Midterm Exercises
ID 1608 Principles of Lighting II: Commercial
Instructor: Tim O’Donnell
This week the blog and your in class exercise are going to be combined together to complete your midterm quiz requirement.
Ignore this week’s “default” blog on the syllabus and concentrate on information found in the handout for blogging: “Lighting Design Process: Project Planning Through Design Development”.
In your blog, include links to articles and your thoughts and reviews of them.
For turn in to the drop off, create programming questionnaire sheets from the handout:
“Lighting Design Process: Project Planning Through Design Development”. Relate this programming information to Projects I, II, and III we are doing for this class.
From the handout:
Table 11.1 p. 219-221
Table 11.2 p. 222
Table 11.3 p. 223
Wherever it seems plausible, generate points that cover acoustics and seating issues as well.
Some of the points in this handout do not apply to your particular projects. Answer them anyway by creating a hypothetical situation that covers that premise.
Off you go.
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18 comments:
This site is useful for your research on theatrical stage lighting for project III
~Tim
http://www.mainstage.com/PDFs/mts_lighttheories.pdf
2/4/08 Links useful for project III
http://www.kpcenter.org/documents/KPCLightingEquipment.pdf
http://www.cherrylanetheatre.org/documents/officialMainstageLightingInventory.pdf
http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr/facilities/teaching/lightingInventory.html
http://www.csuchico.edu/upe/performance/PDFs/Laxson_General_Information.pdf
http://www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-300.htm
http://www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-500.htm
http://www.etcconnect.com/minisite/sourcefour/index.html
http://www.plsn.com/
http://livedesignonline.com/
Some related information
http://www.northern.edu/wild/LiteDes/ld11.htm
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/thetr263/VW11/InstructsPDF/VW11LtPlt.pdf
http://www.spc.cc.tx.us/creativearts/videoproduction/artv1372/7%20light%20plot.pdf
In any project, lighting design is usually done by interior designers, lighting designers, or architects. There are 7 phases for the lighting design process: 1) project planning, 2) comprehensive planning, 3) schematic design, 4) design development, 5) contract documentation, 6) contract administration, and 7) evaluation.
In order for a lighting design to be successful, the client has to approve of every phase before continuing to the next phase. For the planning phase, data is gathered to establish a program as to what the space will be used for. For the comprehensive planning and schematic design phases, schematic drawings are established such as bubble diagrams, lighting distribution diagrams, and task lighting relationship sketches. During the design development phase more detailed documents are established such as, specific illumination methods, lighting systems, and layouts which are presented to the client. The contract documentation phase basically is the implementation stage of the project. The last phase which is the evaluation, also known as post occupancy evaluation, it determines whether or not the client is satisfied with the overall use of the space in regard to the lighting design.
The planning of any design is important. The programming phase includes interviews, observations of the space. In this phase, data is collected about the end uses, the physical characteristics, and the codes, ordinances and regulations of the space. Some effective ways to collect data are interviews, surveys and field observations. When doing and interview, it is best to conduct whenever possible. The goal is to collect as much information to be able to make choices about the environment. The preliminary interview serves as the foundation for more specific questions. However, it is not easy for many people to discuss how they work, live or plan to use the space, and that’s where field observation helps. Field observation is when one goes to the space and simply observes how other interacts with certain areas within the space.
I like how the handout broke everything down very simply for us. Under project planning, I found it interesting that the designer must know the location of the property and whether the project involves an existing building, new construction, or speculative construction. It goes on to explain why these things are important and I found it very helpful. I also found a great article on this site about lighting design planning:
http://www1.electronichouse.com/article/1418.html
For the programming part of the handout something I found interesting and helpful would be where it said 'the primary purpose of field observaitions is to watch how people behave in a specific lighting environment.' I decided to investigate this further and found this site:
http://www.iesna.org/100/PDF/CenturySeries/JohnFlynn.pdf
This article is about this guy named John Flynn and his experiments on how lighting effects people.
The other things that I enjoyed and found helpful in this handout were the diagrams. I really liked the sketchy figures like the elevation and the reflective ceiling plan, this helped me to better understand what they should look like. I also liked this statement "In general, lighting criteria shouild focus on the health and safety, and welfar of people and on protecting the environment. The needs and priorities of the client and end users and the characteristics of the environment determine specific lighting criteria." Just reinforcing the fact that we shouldn't define the lights in the space...let the lights of the space define the room!
Good article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2183606/
In any design process the designer, no matter what aspect of design their in, needs to be involved from the beginning. In many cases this isn't what ends up happenning because the designer may be pulled onto the project after thourough work has already been done. But in any case, there are several steps that need to be approached before the real designing can take way. Dana went over each step that needs to be taken into account. I think the most tedious part of this planning would lie in the process of trying to really find what the clinet needs. Having to asses every situation to be absolutely sure that the end user can use the facility to its fullest potential. With lighting this is most important, because the lighting in certain areas is very critical. Light creates emotions and allows safety, and is task oriented, so knowing the specific task of a space is the most important point for a lighting designer. After reading through the packet we received, I understand what I'm supposed to be doing, but can someone jsut give me an example question that they ma have made up for the sight portion?
