What happens when lighting transcends its traditional role and becomes an integral part of architectural storytelling? Join us as we explore this fascinating question with Kunal Shah, Principal Lighting Designer at SPK Valo. Kunal shares his journey from the academic halls of Sweden to the vibrant projects of Hyderabad, India, illustrating how lighting design has evolved from mere lux calculations to a sophisticated dialogue about material interaction and layered illumination. Discover the importance of communication in achieving desired lighting effects and how young professionals can harness these skills to revolutionise architectural spaces.
Our conversation goes beyond energy-saving techniques to reveal how lighting creates dynamic environments that resonate emotionally with people. Through captivating case studies, including an experience centre for a startup and a cinema maker’s office inspired by Marrakesh's light play, we see the transformative potential of layered lighting. Kunal emphasises the role of cultural and personal nuances in crafting lighting solutions that captivate every stakeholder involved. This episode is packed with insights and stories that showcase how strategic lighting can enhance aesthetics, highlight architectural character, and adapt spaces for varied functions and moods.
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"Lighting design is not just about illumination; it's about creating experiences that transform spaces, evoke emotions, and tell stories." — Kunal Shah
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Understanding how a luminaire works, how a roll
works and how it has to marry toeach other is an extremely
important thing for everydesigner to understand.
I want young professionals whoare just getting into the field
to understand that these aspectsare extremely important.
(00:23):
When you're working with light,the lines between who is doing
what is not very clear.
You know.
You can't just tell thecontractor to take care of the
driver details and stuff,because the contractor might not
be aware what kind of effectsyou want to achieve and stuff.
So it's very important for alighting designer to be there
(00:46):
throughout the whole journey andmake sure that these
communications happen in theright way with every agency
involved welcome back to thevirtual lighting design
(01:11):
community podcast, a globalplatform that empowers, inspires
, educates and connects thelighting design community.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
This podcast is brought to you by our premium
supporters aero hospitalitylighting, creative lighting,
asia erco, the signify lightingacademy Academy and Philix
Lighting.
We welcome Kunal Shah,principal Lighting Designer at
SPK Valo, based in Hyderabad,india.
In today's episode, kunalshares his insights on the
crucial role of lighting inarchitecture.
(01:36):
He discusses how lighting cannot only enhance a space's
aesthetic, but also createprofound emotional experiences
for its users.
From the importance ofcollaboration with clients to
the impact of layered lighting,there are plenty of practical
tips and inspiring stories thatreveal how a thoughtful approach
to design can make all thedifference.
It is well worth listeningright to the end, as there are
(01:59):
many timewise tidbits foryounger, up-and-coming lighting
designers.
The video version of thispresentation is available on our
community, which is also worthchecking out.
Join us at vldcommunity.
Now let's give our attention toKunal Shah.
His presentation is titled theJourney of Creating Perceptual
Transformation and the ProcessBehind it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It's lovely to be here presenting at the BLDC.
I'm Kunal Shah.
I've been practicing lightingdesign in Hyderabad, india, for
about 12 years now.
It's actually my 13th year inthe practice.
I had my master inarchitectural lighting design
from KTH in Sweden, so, afterwhich I did a brief internship
(02:56):
with the Hedges Lab in Eindhovenand then I jumped into the
field in Hyderabad, india.
My presentation today will beabout the journey of creating
perception, transformations andthe process behind it.
So it's been about 12 yearssince I've started my office
(03:17):
here in Hyderabad, india, so forme it has been quite a bit of a
journey because, coming from acountry where lighting design is
sort of an establishedprofession, I came into a space
where lighting design was justin a very, very nascent stage
(03:38):
and people actually did not knowwhat to expect from it.
This journey has been very,very interesting because what
people used to think aboutlighting design was like a
lighting designer comes in andhe does his calculation and
gives what are the lux levelsand various zones and what are
(03:58):
the?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
so it was a very simplified approach towards
lighting design.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
You know, and various companies used to give people
direct support, which did notmake any sense and there was
there were no conversationsabout what the material is and
how will it interact with lightand stuff.
