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Mercury in Fluorescent Lighting

I chose to discuss this article because it mentions why mercury is in Fluorescent lighting and why it is important to know what lights contain this element. 

"Mercury is the most essential ingredient for most energy efficient lamps." It is in fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, and others. This article lets you know that for these lamps to be efficient and have a long life, they have to contain mercury. This means we have to make sure that the proper disposal of these lamps is taken place. Although this is a huge issue, because not all people know this and they just send more mercury to the landfill, manufacturers are constantly trying to reduce the amount of mercury in the bulb. "The average four-foot lamp today contains over 75% less mercury than the same lamp would have contained in 1985. 

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Light & Color

Building Block of Quality Lighting

light & color. by Craig DiLouie & Eric Strandberg

This article discusses light and color and provides some guidelines to follow to help your design with good quality lighting. In order to have the required lighting you should first establish the desired color temperature. Knowing the psychological impact of various light sources is one of the most important factors. Another step to follow is to decide the importance of Color rendering. This could be different for recreational or work applications. After that, daylight should be considered. One needs to know how much daylight is available and how it will effect the space. There are many more steps to lighting your space but this article briefly covers some thoughts to have.

An interesting thing that occurs with lighting in photos is that it can pick up on different colors of the light. Although this alleyway in Asila, Morocco was not lit so intensely yellow, it appeared to be that way. The hanging lanterns down the alley create a mysterious appeal. As the path curves, one can only wonder what is beyond. At night, these negative spaces are just as intriguing as the positive spaces beyond. 

As the sun sets, the sky illuminates with soft colors. It brings a sense of calmness as we start to wind down the day and transition to our time of rest. The reflection of the sun on the water strengthens the feeling of light and the objects in the foreground become  silhouetted making the scene dynamic. Something that is so interesting to me about the light when the sun sets is how quick it happens. I walked across this bridge in Rome and just happened to turn around and for just a few moments the sun created this beautiful view. The colors in nature heighten and become intensified at this point in time, and create some of the most gorgeous hues and values. 

Sketch Series 4

Kitchen Space

Incandescent lamps in this space provide ambient light. There are incandescent bulbs in the ceiling mounted fixture and in the hanging chandelier. In an incandescent lamp, there is an electric current that passes through a thin filament that heats up and produces light. This type of lighting produces a warm soft color. This is ideal for most spaces within a home. 

Warehouse 

This is a commercial space that needs bright light for safety. It would be used at all hours of the night and needs to be as intensely bright as possible. 

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting replaces the filament of the light bulb with a capsule of gas. The amount of light produced is greater than a standard halogen bulb, while consuming less power, and more closely to the color temperature of natural daylight. HID bulbs are appropriate for utility spaces that  need extremely high intense lighting. HID lamps are often used in street lamps and car headlights. The downside to these lamps is that they take some time to start up and need to be in a place that would not need to be immediately relit. It makes the colors within the space most accurate since it is a very white light. This type of lighting might not be needed in many interior spaces because it gets hot and can be too intense but is appropriate for a warehouse. 

Office Space

Ambient Fluorescent strip lights and fluorescent ceiling tiles. 

They provide an even wash of light throughout the whole space. The cool lighting makes the entire space appear bluer. The warm colors in the space still seem warm but the cooler colors seem even cooler. Fluorescent lighting is appropriate for office spaces. It is bright and affordable. It is good in commercial settings. Having warmer lighting closer to the desks with incandescent lamps or halogen sconces might soften the space some and relieve the eyes a bit.  

[Mi Casa]

The lighting in my house is halogen and incandescent. Both are warm yellowish lights. My house is also a bit darker which made the images blurry. The fabric seemed to appear most similar to when it was in the retail store.

[Library]

The lighting in a library is mostly fluorescent with incandescent lamps on the tables. With the combination of the two it creates a mixture of blueish and yellowish light. Where I took the photos of the fabrics, they seemed to be mostly effected by the blueish color. 

[Harris Teeter]

The lighting in a grocery store is usually fluorescent. This type of lighting is a blueish color and seems to wash everything out. I like the fabrics the least within this space and seemed to make them duller. 

Sketch Series 3

[Gap] 

 

The lighting typically  used in a retail space is halogen. Halogen lighting gives a yellowish color and is closer to natural daylighting. In this particular space, the fabrics seemed to be most accurate and the most crisp. 

"As the sun sets, the sky illuminates with soft colors. It brings a sense of calmness as we start to wind down the day and transition to our time of rest. The reflection of the sun on the water strengthens the feeling of light and
the objects in the foreground become
silhouetted making the scene dynamic.
Something that is so interesting to me about the light when the sun sets is how quick it happens. I walked across this bridge in Rome and just happened to turn around and for just a few moments the sun created this
beautiful view."

Applying different color schemes to the same room allows you to focus of how color and light emphasizes space.

The daylight models needed to have two spaces. One is an outside entrance and is a place for gathering larger groups of people, sharing information, socializing and informative meetings. The second space is for quiet contemplation, spiritual stimulation, intimacy, and escape. We looked to Le Corbusier's Chapel in Ronchamp for precedents. This space was described as, "a vessel of intense concentration and meditation."

As you can see in plan, you enter the space from the south which is actually at the top in this picture. This is the welcoming outdoor space. You can travel through the small hallway into the intimate space where the direct sunlight beams would evoke feelings for meditation.




The picture to the right is a view into the intimate space with the sunlight streaming onto the floor and up the wall.

The first light box, built myself, Jovana, and Liz was inspired by nature's colors. We first looked to the Aura Borealis and how all the colors came together to make one beautiful blur of colored light. We experimented with different ways to accomplish this. We used these tubes to help direct the light to the top of the box. Then we cut holes into the bottom of the box in various sizes and covered them with colored acetate (red, green, blue, and yellow)

The colors that appeared on the ceiling of the box were interesting but in the end, the tubes seemed just as interesting with their beams of color.