It's nine weeks into Covid-19, and my mind has been everywhere. I have listened and participated in more “Go To..., Zoom, Teams, Meets, etc. than I can shake a stick at. At some point, I’m probably not the only one that thinks “this sounds like every other talking point.” A lot of cliches abound and unfortunately it takes time to hear these all out. I decided on an experiment whereby I didn’t listen to any of them for a whole week. What I found out was that I rediscovered what free thought was like unencumbered by outside influences. My mind resumed the train of thought where it moves seamlessly and randomly from one topic to another only to revisit the last thought then jump again. It was/is fun, and I smiled when I realized what had happened. I went from lighting design trends for hospitality to a deep dive into circular economy and how lighting fixtures can up their game, to how The Hulk was so misused in the past Marvel movies (the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets).
Design-wise, I think a return and appreciation for simple is in order. I've given a seminar "Zen and the Art of Lighting Design,” which focuses on design being focused on the now in its simplest manner allowing for the mind and imagination to fill in. This allows personal interpretation and emotional responses to come alive and the space becomes personal to every occupant. Because space use will need to be flexible, lighting design will need to reflect that same flexibility. We often ask clients, "If this project were a living breathing person, who is it?” Maybe we revise that thought going forward. To apply the Zen version of Occam’s razor, maybe we concentrate more on creating the sense of empathy and open interpretation rather than confining it to a defined personality. The one point in common among all the architectural presentations that I have listened to is that no one is holding the crystal ball of how any project type may be used or evolve from pre-Covid design. As a lighting designer, this makes me consider that we are just spinning our wheels to guess the direction or destination that architectural design will go. It may be in our best interest (and the project’s) to think about the design means to get people to appreciate the sense of “now.” If we have learned nothing else from the past months, it’s to appreciate right now! What could this translate to? It means that lighting could become more selective with the drama and special effects and concentrate equal time to an unconscious sense of comfort. If we create the environment that allows any occupant, anytime, anyplace within the project to just look around and feel a sense of belonging right then and there, it builds a relationship between the artificial material of the building and natural sense of wonder and breath that few take the time to ponder. I am spending time relooking at fixtures we have used a lot and reevaluating why we used them and do they still work with an evolving nature of design. Many fixtures work awesomely for one particular function, but if the manufacturer cannot adapt and evolve for spatial design ebb and flow, we in fact have a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Where is T-rex now? That’s the point. I have other thoughts on fixture evolution, but that is another thought train. -PETER
0 Comments
|
Archives
August 2020
Categories |