So so for for me, it was very,very interesting to bring these
(04:25):
things and make peopleunderstand how the interaction
with material is one of the mostimportant things that a
lighting designer concentratesin.
So in this presentation I'mgoing to talk about is for an
(05:06):
experience center that I did.
This is a startup here inHyderabad which started with
selling control system and nowthey wanted to get into lighting
also and they wanted to sell itlike a solution.
They wanted to show the clientwhat amalgamation of light and
(05:31):
control bring in.
So when they came to us, theirthought process of this was to
show the potential clients howit can save energy and how it
can help in regulating orestablishing a timetable for
their routine and stuff.
But then something very, verycritical that they were missing
(05:53):
about was how it transforms thespace, how light transforms the
space.
They were coming in from theperspective of control.
They were coming in from theperspective of control.
So then we had lots ofdiscussions with them and we
thought, of course they had thisplan of making a demo center
(06:14):
for themselves, but I said thisshould be more a perceptual
space where a client canexperience how light is
transforming the spacethroughout the day.
So they came up with thisapproximately 3,000, 3,500
(06:35):
square feet of space wherein wedecided to add different layers
of light and show a potentialclient how the space is
transforming, with differentlayers of light being added to
the space.
I'll take you through this wholejourney through a few slides,
(06:59):
which shows how each layer oflight adds an element of
interest, an element ofinformation, an element of
expansion or compression to thespace which only without having
any physical element they areachieving.
(07:20):
So this was a mock of a livingspace with a courtyard space at
the backdrop and a televisionspace in the front.
So, if you see, the initiallayer of light was just picking
up the seating.
So what you see is the.
The space is completelycondensed.
(07:40):
The whole spatial experiencebecomes a lot more cozier and
intimate and the moment justaccent on the door happens, the
space expands visually Further.
When the art is picked up, thespace further expands the dining
(08:04):
space, which was completelyinvisible just a slide before.
By just accenting that dining,the space has opened up quite a
bit.
Pardon me for the images, butthis was taken with a mobile
phone, but the idea is clearlybeing communicated, what we are
trying to explain here.
(08:33):
Now, if you see this, thecourtyard, the textured stone
wall behind, is being grazed.
So if you see the texture isbeing revealed and the backdrop
experience of the seatingexpands again, so visually the
outdoor becomes an integralvisual element of the indoors.
You see the space with all thelayers being switched on, is
(08:55):
much, much larger and a vibrantelement altogether.
So this whole journey for aclient to come and experience
they understand how each layerof light is relieving the
element of interest and makingthe space an interesting space
(09:20):
to be in.
You know, and especially fromthe perspective of an individual
who doesn't understand theselayers of light, it makes him
think in a very wider sense forhim how light can really
(09:40):
transform his space, can reallytransform his space.
Similarly, we had done asimilar exercise for the dining
and the bar experience that theyhad created.
Again, if you see there areaccents happening over the
dining space and the bar space,then the art is being picked up
here on the left-hand side Again.
(10:01):
Similarly, a grazer comes in, soit brings in a lot more ambient
lighting space, the indirectuplighting from these rafters,
which makes the space much morevibrant and more ambiently lit,
and how the outdoors againbecome an integral part of the
indoors.
(10:21):
So these layers of light werepretty well communicated and
this particular space, thisparticular company, is now
expanding and recently they havereceived a hundred crore
investment from Indian investorsand this storytelling
(10:42):
experience centers are beingdeveloped in various cities
across India.
So I think this will help inbroader perspective for the
lighting design community, asthis layered approach toward
light is being communicated tolarger masses.
(11:02):
Now another light is beingcommunicated to larger masses
Now.
Another project where we werewanting to create an experience
through a pathway.
This was for an office space.
This was an office for a movie,a cinema maker, and we wanted
(11:23):
to create a transitional spacewhere a person who is coming to
listen to the story.
So this space was going to beused where the writers, the
narration was to happen with thedirectors.
