For the new IBN building, we chose a professional lighting design for the following reasons:
- Beautiful lighting conditions that accentuate the architecture
- Light quality that promotes well-being and health
- Providing guidance during this period of change in the artificial lighting sector (e.g. incandescent lamps are banned and the quality of LED lamps varies greatly)
- Reducing or avoiding electrosmog and flicker
The lighting designer and interior architect Tanja Knura explains:
On days when natural daylight does not sufficiently illuminate indoor spaces and during dawn, dusk, and twilight, as well as at night, we have the choice to illuminate both indoor spaces and outdoor areas. Today artificial lighting is not only about providing sufficient illumination. Many more factors come into play when designing lighting systems. Artificial lighting design creates an atmosphere of light and also affects the well-being of the occupants in indoor environments while at work or in their free time.
As a general rule, light as such is not visible. We can see bodies, objects, or materials only when light is reflected from their surfaces and this secondary light reaches our eyes.
Different types of lamps at various locations in a room with their different material properties and geometric forms result in different lighting scenarios. A good color rendition and light distribution at certain locations of the room are significantly more important in a light source than the design of a lamp.
Furthermore, the functions of the indoor spaces and outdoor areas to be illuminated need to be considered. Different tasks require different types of lighting: for workplaces, for example, a uniform, glare-free lighting is essential and for wayfinding or accent lighting, light and shadow can be used to create the perception of space and to draw attention to special areas.
The changing colors and illumination levels of natural daylight as the day progresses have shaped human biology. Around noon we are used to natural daylight exposure that tends to be bluish and features a high level of illumination; in the evening, the light color changes to more reddish and the level of illumination decreases. This fact should be taken into consideration when designing with artificial light.
Light shapes and structures indoor spaces as well as the entire architecture.
For the design of artificial lighting systems, it is essential to optimize technical and economic performance.
