Reflections for Class October 16

Two guest speakers joined us in this week's class. The first was Dr. Shauna Mallory-Hill with her lecture about lighting and its effect on people. Our bodies are constantly submerged in electro magnetic waves and one we can predominantly detect with our senses is light. Because we are constantly submerged in light during our waking hours, its important that we create spaces with proper lighting for the health and well being of people. 

When studying light, we have to understand the dynamic relationship between our eyes and light to create a successful environment. Our eyes have developed in specific ways to help us survive in the natural world. We define objects through visual contrast, are able to accommodate from near to far objects, can conceive depth perception by having eyes located on the front of our head, and are able to come to conclusions of what we see by cognitively linking past experiences with our visual experience. Our eyes have evolved to a high level of sophistication, but they still aren't perfect. We still have trouble adjusting between light to dark, more notably bright to dark (it can take up to 30 min for your eyes to fully adjust). As designers we have to keep our eye weaknesses in mind so we don't create potentially vulnerable situations for pedestrians at night.

 

The most predominant source of light we have been using since our species existence is the sun. Next is fire, candles, gas lamps, and finally the advent of electric lights. We were told the difference between sunlight and daylight. Sunlight is direct light from the sun, usually very strong and undesirable, whereas daylight is indirect light from the sun controlled by architecture. Daylighting is often used when creating structures with lots of natural light because of the reduced effects of glare and the heat of the sun. In moderns times, we are now trying to go back to these earlier notions of using the sun as lighting. Our current artificial lighting needs are consuming massive amounts of energy, creating environmental degradation. At the same time also creating negative health impacts on people, disrupting circadian cycles and the release of melatonin (hormone that helps us sleep). It has only been 150 years since artificial electrical lighting was introduced to society, not allowing enough time for our bodies to make the proper adjustments. Sleeping disorders and other sleep related illnesses have surfaced in the recent years showing the negative impacts of artificial lighting.

Dr. Mallory-Hill also presented to us various lighting bulbs giving us examples of various energy efficiencies. The most interesting one to me was the LED lighting that produced no by product heat and had a life time of 80 years. This new lighting technology could potentially reduce our electric energy consumption drastically if made available to everyday consumers.

The next speaker we had was Daniel J. Petrak a former graduate of this program, also interested in light and more so thermal  modeling. His main focus is on using the aspects of natural light as a means to derive the form. Daniel went through the process of his thesis showing us a program where he could perform a technique called light carving (a term David claims to have coined). On this program he was able to create architectural forms based on where the light would come into contact with the structure. He also showed us a software program where you were able to design structures with various climatic conditions at play. 

 

When designing with sustainability in mind, we must sometimes give up our artistic whim and let the ecological parameters guide our creation of the form. Including these ecological parameters at the start of the design will result in something with a more successful, integrated design.