So the idea was to create aspace where people stop thinking
about the practical aspects.
(11:44):
It was more about creatingspaces which are sublime and
very dreamlike.
You know, where you believe in,everything is possible.
So we were to create this path,which was from reception until
the storytelling space, and wewanted to create this path to be
(12:07):
magical, and the referencesthat we took were this market
from Marrakesh, which isextremely pleasing to look at,
and that experience of walkingthrough the rays of light is
something that we wanted tomimic.
(12:29):
Now we had the task of creatingthis experience in a space which
was about six feet in width andabout 10 feet in height.
So we started doing mock-ups,used sheets of light on the
ceiling and we used bird fliesat regular intervals, say, about
(12:52):
12 mm to 20 mm of spacingbetween.
And if you see the mock-ups, wewere successfully able to
create those nice rays of lightthrough the spots.
Again, you know, this is thebacklighting is used for mostly
(13:15):
those stretch lightingapplications.
So for us to get these texturedlights, what we did was we
negated the stretch fabric sothat the light doesn't lose its
texture and the sharpness isintact.
So if you see on the image onthe right, we were able to
(13:37):
create this nice sharp lines oflight.
If you go further you'll findmockups of this.
We were able to get these nicesharp rays of light and, as we
go towards the finish, the doorand the faggon was made with
this frosted glass which wasconverting, which was kind of
(14:02):
radiating, into a clear glasselement.
The idea was that this, thiswalk of say, about 20 feet,
should, should make you get intoa new zone of space Another
interesting experience that Iwould like to share where we
(14:22):
were able to successfullytransform the visual weight of a
material, weight of a material.
So we were doing a lounge herein Bangalore and the architect
had come up with this idea ofhaving gabion walls around the
periphery of the space and theobvious solution, what we
(14:47):
thought, was to apply the gabionand kind of pick up the texture
of the pebbles that areinserted into the mesh.
Now, to our horror, when we didthe markup, the gabion had a lot
of undulations and the pebbleswere coming out of it and it was
looking really, really horrific.
(15:07):
So so, as a practice, what wetry and do is that we do a lot
of mock-ups with the materialsthat the architect is planning
to work with, which helps usunderstand how light is behaving
with different elements of thespace.
(15:28):
The moment we got this, weimmediately said, okay, why not
do a backlight to this elementwhich will help us get this nice
soft light through the gabion?
Now, to our surprise and ofcourse, I mean architect was a
(15:50):
very inclusive part of thiswhole exercise and we were able
to create an element which wasthis you know, the whole
heaviness of gabion that we seeby the daytime was completely
transformed into a nice subdued,translucent, vertical
(16:13):
experience.
So those heavy variants weretransforming into nice glowing
wall elements.
So this is the power ofmock-ups and practically
interacting with the material,with light.
So this is another projectwhere we were working with a lot
(16:38):
of natural stone cladding and alot of form, exposed concrete
elements, and this is where weworked with interaction of
combination of lighting controls, customizing of luminaires and
(17:00):
working with the colortemperature of light.
Now this is a lounge space withsemi-outdoor space, an outdoor
space and an indoor space withsemi-outdoor space, an outdoor
space and an indoor space.
The idea, the conceptual ideaof this space with light was to
(17:21):
reveal the material of theelements through light.
So if you see how we havetreated.
Each element is to reveal itstrue nature, like I mean, if you
see this form exposed concretecoffers, we wanted to show the
concrete elements into it.
(17:43):
If you see the patina finishunder the bar counter, we wanted
to show the textural aspects ofthe patina and the textured
natural stone cladding that yousee on the backdrop.
We wanted a person who isvisiting this space to
experience the textural elementsof the whole space throughout,
(18:08):
and for this we had to plan alot because, I mean, since this
was a form-exposed concrete,there was a lot of planning
involved, because we had toplace all the drivers remote.
We had to make a decision as tohow many fixtures will be looped
into one circuit and how manyfixtures will be driven by one
network.
(18:28):
So all this planning had tohappen before the construction
stage, because after theconstruction there was no scope
of doing anything.
