ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING
Authors:   Odessa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vasilenko A. 
Published: April 2021

Lighting plays a vital role in the way people experience and understand architecture. Whether buildings and structures are lit naturally or artificially, lighting is the medium that allows us to see and appreciate the beauty in the buildings around us. Lighting can bring an emotional value to architecture –it helps create an experience for those who occupy the space. Without lighting, where would architecture be? Would it still have the same impact? Whether it’s daylighting or artificial lighting, light draws attention to textures, colors, and forms of a space, helping architecture achieve its true purpose. Vision is the single most important sense through which we enjoy architecture, and lighting enhances the way we perceive architecture even more.To create a successful balance between lighting and architecture, it’s important to remember three key aspects of architectural lighting: aesthetic, function and efficiency. Aesthetic is where designers and architects focus on the emotional impact the balance of lighting and architecture will have on occupants. It’s where designers determine how they want people to feel when they walk around a space. This aspect is especially important for retail locations; exterior lighting should draw the consumer in, and the interior lighting should awe them as they walk through the doors in addition to showing off product. The second aspect, function, cannot be overlooked. We want the lighting to look a certain way, but we have to also make sure it serves its most important purpose -to help us see. Areas should be illuminated so occupants feel safe when navigating a room or entire building. They should be able to see the floor and walls around them, which should create a feeling of reassurance. The final aspect is very important in today’s age of green building and sustainability movements. It’s one thing to create a breathtaking lighting layout, but it’s another to create a breathtaking layout that is also incredibly energy efficient. This can be done by assuring the majority of the light is reaching its target and there is less wasted light. Reducing the amount of wasted light will make the building more efficient. An easy way this can be done is to install LEDs instead of fluorescent lighting. Because of the technology, there is less wasted light with LEDs than fluorescent due to the directional nature of LEDs.Before we get into how light and architecture impact one another, it’s important to know the main categories of buildings and what each try to accomplish with lighting. The first group (public buildings) is comprised of sports arenas, libraries, hospitals, etc. These types of buildings are more concerned with providing the right amount of light for tasks and other types of events. Sporting events like football and baseball require the right amount of light sothe players on the field can see and so the spectators can see the field. It’s also important for when spectators go to and from their seats and navigate the rest of the arena/stadium. It’s the same concept with libraries and hospitals. In libraries, occupants need to have the proper light levels to read, write and find books on shelves, while hospitals need high light levels for doctors and nurses to successfully do their jobs.The second group (official buildings) is comprised of mainly warehouses and office buildings. Their number one concern with lighting is the efficiency. With the large energy consumption of those properties, they can’t afford to spend a fortune on lighting and the electricity it consumes. And with green building trends on the rise, it’s important to have energy-efficient and sustainable lighting.The third and final group (specialized buildings) is comprised of museums, theaters, casinos, etc. These buildings rely heavily on atmosphere and the experiences they can provide. They are concerned with enhancing the appearance of architectural spaces and elements. When people go to a theater to see a play or musical, they are expecting an experience before the show even begins. They want to see a beautiful chandelier welcoming them in the lobby, lavish wall sconces lighting the hallway to their seats, and the area around the stage to be lit to accentuate statues, pillars and other architectural features.To enhance architectural elements and evoke emotions, it’s important to understand spatial borders and how to properly light them. To enhance vertical borders for example, light should be directed towards wall surfaces. If there is a wall that is a different texture, or simply one that the occupants should notice more than others, wall washingis a great tool.It will draw attention to the wall and make it appear as its own architectural element instead of a piece of an entire room. This can be used in retail locations to draw more attention to wall displays.Horizontal borders can be emphasized by illuminating the floor and ceiling. By lighting the floor, objects and pedestrian surfaces are lit. This is particularly important in dark spaces such as movie theaters and night clubs. The ambient and accent light levels are so low that not enough light reaches the floor, thus requiring the floor to be illuminated.Executed properly, this can act as task and accent lighting. If light needs to be diffused in the room, lighting the ceiling can be a successful strategy. It helps create a uniformity of light throughout the room and provides proper light levels without the use of direct light on objects.After vertical and horizontal borders have been lit, it’s important to not forget about lighting architectural elements. Lighting pillars, archways, textures, etc. can draw attention away from a room as a whole, and force the eye to focus on the illuminated architectural elements.In a room full of colors and architectural elements, it’s sometimes difficult to make certain areas stand out. Light can help with this problem by making those elements more obvious. This tactic can be used for interior and exterior lighting applications.The study identifies methodological bases of forming an integrated light facilities complex modern residential architecture. Light reveals the form of the architectural object, creates an image. Architecture becomes a source of artificial illumination using light technology. One of main priorities of the research is scientific direction in the creation of bioclimatic and ecological architecture. The problems of the effective use of the aesthetic potential of natural and artificial light have been considered. The analysis of scientific works has focused on the following issue -in the process of developing of the facade systems of housing building the necessary value of role of functional formation of form by light hasn’t been provided. Today in the architectural planning, it is necessary: the introduce in Ukraine European norms, to conform the national normative base the norms of the European standards.