Author: 

Surbhi Jindal,

Founder & Principal Architect,

Da Light Hub, Mumbai

www.dalighthub.com

THE 2 SIDES OF THE SAME COIN: 

TRADITIONAL  & CONTEMPORARY LIGHTING DESIGN

Today Lighting is there on everyone's mind and sort of becoming one of the key priorities at the start of a project, thanks to the wide and diverse growing LED market that is increasing awareness and consideration of the subject. Be it a small Residence, a Villa, an Office space, a Five Star Property, a small Restaurant/Club, a Sales Office or a comparatively large Mixed-Use developments, lighting is considered of paramount importance by the designer to create memorable experiences and long lasting impression.

Here, we would like to touch upon certain aspects of traditional as well as contemporary lighting techniques, where traditional is more to do with the quantitative and functional aspect and contemporary is more about the qualitative aspect of light and lighting design.

Our spaces are greatly affected by the style of lighting we make a choice for and it is because of this reason that a growing number of clients and end users have begun to question whether we should go for traditional techniques or more contemporary trends.  

Being designers and prima facie "lighting designers", we typically face questions like - "Can you design spaces that are bright, we don't want mood   light?" "We want spaces  that are brightly lit?".  Millennials/young professionals do believe that we must learn to go with the flow and therefore taking up new trends or smarter ways is a better option. 


As experts and designers it becomes a role more important to consider quantity as well as quality of light both at the same time. Considering traditional lighting techniques - the ones that emphasize more on lux levels as per standards, the right quantity of light and the functionality of a space, quality of light/contemporary style becomes a key ingredient not to be missed at this point.

As Contemporary Lighting techniques do take at a lead in offering a freedom of expression and style, as they provide ease and flexibility to control our environment, create different scenes to suit the requirement of a space. Not only these techniques help us achieve the standards and functional aspect, they also help achieve qualitative aspect of design. When integrated well with traditional lighting, contemporary lighting techniques not only help to create a WOW factor, they also add drama as well as interest to a bland space.

Going ahead, as we see paradigm shift in technology today from it being just functional till a couple of years ago and now embeded in our daily lives, integrated in our lifestyles and our DNAs, lighting too has seen transformations from an incandescent lamp to CFL to LEDs and now Smart lighting systems. Today we can create a world where we can connect every light point to the internet, can take control over our environment, customize our space as per our choice and connect to that space, providing information to enhance our experience and effectiveness.  Not to forget here, a seamless integration of both the above mentioned styles play a major role when we move from conventional LED systems to smart lighting systems, hence striking a balance between both.

To know more about the current lighting trends and for more information on our design services ,

shoot us a mail now on dalighthub@gmail.com  or logon to www.dalighthub.com