Let’s think about daylight – again
This year’s Daylight Thinking summer course will be held from 8. to 20. July, 2013 in Vicenza/I. The programme is organised by the University of Florida in Vicenza and took place for the first time last year.
The 24 international students who took part in 2012 were inspired by the lectures and excursions to real projects, and thrilled at the experience of designing with light themselves.
This year’s programme will include philosophical lectures about the relationship between daylight and man, daylight fundamentals and how we perceive colour under different daylight conditions, insight into daylight technologies and simulation software, the tricks photographers use to capture daylight scenarios, daylight design in the world of film animation, excursions to milestone projects in the Veneto region, a darkness experience in nature, and practical exercises based on model building.
The Daylighting Thinking course is headed by Giovanni Traverso (traverso-vighy),Vicenza/I.
Speakers will include experienced lighting designers, university lecturers, and experts from the lighting industry and the field of research.
For further information on fees and conditions as well as a report on last year’s course visit: www.daylightthinking.com or email to course coordinator Franca Stocco francastocco@ufl.191.it
“Light Pollution in urban areas as a topic of master planning light – analysis, quantification and suggestions master planning”
Dennis Köhler
The paper will be given on Friday in the Sustainable Lighting + Design track
In a nutshell: The undefined term “light pollution“ has become an integral part of the debate on public lighting. It is also increasingly becoming a topic of public interest. Nevertheless, the majority of existing master plans for public lighting indicate no quantification of the phenomenon or any ways of demonstrating the extent of light pollution vis-à-vis political authorities. This paper is based on the experience gained in developing master plans for municipalities.
The speaker will show deficits and inconsistencies within current master planning in theory and planning practice. Different methods for the measurement and representation of light pollution will be presented and discussed – in a feasible way (i.e. current state of the art) and from the point of view of a lighting designer. It will be shown how the issue of light pollution can be raised for discussion vis-à-vis local decision making bodies (not least to evoke sensitization). Based on this, ways and proposals will be shown as to how far master plans can contribute to the prevention of light pollution.
About the presenter: Dennis Köhler studied Architecture at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and holds an M.Sc. in Urban Planning from Dortmund University. He has been practising architecture, urban planning and lighting design since 2005. From 2007 to 2012 Dennis was head of the “Licht_Raum” research project at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences while continuing his research into lighting masterplans. Since 2012 he has been the managing director of Lichtforum NRW. He is an active member of PLDA, the Ruhr Valley section of the German Illuminating Engineering Society, and Bochumer Kulturrat e.V. Dennis is co-author of “LichtRegion – Positionen und Perspektiven im Ruhrgebiet” and has been published widely in specialist magazines.
Official inauguration of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta, Norway
The northern lights continue to be a source of inspiration to authors, poets, artists, composers and believers from different backgrounds. The chance to actually build a structure in a town which, at approximately 500 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, rates as one of the northernmost in the world and counts the aurora borealis as a regular backdrop is not one to be sniffed at so when the design competition for the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta was announced in 2001 a number of firms applied. The lucky winners were schmidt hammer lassen architects, Aarhus/DK, together with Link Arkitektur A/S.
The city council in Alta wanted more than just a new church. The structure was to be designed as an architectural landmark that would “underline Alta’s role as a public venue from which the natural phenomenon of the northern lights could be observed”.
The design of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights is the result of the surrounding nature and local culture and through its architecture symbolizes the extraordinary natural phenomenon of the aurora borealis. John F. Lassen, Founding Partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects: “The cathedral reflects, both literally and metaphorically, the northern lights: ethereal, transient, poetic and beautiful. It appears as a solitary sculpture in interaction with the spectacular nature.”
The church rises spiralling to the tip of the belfry 47 metres above the ground. The façade, clad in titanium, reflects the northern lights during the long periods of Arctic winter darkness and underscores the experience of the natural phenomenon.
The cathedral interior, which seats up to 350, is designed as a peaceful contrast to the dynamic exterior of the building. The materials used – raw concrete for the walls and wood for the floors, panels and ceilings – underline the Nordic context. Daylight enters the church interior via tall, narrow, irregularly placed windows. A skylight puts light over the entire wall behind the altar, creating a distinctive atmosphere in the room.
www.shl.dk
Project team:
Client: Municipality of Alta
Architects: schmidt hammer lassen architects, Aarhus/DK
Link Arkitektur A/S,
Engineering: Rambøll AS, Alta
Main contractor: Ulf Kivijervi AS
Art work: Peter Brandes
Photos: Adam Mørk
“Conservation and conservationism”
Paul Traynor
This paper will be preseted on Thursday in the Sustainable Lighting and Design track.
