Light is an essential part of our daily activities. Just like we need air, water and food to survive we need light in order to function efficiently.
Gone are the days when people used to stop working after sunset. The invention of electricity has made life easier and has helped to improve efficiency.
The use of light in interior spaces greatly affects the environment and "mood" inside the space. Here are some of the aspects that can be considered while lighting an interior space.
1) Natural light:
The Sun is the biggest source of light available on our planet. We all are dependant on it. Sunlight is not only required to function but is also responsible for biological balance of the Earth. Sunlight also keeps the air clean by killing any possible bacterial attacks which might be harmful to health.
It is normally assumed that sunlight can penetrate inside a space for about 7 feet (approximately 20 meters). If the architect has taken proper care during planning of the structure, then sunlight can be a very good and free source of light.
2) Artificial filler lights:
These types of lights work on electricity and are required mostly at the night times. But this is not always true. There are some geographical locations where the weather is cloudy for most months in a year.
At such times filler lights in the form of fluorescent tube lights. These types of light are used to create the same effect that the sunlight would create. As the name suggests. these types of lights "fill" the space evenly with light, eliminating any dark spaces.
3) Special lighting for special spaces:
Special lighting is required at spaces where it is necessary to create a "mood" or special "ambience" inside a space. To achieve this use of color is done. Lighting fixtures like spot lights are used which divert the attention of the crowd at certain focused areas.
These kind of techniques are also used in commercial showrooms, to enhance the importance of the display areas. If you have visited car shows, exhibition pavilions, you will see this kind of lighting extensively used.
Special type of lighting requires more number of light fixtures, because the area they cover is very limited.
4) Extreme lighting:
This type of lighting is used in spaces where the activities have a special purpose, such as movie studios, pubs, dance floors, etc.. Here the lighting used can be of movable types, or can have more sophisticated controls such as intensity, color, movement, controlled through music beats.
The above discussion shows, how the activities happening inside a space directly affect the type of lighting used inside a space. A properly planned lighting plan can greatly enhance the quality of a space.
I hope this article was useful.
Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya
The recent being the use of computers and "Computer Aided Design" in architecture, which allows a kind of perfection in design and execution process of any building and its interiors.
In spite of all the technological advances, the primary function of any building structure remains the same, protection from outside environment and natural calamities.
Starting from a place to "protect yourself' from nature, interior design has become a "status symbol". Today's interior spaces have a two way channel, first and the obvious one is the function and second one is aesthetical, which is a little complex one.
It is quite obvious that the interior design of a space is directly related to the function of the space. This means that two spaces like a home and an office have two well defined functions, hence it will reflect in every aspect of the interior design solution.
But apart from the there is one more important factor that will affect each and every aspect of the final design solution, and that's the geographical location of the architectural structure.
A hotel building at seashore and the other one at a hill station will have a completely different sets of problems to deal with. Lets see in a short way what are the external factors that can affect an interior design solution
1) Amount of direct sunlight.
Locations on the far northern or southern hemisphere receive less amount of sunlight than those at the equator. That's why here the building with more use of plane glass are used. Also artificial lighting is given much importance.
2) External temperature.
External temperature directly affects the comfort level of internal spaces. Since external walls act as a "buffer" between internal and external climate, it is necessary to use the right construction material for walls. Depending upon the wall material the internal finishes also have limitations. This is especially true for structure that face extreme climatic ups and downs, such as locations in the gulf countries.
Hence selecting materials that can sustain heavy climatic changes on a daily scale is challenging.
3) Humidity and Rainfall.
Because of the salty nature of air around coastal areas extra care is taken for building construction materials, which can directly affect the entire budget of the project.
4)Wind Direction.
Wind direction and wind speed also has direct affect on the interiors. Heavy winds exert a load on the external walls of the structure, thus affecting the construction technology.
5)Land Structure and Topography.
Land structure is the nature of land on which the structure stands. Various types of land structures include rock solid, marshy land, etc...Topography of land is classified as plane or a site with slope. If the site of the structure is on a hill slope, extra precautions are taken to allow the natural flow of rainwater that the structure might block. Depending upon the quality of land surface the construction technology will change.
As far as interiors are concerned a well planned structure with properly thought spaces is a must because internally the spaces get divided into various floors.
From the above short discussion it can be said that external factors and environment greatly affect the way structures are built and thus directly affecting the interior qualities of the structure.
Technological advancements have allowed us to artificially control the internal environment of a building irrespective of what's happening outside. But a carefully studied and well planned architectural space can easily cut the extra cost of air conditioning and other ventilation services.
Shrinivas Vaidya has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Interior Design and Home Management. For more powerful and in-depth concept level knowledge ofbedroom design visit . You will f. Shrinivas Vaidya's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.