scratching my head trying to figure how i could make the lighting better. the lighting throughout the galleris in the museum is soft spot lighting that casts a gentle "focal glow" on the art pieces.

beautiful! i love this place!! the shadows created are just as interesting as the art pieces.

light is used as a wayfinding device to the facilities--bright white/blue down lights flood the walls in the facility corridor creating a wonderful pattern of light, which offers a stark contrast to the softer, warmer gallery lighting.

this was s fun use of light--a very blue light that is in contrast to the warm rich lighting of the gallery. a wonderful example of 'play of brilliants'.

the displays below received focal light from spot lights high above and across the space--an "intersection" of light

a little bit of glare from some of the spots, depending on where one was standing. it almost seems inevitable in a museum that there will be glare from certain positions simply due to the number of directional/focal lights in use.

light series 2 | museum store

the gift shop @ nc museum of art contained all layers of lighting:

• ambient from the CFL bulbs/luminaires installed inside select waffles of the concrete ceiling
• focal glow to highlight & attract attention to all the beautiful merchandise
• sparkle to showcase & highlight displays on shelving
  

sparkle around displays

spotlights showcase art

spotlights make finding a book easier; and
windows allow for abundant natural lighting, but never harsh or direct because its protected by the overhead/covered entrance

CFLs were placed strategically throughout the ceiling's waffles to create a nice ambient lighting

where are my sunglasses? these spotlights glared at you while standing at the register, creating a discomfort glare. the direction needs to be adjusted down just a little.

Perception & Psychology

The space is primarily used for critiques, lectures and presentations. It is a space defined by four walls open to a vaulted ceiling containing opaque skylights. It is a medium sized, multifunctional space with walls used for pin-up space. It is a public space, certainly not private acoustically, as sound echoes in and out of the space easily. Looking up, there is a view of the superstructure: exposed beams and an HVAC system bisecting the ceiling plane. The interior is neutral with white walls and gray, concrete floor warmed slightly by wood accents.

The overall lighting quality is unable to be controlled since most of the light is an ambient, natural light coming from the overhead skylights. There are track lights around the perimeter of the room to spotlight the walls. On most days, these are washed out by the abundance of natural light, only casting a soft focal glow on the walls.

The shadows here are soft and without much contrast since the light source (the skylights) are multidirectional. The overall effect is that the lighting is too intense for most people. It does not function well for its intended purpose since there is minimal user-defined control over environmental factors.

The space leaves people feeling somewhat uncomfortable after long periods of time because there is no variation in the lighting- there are no lowly lit corners, shadows, or other instances where a person can seek out their own level of comfort, instead, on a bright day, they feel like they are under a microscope.

Here are a few images from the space in the gatewood Building that our group chose to analyze. I have not adjusted the exposure, so that you get a sense of the intensity of the light as it really is.

As individuals and then as a group, we rated the different qualities of the space on a scale from 1 to 7--the lighting and how it feels to be in the space. The space received an overall rating of 4--right in the middle. I suppose the bright open space is nice, but not in all applications.

light model

when given this project, i envisioned a mostly white form made of either foam core or matboard. i thought a simpler, more abstract model would allow for more lighting options and varied effects. well, maybe that's so. to my surprise, we took a 'leap of faith' with a pink box form and went to work on creating our own original luminaires with a small flashlight, candle lights, and LEDs. i think it turned out rather will (in spite of the pink!)

center | the more 'yellow' candle lights changed the milk-of magnesia pink to a more palatable hue (my opinion, of course).

glass beads/marbles were used to create 2 of the luminaires to be used with the candle lights. those are for effect/sparkle. in the far left image, the white LED luminaire created ambient lighting and very little change in color. on the right, the flashlight LED has a slight blue color, giving the space a more magenta hue. for texture, stockings & fleece were added to soften the space.

light model