And if you see the brightnesscontrast.
Also, we made sure that thebackdrop was a tad bit higher so
(18:49):
that the experience of thebackdrop is never missed and
doesn't dilute the textural area, and experience always becomes
a backdrop of the space.
Another very interestingelement here were the tanks, the
(19:10):
beer tanks that a brewerygenerally has.
Now these beer tanks werestainless steel in color, so we
had to make sure that there isvisual contrast that is seen
clearly.
So what we did was we did thecomplete lighting in 2700 Kelvin
(19:34):
and what we did to the beertanks, the brewery tanks, was to
take it a step cooler, to 3000Kelvin.
So what you see here is thevisual contrast with the color
also, so that depth ofperception that you see in this
(19:54):
image was brought out.
So I think the rightapplication of the see not just
generating the concept, butunderstanding how a luminaire
works, how a roll works and howit has to marry to each other is
(20:17):
an extremely important thingfor every designer to understand
repeatedly is because I wantyoung professionals who are just
(20:39):
getting into the field tounderstand that these aspects
are extremely important whenyou're working with light,
especially with Indiansubcontinent, where the lines
between who is doing what is notvery clear.
You know, you can't just tellthe contractor to take care of
the driver details and stuff,because the contractor might not
(21:00):
be aware what kind of effectsyou want to achieve and stuff.
So it's very important for alighting designer to be there
throughout the whole journey andand make sure that these
communications happen in theright way with every agency
involved.
(21:20):
So, coming to the next project,this was a very, very
interesting project.
Again, this was a project whichwe recently completed in
Bangalore.
Which we recently completed inBangalore.
This is a high-end restaurantand lounge space in Bangalore
and the requirement was tocreate spaces, multiple spaces,
(21:46):
within the restaurant itself,because they wanted to have
various activities in the wholespace and they wanted diverse
experiences throughout the space.
Of course, architecturally, thearchitects had done their job
brilliantly.
So they had.
(22:08):
The entrance was like asemi-enclosed space with a lot
of greenery, and then as you goin, it was more of a lounge feel
to the space, since the spacehad a lot of depth.
We wanted to bring out thecharacter of the architecture
and on the first floor, theywanted it to be used as a
(22:29):
private party space and the samespace could convert into a
private PDR, also a dining spacetoo.
So, using light and the rightcontrol, we were able to work on
this space Like.
I mean, if you see thisentrance space, we made sure
that the greens are picked up,though the density of the greens
(22:52):
is not so high as asemi-outdoor space you would
expect, but then perceptuallythese greens are very dominating
when you are seated in thespace and lighting it up in the
right way.
It helped us create thisexperience in the space that
this is a nice semi-outdoorspace, experience in the space
(23:15):
that this is a nice semi-outdoorspace.
Now, as you go within the space, the whole depth, the character
that the architect had built toenhance the perception of this
space, which was rectangular andhad a lot of depth we made sure
that this was accentuated inthe right way and vertically.
Also the detail that thearchitects had come up with of
(23:37):
having a mirror on the top,which is a very tricky detail
when you're doing integratedlighting details, because you
end up seeing a lot ofreflections Of course.
I mean this is a verychallenging detail, but we ended
up addressing it in a recentway.
Again, looking at the samespace from the opposite side,
(24:03):
you know the whole depth.
The experience of depth is verynicely communicated.
At the same time there arethese intimate pockets of
seating also.
At the same time, there arethese intimate pockets of
seating also.
So there is a space for everymood that a client comes up with
.
If you want a nice private cozydinner, you have that space.
If you're with your friends,you want a vibe that is more
(24:33):
lively, you can take up thecentral seating, you know.
So this experience within thespace is something that really
attracts me towards this project, because this is something that
is very, very I feel that it isvery, very difficult to achieve
.
Coming to the PDR again, youknow this.
PDR was a combination of twospaces, wherein you know they
(24:54):
could divide these spaces intotwo Again, this was of a very,
very specific requirement and wecould achieve this.