In a nutshell: Sustainability can be described as the conservation of energy and resources. Conservation has become a credo for responsible designers seeking to create exceptional projects with minimal environmental impact. Should we choose to ignore social responsibility, sustainability is now enshrined in legislation, forcing us to uphold correct values by regulation? The audience will learn, through two fully illustrated and complete case studies how a lighting designer’s aspirations for space and the user experience can be achieved in harmony with sustainable objectives within historically and culturally important spaces and that, contrary to expectorations of compromise, even better outcomes can be realised by a positive approach.
About the speaker: After working as in-house lighting specialist for architectural / multi-disciplined practices RMJM and Aukett, Paul Traynor established indigo light planning in 1999. The practice has grown in fourteen years into one of the most significant independent consultancies in Europe, changing its name to Light Bureau in 2007. Paul is a past President of PLDA. He speaks regularly at international events including independent conventions and conferences at leading trade fairs. In 2013, Paul formalised his knowledge-sharing role when he commenced his position as lecturer on the newly established distance learning Master’s degree programme in “Lighting Design – Architectural Lighting and Design Management” for Wismar University of Applied Sciences, teaching Lighting Applications and Sustainability.
Record number of attendees expected! Register now to ensure your attendance!
Current statistics indicate that PLDC can expect record ticket sales this year!
A large number of registrations are expected in the next ten days – the early registration phase ends on 24. May, 2013.
The PLDC venue offers space for up to 1,500 delegates – a projection of the current website traffic indicates that this target can be met!
The organisers have been “warned” to expect larger international group bookings by some of the official Partner Associations.
Group registrations of at least ten are offered a discount. Should you be organising attendance in a larger group, please contact Ms. Franziska Ritter at fritter@via-internet.com for group booking procedures.
Pre-convention meeting about non visual effects of Lighting on humans
Lighting design quality – a new definition, the basis for the future of the profession
A number of leading international researchers and scientists met in spring 2013 to discuss a new definition of lighting design quality in a workshop entitled “Non-visual effects of light on human beings”. The results of this meeting led to a set of evidence-based recommendations for professional lighting planners and designers in Germany called DIN Spec 67600, published in April 2013. Also at EU level, a group of specialists (Centec 169 WG 13) are preparing guidelines which will address and include the impact of light in the lighting design process. This new understanding of light quality is a basis for raising the quality of lighting in architecture. Energy saving, visual effects and non-visual effects are all aspects that need to be incorporated into future-oriented design schemes. This also forms the basis for the work performed by lighting design specialists, and is a reason to define the new and independent profession of Lighting Design. There is no stopping this process now. We are way past the “point of no return”.
At the pre-convention meeting Prof. Rob Lucas from Manchester University will present the results of the workshop in Manchester. Further presentations on the topic will be given by practising lighting specialists working in the field.
The brief presentations will be followed by in-depth discussions.
This pre-convention meeting is free-of-charge. If you are interested in attending, please register by sending an email to Ms. Louise Ritter at lritter@via-internet.com
Note the date/time: Wednesday, 30. October 2013, 1.30 pm to 4 pm (13.30 to 16.00).
“Learning from Scandinavia: three projects in three Nordic countries presented by a newcomer to the region”
Vladan Paunovic
The paper will be presented on Thursday in the Lighting Application Case Studies track.
In a nutshell: The audience will gain an overview of the lighting design process and lighting culture in Scandinavia. Some of the issues that will be addressed in the lecture through the case studies are the level of the light quality and visual comfort demanded in projects in Scandinavia, functional vs. aesthetic aspects of lighting in Northern Europe, energy consumption and sustainable solutions for lighting installations, financial aspects of the lighting installations – installation costs vs. maintenance costs, and the current status of the profession in Scandinavia. The lecture is conceptualized as a comparative analysis of three projects – from the initial sketch through the design process to the final result.
About the speaker: Vladan Paunovic studied Architecture at Banjaluka University, Bosnia-Herzegovina and gained a Master degree in Architectural Lighting Design in Wismar/D. He worked as an architect in Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and from 2006 to 2008 as a lighting designer at Kardorff Ingenieure Lichtplaung in Berlin/D. He continued to work as a free-lance lighting designer specialising in the combination of daylight and artificial light before joining the lighting design team at the multi-disciplinary engineering, design and consultancy company Ramboll in Copenhagen/DK.
Find a € 50 voucher (ended)
During the comming weeks you can win voucher to the amount of € 50, € 100, € 300, € 500 or even your full ticket price and add it to your savings for the trip to the Danish capital. When you register for PLDC simply hand in your voucher!