Lighting Design Process Handout Response:
The most fascinating part of the handout, for me, was the last step, the evaluation. This step can be even the scariest, what if your design didn’t work? Yet chances are if you have followed the process correctly your design will be beneficial to your client. Yet not all designs are perfect, so the evaluation step is also the step where you are able to identify issues that you can address in future projects. Learning from each job is certainly key, and identify mistakes, so you will not make them in the future. Some possibly items that can get over looked might include: Fixture placement, Unaccounted for Daylighting, Too many fixtures or too high wattage can cause too much heat, Too many fixtures on one switch - the list can go on and on. Yet completing an evaluation of your work and how the space is used with the lighting design can help avoid further mistakes.
Here is a great website on Bad Lighting.
http://www.facilitiesnet.com/bom/article.asp?id=2015
The site explains why there is so much bad lighting in many commercial and residential spaces. It goes on to detail how better lighting doesn’t always mean more $, but it can mean less the long run. The site is a great read and I certainly suggest it.
I feel the most important part of this reading was the introduction to client questionnaires. This is the first class really, I've had atleast, that has even mentioned a questionnaire. Not just for lighting designers, but as interior designers, this step is important; to have a questionnaire ready to fill out or atleast a list of mental questions to ask a client is important for determining needs, making notes about concerns and physical problems, results the client doesn't want to obtain and the results they do want to obtain, and to get a good understanding of the activities that will take place in every space. The more data we can gather about the client, activity being performed, the existing space if any, location, and other information will help us greatly as designers designing a space or lighting plan.
This is a very in depth residential questionnaire.
http://www.designma.com/pdf/client_questionnaire.pdf
This is a questionnaire for use in an institutional application for acoustics.
http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/soundproofing_tips/images/AcousticsQuestionairre.pdf
Dana and Halle did a good job outlining The Lighting Design Process. With the design of my performance space it is important for me to figure out how much lighting I will need in the auditorium for safety, without distracting the performance. When people are walking down aisles and up and down stairs in the dark I will need enough illumination. The wrong kind of lighting could cause shadows or glare.
I agree with Pam, this is the first time we've really had to focus on the client, and their activities as a designer. Your website was very good for the questionare. But when a project is being totally constructed from scratch, I guess the biggest deterent would be whether it was going to work or not, because you have essentially nothing to work with except your experience and vision of the space. But if you keep the end user the biggest priority in designs than the end result will inevitably match the clients.
Thanks for all of the websites Tim. I found these three particularly interesting:
http://www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-300.htm
http://www.mts.net/~william5/sld/sld-500.htm
http://www.northern.edu/wild/LiteDes/ld11.htm
The last website was really unique because it gave information on how what a lighting plot actually reads and how. After reading the handout, I gathered that the most important overall idea that is reiterated is accuracy and adequate data that you gather before finalizing any project. In each phase of the design development, competent information is requested- even in the initial phases of design. I did find the entire handout informative and it explained the goal of the tables and questionairres in depth as well. It was interesting to read that in more commercial spaces feild observations are encouraged. I was curious about the website that Meryl posted about the article on John Flynn but there is a problem with the link. I also liked the RCP sketches and how it was broken down into a lighting grid and also provided detailed visuals on a seprate plan.
Not only is the lighting design process important....but the acoustical process is just as important....a person must be able to hear what is going on as well as what is actually going on in their surroudings...
There are 3 main factors in producing a good acoustical design:
1. providing intelligibility
2. enhancing sound
3. eliminating internal and external noise and vibration
http://www.jtdweb.org/journal/2004/004_sato.pdf
This is a good website for theatre acoustics...it talks about applying genetic algorithms to theatre designs
this is another good webiste:
http://msr-inc.com/pdf/pmi_brochure.pdf
I was reading the article that Maranda suggested on Bad Lighting.
It said that "A poorly designed, inefficient lighting system may actually cost more because it uses more components than are necessary." It's funny how much more work people do when they're trying to be lazy. There are so much more energy efficient options that cost less in the long run, but because of the up front cost and the work involved, most people forgo them.
Regarding ashley's comment about theater acoustics: this website talks about reverberation.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/acoustic/reverb.html
I was reading the website that meryl posted about John Flynn, and it was interesting that he thought that lighting was not just for " providing task visibility," but he also viewed lighting as a means to motivate people, create social interaction, enhance a mood, etc. Basically he thought that good lighting should create a positive influence for people, or in our case, clients.
I took some key points from that article and pasted them below:
Lighting should:
• Create focal centers
• Outline the space
• Be uncluttering
• Create patterns of
light and shade
• Provide orientation
• Present the space
without distortion
• Be stimulating without
being overpowering
• Be glare-free
• Provide balanced
luminance ratios.
I found some really good information on the websites that Kaila posted
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