Now, taking you through how weachieve these requirements, you
know how we understand what aclient is wanting and how we're
(25:18):
able to communicate and makesure that the client is aware of
what he's going to get, which Ifeel is an extremely important
aspect to being a lightingdesigner.
It's very important to keep theexpectations right from every
stakeholder, be it the architect, be it the end client, be it
(25:41):
the contractor, be it the restof the consultants.
The communication ofinformation is extremely
critical of information isextremely critical, so I thought
I will spend about four to fiveminutes explaining how we are
(26:02):
communicating these aspects tovarious stakeholders.
Of course, this was anotherproject where it looks very
simple.
This was an apartment complexwhich one floor was one
apartment, and so the mostimportant thing is to convince
all the individuals that youneed a consistent color
(26:24):
temperature, at least here.
It's extremely importantbecause every individual wants
to deal with the space in theirown way the night time, because
the kind of synchrony that thebuilding is achieved, the kind
of unison that the structure isable to achieve, I feel, is only
(26:57):
because of light.
So it's extremely importantthat you know we were able to
convince the end clients and inthis case there were three
different end clients that wehad to convince.
So just to get back to, how arewe achieving this?
(27:18):
Is see, this was a very, veryinteresting slide that I had
come across from one of myteachers at the master's program
and this has made a verylasting impression for me
throughout my career.
So this was a simple slidewhich talked us look at things
(27:53):
the way we are looking at it.
One is the cultural image, theway we are brought up or what
happens around us, what we thinkis right and what we think is
right wrong.
And the second filter is ourpersonal experiences, which mold
(28:15):
us to see things in a certainway.
And I think when we interactwith the clients, we try to
understand what these filtersfor them would be, or we try to
strike this conversation withthem to understand what their
(28:38):
filters are, what is right forthem, what is wrong for them.
I'm pretty convinced that youknow it is as a designer.
(28:58):
I don't try to impose mythoughts to a solution.
I try to take inclusivedecisions with the clients which
will make the product not justa product that is mine, but a
product that is a solutionthat's come out from a
collective thinking and it helpsquite a bit, because everyone
feels that they are the owner ofthat particular solution.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
So from the communication aspect.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Once we understand what the client is wanting to
have, we make sure that this ispresented pictorially, because
this helps us make sure thatwhat we have understood about
the client is put on paper.
This was a residence that wewere doing and and we made sure
(29:53):
that the kind of experience thatthe client is going to get and
all the different layers oflight that he's going to achieve
is being clearly communicatedto them so that they are aware
and informed as to what are theyexpecting from the lighting
solution that we are proposing.
And I think this pictorialcommunication is the cornerstone
(30:16):
and the essence ofcommunication, because it
doesn't have to reflect theexact solution, but it certainly
has to communicate the layersthat you are planning to come up
with.
It helps them decide better.
It helps them say that, whetherthey will like the solutions or
(30:38):
not, again, we make sure thatwe give terminology and we add a
vocabulary to everything thatwe are doing, because it helps
when a client reads this vocab,it helps them to make better
decisions.
We try to communicate howdifferent beam angles are
impacting the space.
(31:00):
Of course, every lightingdesigner does calculations, but
we try to talk about thecalculation not just in terms of
the uniformity that they'reachieving, about the calculation
, not just in terms of theuniformity that they're
achieving, but we try to talk tothem about the kind of
contrasts that they have toexpect in space.
Another extremely importantpoint that we communicate to the
(31:22):
clients is how they are goingto achieve these different moves
in the space.
I find it's a lightingdesigner's job to really
understand how various scenesare going to be created and how
it's going to be controlled,because I don't think a control
(31:43):
system will be able to give youthat solution, because you are
the director as a lightingdesigner, you are the director
as a writing designer.
You're the director of thatcomposition and that composition
how is that composition goingto be triggered has to be
married with the requirements ofa client as to how is he going
to use the space.
I think these, thisunderstanding, makes you give
(32:08):
the best control solution as tohow different keypads should be
used by them in a space.