Today we are giving away a € 50 voucher for PLDC. Find the voucher on our PLDC website click on it and enter your name accordingly. The winner will be identified anonymously via the certified internet program Random.org.
This voucher will be displayed until Thursday 18.00 European time.
Start hunting for the voucher here.
Happy hunting!
Your PLDC team
“Variable transmission glazing: Is the search for the “Holy Grail” (nearly) over?”
Prof. John Mardaljevic
The presentation will be given on Friday in the Professional Practise Issues track.
In a nutshell: The use of daylight in office buildings is generally considered to be a greatly underexploited resource. This is largely because of the highly variable nature of daylight illumination. Variability in daylight means that users will often need to use shades to moderate excessive ingress of daylight. Most shading systems act as a “shutter” that is either open or closed, with users rarely making the effort to optimise the shading for both daylight provision and solar/glare control. And blinds are often left closed long after the external condition has changed. A glazing with a transmissivity that varies continuously between clear and dark extremes would offer a much greater degree of control over the luminous environment.
EC glazing has the potential to transform facade design. The recent acquisition of Sage Glass by St. Gobain will result in the technology going mainstream in the next year or so. Anyone involved in any aspect of the lighting/facade design of buildings will be impacted by these developments.
About the speaker: Dr. John Mardaljevic is Professor of Building Daylight Modelling at the School of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University in the UK and runs a practice-based research consultancy. He has served as an advisor on the British Standards panel and currently serves as the UK Principal Expert on Daylight for the European Committee for Standardisation CEN / TC 169 WG11. John Mardaljevic sits on or chairs a number of CIE technical committees and is UK Representative for Division 3 (Interior Environment). He is on the editorial panel of Lighting Research & Technology and Energy & Buildings, and in 2012 received the annual UK lighting award from the Society for Light and Lighting.
Drilling in the USA
By Joachim Ritter
Just some days ago I was getting over the Euroluce experience – you may remember how I tried to analyse the structure of the fairground layout in Milan and define different degrees of difficulty of understanding it only to discover that there are a lot of similarities with other areas of Italian life, and even politics to date. (We watch with interest to see how the latter will develop after 28. April …)
Today I am reporting from my experience from Philadelphia where I attended Lightfair. Here, too, I have found an example that demonstrates the mentality of our American friends very well. The fair venue was in the centre of the city. Our hotel is outside the city centre, but there is a great bus connection that took us directly to the Convention Center. Sitting on the bus, you tend to look at what is around you – in and outside the bus – to get to know the world around you.
If a passenger wishes to alight, he/she rang the bell to send a signal to the driver. You do this by tugging on an electric cable that is loosely hung along the centre of the windows on both sides of the bus. My attention was drawn to a notice printed on what is obviously a vertical cable duct. I was astounded to read a sign warning me not to drill holes in this cable duct – because it is a cable duct.
I am aware of the fact that America has suffered a number of damages cases, the reasons for which some Europeans merely smile at. Suppliers of carbonated soft drinks, for example, are obliged to point out in writing that when opening a bottle of soda the cap may fly off and hurt somebody because of pressure built up inside the bottle. Oh …! Especially when you may have unwittingly shaken it before opening. Without the warning label the supplier could find himself facing damages for causing someone bodily harm…
So here I was, sitting on the bus and wondering how many passengers travel by bus to work, to go shopping or to visit a friend with a drill in their pocket and suddenly feel the urge to drill a hole somewhere in the bus. Wherever they fancy drilling a hole, and for whatever reason they feel encouraged to do so, please for Heaven’s sake don’t drill in this cable duct!
Perhaps this is also an issue of culture. In other parts of the world people on buses read the newspaper or listen to music, or they talk to the person they are travelling with, or just look out the window. In the USA, it seems, people tend to drill holes in buses. I can imagine people all over the States getting on buses, armed with their bus pass and a drill – like John Wayne or Terence Hill. Just one wrong move on the part of a co-passenger can lead to an uncontrollable drill fight, leaving the bus riddled with drill holes. This is not as bad as it sounds – so long as nobody aims their drill at the cable duct. Cable ducts can be highly sensitive, and if damaged could cause a break in the circuit, or the bus could end up with all functions failing
I suddenly felt uncomfortable and threatened. I decided to buy a small cordless battery-driven drill to carry with me when I take the bus to the fair the next day – and just to be on the safe side maybe also stick a folding corkscrew down my sock.
Then I noticed people gathering on the street to demonstrate against a new drill law that foresees restricting who is entitled to carry drills. And I thought to myself: that would be one way of making travelling by bus in the USA a little bit safer…