126 LIGHT + TECH


THE THING about lighting right now is that it encompasses so many disciplines, areas of research, health issues and environmental concerns that trying to summarise and impart knowledge of what it’s all about has become considerably more dificult.


In other words, writing a book for the designer or lighting designer is far less of a straightforward affair than it was some


20 or 30 years ago. Then it could be a basic explanation of the physics of light, a guide to the different light sources available, an exploration of techniques (accent lighting, ambient lighting and so on) and, of course, a glossary of terms (luminaire not light, lamp not bulb and so on).


Arguably one thing has got simpler – the variety of sources, relying on different


branches of physics to produce light, have now been decisively routed by the LED – but nothing else has.


The complexity derives from a number of developments. First, our understanding of light and the techniques/technology of illuminating spaces has become more sophisticated. Second, research has thrown up a whole bunch of knowledge that we didn’t have before. Now, for


Right ‘Refraction in thick-walled glass spheres, brilliance in front of a bright surface: as opposed to waterdrops, the 1,300 hand-blown glass spheres in the [Great Hall of the] Elbphilharmonie are hollow and have such unevenly thick walls that they refract the light of the downlights installed above them like lenses, casting it sparklingly in different directions. It either hits our eye directly, having a brilliant effect, or it hits the ceiling and walls first and illuminates these’


Inset ‘Refraction, gleam, light rays in the water lens: waterdrops, glass and lenses focus incident light rays because these change direction on the border between denser and less dense media. This is how brilliant light is created. The waterdrops on the ginkgo leaf collect the sunlight in such a way that it reaches our eyes in a focused manner’


Left Light, Nature, Architecture: A Guide to Holistic Lighting Design by Ulrike Brandi


ULRIKE BRANDI Ulrike Brandi is the


principal of Hamburg-based independent lighting designer, Ulrike Brandi Licht, founded in 1986. The practice’s numerous projects, covering all sectors from transport to museums, retail to hospitality, include the Royal Academy of Music, London (architect Ian


Ritchie), Herzog and de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, and the lighting masterplan for Rotterdam. A fellow of the


International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), she is director of the Brandi Institute of Light and Design, an international training programme for lighting


design, which she founded in 2012.


Her previous books


include Light Book: the Practice of Lighting Design (with Christoph Geissmar-Brandi) and Light for Cities (also with Christoph Geissmar-Brandi). ulrike-brandi.de/en brandi-institute.com


RIGHT: MICHAEL ZAPF PREVIOUS PAGE: EVGENY KUZMIN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM


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