So this is what I wanted tocommunicate through my talk at
the VLDC as a lighting designer.
it is extremely important tounderstand and communicate to
(32:33):
different stakeholders in theirown language, and it has helped
us successfully achieve theresults in our projects that we
have been achieving.
So thank you so much.
It has been a pleasure talkingto you.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
We hope you enjoyed this episode and you've gained
some insight or inspiration.
So thank you so much.
It has been a pleasure talkingto you, your favorite podcast
app.
Consider subscribing to thepodcast and our YouTube channel
to stay up to date with ourlatest content.
Do check out our onlineplatform as well at vldcommunity
If you would like more.
(33:17):
Why not go back and listen tosome of our previous episodes
and hear more from our thoughtleaders?
Thanks for listening and wewill be back with more great
presentations or interviews verysoon.
Till next time.
Understanding how a luminaire works, how a roll
works and how it has to marry toeach other is an extremely
important thing for everydesigner to understand.
I want young professionals whoare just getting into the field
to understand that these aspectsare extremely important.
(00:23):
When you're working with light,the lines between who is doing
what is not very clear.
You know.
You can't just tell thecontractor to take care of the
driver details and stuff,because the contractor might not
be aware what kind of effectsyou want to achieve and stuff.
So it's very important for alighting designer to be there
(00:46):
throughout the whole journey andmake sure that these
communications happen in theright way with every agency
involved welcome back to thevirtual lighting design
(01:11):
community podcast, a globalplatform that empowers, inspires
, educates and connects thelighting design community.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
This podcast is brought to you by our premium
supporters aero hospitalitylighting, creative lighting,
asia erco, the signify lightingacademy Academy and Philix
Lighting.
We welcome Kunal Shah,principal Lighting Designer at
SPK Valo, based in Hyderabad,india.
In today's episode, kunalshares his insights on the
crucial role of lighting inarchitecture.
(01:36):
He discusses how lighting cannot only enhance a space's
aesthetic, but also createprofound emotional experiences
for its users.
From the importance ofcollaboration with clients to
the impact of layered lighting,there are plenty of practical
tips and inspiring stories thatreveal how a thoughtful approach
to design can make all thedifference.
It is well worth listeningright to the end, as there are
(01:59):
many timewise tidbits foryounger, up-and-coming lighting
designers.
The video version of thispresentation is available on our
community, which is also worthchecking out.
Join us at vldcommunity.
Now let's give our attention toKunal Shah.
His presentation is titled theJourney of Creating Perceptual
Transformation and the ProcessBehind it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It's lovely to be here presenting at the BLDC.
I'm Kunal Shah.
I've been practicing lightingdesign in Hyderabad, india, for
about 12 years now.
It's actually my 13th year inthe practice.
I had my master inarchitectural lighting design
from KTH in Sweden, so, afterwhich I did a brief internship
(02:56):
with the Hedges Lab in Eindhovenand then I jumped into the
field in Hyderabad, india.
My presentation today will beabout the journey of creating
perception, transformations andthe process behind it.
So it's been about 12 yearssince I've started my office
(03:17):
here in Hyderabad, india, so forme it has been quite a bit of a
journey because, coming from acountry where lighting design is
sort of an establishedprofession, I came into a space
where lighting design was justin a very, very nascent stage
(03:38):
and people actually did not knowwhat to expect from it.
This journey has been very,very interesting because what
people used to think aboutlighting design was like a
lighting designer comes in andhe does his calculation and
gives what are the lux levelsand various zones and what are
(03:58):
the?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
so it was a very simplified approach towards
lighting design.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
You know, and various companies used to give people
direct support, which did notmake any sense and there was
there were no conversationsabout what the material is and
how will it interact with lightand stuff.
So so for for me, it was very,very interesting to bring these
(04:25):
things and make peopleunderstand how the interaction
with material is one of the mostimportant things that a
lighting designer concentratesin.
So in this presentation I'mgoing to talk about is for an
(05:06):
experience center that I did.
