Image: R. Butler | Flickr

Along with many other innovations that are surfacing today, the Responsive Environments Group at MIT is working on a prototype that, if successful, may make the light switch a thing of the past. (1)

Their new lighting technology will be responsive by being able to adjust both lighting intensity and color balance to the specific activities that are going on within an architectural space — it would work by being able to monitor the light reading wherever a user happens to put the sensors. So for example, if you place the light sensor within the space where you usually only need task lighting, then the light will adjust accordingly, making sure that you have enough light either from natural daylight, the responsive lighting solution or some combined ratio both. (1)

While this responsive lighting innovation may sound somewhat simple in principle, it does take an interesting step toward providing a tool for greater adaptive design approaches. There are so many parts within buildings today that are static, being made to function in almost binary terms, with only “on” or “off” choices — beyond lighting, think of how static building surfaces often are: including wall surface materials, window configurations and even floor and ceiling installations.

The Power of Transience within Your Design

I think that we are in an age where the onset of new adaptive design technologies will help spaces evolve to include more dynamic and fluid behaviors — which will help to make architecture more Read more

Image: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³ | Flickr

The work going on over at the SENSEable City Lab at MIT will really make you think. You might start by simply asking yourself what would happen if little omni lights (think stars in the sky, but much much closer) could move around responsively and dynamically through space — and move transiently in coordination with one another. Well, this direction is what the group over at MIT is working on right now — and their project is called Flyfire.

You may already know what can happen when you start with just one pixel-like point when working with computers to design architecture in programs like AutoCAD or 3D Studio Max. But, what will happen when when that pixel-like point becomes more of an omni light in real life— a three-dimensional point in space that has the ability to harmonize with others of its own type?

For starters, these little hovering lights can be orchestrated to yield not only two-dimensional displays that light up in a rainbow of colors, but can further align themselves into three-dimensional free-forms or sculptures. It kind of gets one thinking about what might happen, from an experiental point of view, if people could literally walk-through light displays, where architectural boundaries become not only transient, but also Read more

Image: dbking | Flickr

In an underground building, what if the boundary to celebrate is as much the vertical one as it is the horizontal one? You may celebrate its “below-ness” by making connection with what is above your site’s grade in a not-so-typical way.

With a “sensing” design mindset, you can bridge the two worlds with much more than a dramatic entrance into or exit from the natural light. For example, you can use new lighting technologies.

In the image above, you can see how an LED lighting display at the National Gallery of Art makes use of the long underground corridor which connects the East and West Buildings illustrating that what happens below grade is not a place to be boring, but rather a place that presents you, the architect, with an environment maintaining different rules and different opportunities.

So, instead of always trying to replicate what happens above into what happens below, you should make use of the qualities that the underground brings: light differences, temperature differences, construction method differences, material differences and so on. Make what happens underground an experience to remember, not just an out-of-the-way appendage to your architectural project.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

Image: MarcelGermain | Flickr

Yes, I often write that you should think about the senses, materiality and so on. But I would like to emphasize that as an architect you are a “director” of sorts. It is important to learn how to synchronize and orchestrate all of those architectural elements to create the experience you intend.

As an architect, once you get a good grasp on how the human senses really work and really develop a high design skillset, you should always be concerned with synergy and orchestration.

Here is what I mean…

Lighting + Material = Redefined Form

The equation I just made up above is an example of how powerful (and simple) this idea can be. Take a building like the Torre Agbar in Barcelona (image shown above) and you will get a notion of what I am talking about.

Using technologies to enhance, minimize or morph your architectural elements can be a very effective technique. Most architects today simply “add-on” new technologies to their design. Kind of like the architect said “I’ll include this because I can.” The result is that it is not well integrated and does not do much for the design. In some cases, it actually makes the design worst.

SOME DESIGN TIPS

Take the simple equation that I wrote above and get this to challenge and push the way you think when you are designing a building. Ask yourself about what Read more

Image: Bird’s Nest Stadia for Beijing Olympics 2008 | Sanctu | Flickr

BEING CREATIVE

The question you should be asking yourself as you design architectural lighting is this — “How can I enhance the message, meaning and essence that this architecture conveys?”

The lighting design in an architectural project is very important. With today’s emerging technologies so much can now be accomplished by lighting a building in creative and unique ways. Integrate lighting into your building design process — it’s all about the true merger between architecture and technology through design.

WHAT IS YOUR LIGHTING APPROACH?

“Incorporate the play of light as seen in nature,” says Sabedra. “Buildings have activity inside. The façade lighting should let that come outward. (1)

Lighting is an integral part of exterior architectural design — especially as night falls. According to the article Façade Lighting: A Fork in the Road, lighting design generally falls into two categories, one biased toward Read more

Image: Katch | Flickr

Texture has long been used by architects to breathe life into buildings as well as to create a unique experience for occupant’s senses. Expressing the true quality of materials, shaping an interior space or simply to articulate a pattern; texture is a fundamental tool existing to some extent in most all buildings – both good and bad.

The question becomes — how do you use it in your architectural design?

AN EXPERIENCE FOR ALL THE SENSES

Texture can be used intentionally to elicit occupant experiences. Most simply, texture can “mark” certain areas within a building by differentiating Read more

Image: Ersil | Dreamstime

As lighting technology continues to develop, architectural designers will be able to move beyond fluorescent lighting – toward the LED Light Bulb. Architectural lighting design is benefiting from awareness about energy consumption and health benefits of past, current and new lighting technologies. It’s about time that lighting undergo the next step in the revolution that can make lighting integration more cost effective, energy efficient and health conscious.

We are at the advent of a better lighting solution as LEDs gain more and more popularity. As such technology Read more

Image: Topalov | Dreamstime

When students learn in a classroom today, a wide variety of learning activities fill their day. Students learn in almost all parts of the classroom and when designed correctly, all parts have a purpose. Architectural design for learning means that an architect has provided space for a quality educational experience – and it is interesting to understand where lighting fits into the big picture.

Randall Fielding has written a paper, Learning, Lighting and Color, which is quite informative as it describes where educational architecture has been and where it should be today. He explains how students Read more

Jolob | Dreamstime

The nature of the way we work in offices has changed over the years. Yes, ergonomics has arisen as key to comfort; but, with the advent of the technology revolution even our brains need to be kept in healthy environments. As a result of the computer age, workers are constantly busy – at times even deprived of person-to-person interaction. While bodies sit still, worker brains are influenced by the internet, email, cell phones, videos and all else that can be found via the digital age.

So, what is the best way to design an office that is healthy and includes (even embraces) technology? How can offices help eliminate what Scientific American Mind recently termed “digital [mental] fog” in their article Meet Your iBrain? Digital fog is important to eliminate because it contributes to worker error, mental burn-out and general unwanted stress. Over time, unhealthy environments can ultimately lead to actual cognition impairment and eventual depression.

Since so many hours are devoted to office work, office design should place emphasis on what makes for a healthy workday. Here is my list of 10 simple steps toward design that lessens technology’s negative effects. These helpful tips also contribute to greater comfort, efficiency and overall less employee stress.

1. Include places that give your eyes a rest. Have nature, artwork or a window view to help reduce strained eyes that should not stare at computer technology all day.

2. Provide both natural light and well-planned task lighting. Offices need lighting that counters monitor light. Also, well lit areas should allow for healthy desk-writing, bulletin-board reading and bookshelf scanning.

3. Offer a place for quiet breaks or peaceful meditation. It is important for workers to relax during the workday by providing even a micro-space that is serene by feeding the senses. Think sand garden or other feature for contemplation.

4. Make organization easy. Use functional office design techniques for efficient paperwork and file organization. Setup systems that complement the occupant’s working style.

5. Prevent information overload. Fuse technologies together – allow data to feed from one technology to the other without redundancy. (For example, avoid reading the same email on different computers, cell phones, etc.)

6. Don’t forget to factor chair, desk and mouse ergonomics. This is so important. If your body isn’t adjusted and comfortable, all else will suffer.

7. Keep technology in check…don’t let technologies take over an office. It is important to mentally (or physically) unplug at certain times during the workday. Provide office space and features for use during those times.

8. Provide place for human interaction. Counter the negative effects of too much technology by creating friendly space for meetings and impromptu interactions with people.

9. Allow office workers to make their mark. Designed office space should allow workers to personalize certain areas. It is also important to allow these areas to change over time – for example, to complement seasons or worker mood during the day. Workers need some control over their environment.

10. Clear pathways and reduce travel-times. Place most used items within reach and make pathways always accessible. This not only makes an office more functional but is key to making it efficient.

In the end, it is important to remember that successful office design should let workers be in control. Control over how an office functions and feels goes far to alleviate stress — ultimately boosting self-esteem. When coordinated correctly, office design and technology can harmonize; eventually to improve worker morale both physically and mentally. As workers use technology to improve their abilities to pay attention, multi-task and mine data it is also key that they stay connected through their environment. Office design is vital to having healthy workers.

Serghei Starus | Dreamstime

An article “To Tame the Belly, Mange the Brain” in The Boston Globe (November 19th, 2008) by Carolyn Y. Johnson discusses how eating is “as much about the brain as it is about the stomach”.  Given this, doesn’t it make you wonder about the importance of restaurant or your home’s dining room design? Since the act of eating is more than just about the flavor of the food — lighting, color scheme and air circulation all play a role in how your body ultimately intakes food.

If air circulation impacts food aroma or lighting impacts how appetizing the food looks, wouldn’t you conclude that architectural design plays a part in “marketing” the chef’s entrée to your body? If the food is perceived as being delicious, then your body will actually do a better job with digestion. As architectural design provides for a mouthwatering experience, the meal will not only taste better but will be digested better physiologically. 

Taste is only one part of how and why your body intakes food. Your brain, and therefore your other senses, also impact how well a food is digested. So, can good architectural restaurant design positively impact how patrons digest food, beyond its taste? If eating involves the brain (which it does) then the architectural surroundings are ultimately also important for healthy eating.