This is a startup here inHyderabad which started with
selling control system and nowthey wanted to get into lighting
also and they wanted to sell itlike a solution.
They wanted to show the clientwhat amalgamation of light and
(05:31):
control bring in.
So when they came to us, theirthought process of this was to
show the potential clients howit can save energy and how it
can help in regulating orestablishing a timetable for
their routine and stuff.
But then something very, verycritical that they were missing
(05:53):
about was how it transforms thespace, how light transforms the
space.
They were coming in from theperspective of control.
They were coming in from theperspective of control.
So then we had lots ofdiscussions with them and we
thought, of course they had thisplan of making a demo center
(06:14):
for themselves, but I said thisshould be more a perceptual
space where a client canexperience how light is
transforming the spacethroughout the day.
So they came up with thisapproximately 3,000, 3,500
(06:35):
square feet of space wherein wedecided to add different layers
of light and show a potentialclient how the space is
transforming, with differentlayers of light being added to
the space.
I'll take you through this wholejourney through a few slides,
(06:59):
which shows how each layer oflight adds an element of
interest, an element ofinformation, an element of
expansion or compression to thespace which only without having
any physical element they areachieving.
(07:20):
So this was a mock of a livingspace with a courtyard space at
the backdrop and a televisionspace in the front.
So, if you see, the initiallayer of light was just picking
up the seating.
So what you see is the.
The space is completelycondensed.
(07:40):
The whole spatial experiencebecomes a lot more cozier and
intimate and the moment justaccent on the door happens, the
space expands visually Further.
When the art is picked up, thespace further expands the dining
(08:04):
space, which was completelyinvisible just a slide before.
By just accenting that dining,the space has opened up quite a
bit.
Pardon me for the images, butthis was taken with a mobile
phone, but the idea is clearlybeing communicated, what we are
trying to explain here.
(08:33):
Now, if you see this, thecourtyard, the textured stone
wall behind, is being grazed.
So if you see the texture isbeing revealed and the backdrop
experience of the seatingexpands again, so visually the
outdoor becomes an integralvisual element of the indoors.
You see the space with all thelayers being switched on, is
(08:55):
much, much larger and a vibrantelement altogether.
So this whole journey for aclient to come and experience
they understand how each layerof light is relieving the
element of interest and makingthe space an interesting space
(09:20):
to be in.
You know, and especially fromthe perspective of an individual
who doesn't understand theselayers of light, it makes him
think in a very wider sense forhim how light can really
(09:40):
transform his space, can reallytransform his space.
Similarly, we had done asimilar exercise for the dining
and the bar experience that theyhad created.
Again, if you see there areaccents happening over the
dining space and the bar space,then the art is being picked up
here on the left-hand side Again.
(10:01):
Similarly, a grazer comes in, soit brings in a lot more ambient
lighting space, the indirectuplighting from these rafters,
which makes the space much morevibrant and more ambiently lit,
and how the outdoors againbecome an integral part of the
indoors.
(10:21):
So these layers of light werepretty well communicated and
this particular space, thisparticular company, is now
expanding and recently they havereceived a hundred crore
investment from Indian investorsand this storytelling
(10:42):
experience centers are beingdeveloped in various cities
across India.
So I think this will help inbroader perspective for the
lighting design community, asthis layered approach toward
light is being communicated tolarger masses.
(11:02):
Now another light is beingcommunicated to larger masses
Now.
Another project where we werewanting to create an experience
through a pathway.
This was for an office space.
This was an office for a movie,a cinema maker, and we wanted
(11:23):
to create a transitional spacewhere a person who is coming to
listen to the story.
So this space was going to beused where the writers, the
narration was to happen with thedirectors.
So the idea was to create aspace where people stop thinking
about the practical aspects.
(11:44):
It was more about creatingspaces which are sublime and
very dreamlike.
You know, where you believe in,everything is possible.
So we were to create this path,which was from reception until
the storytelling space, and wewanted to create this path to be
(12:07):
magical, and the referencesthat we took were this market
from Marrakesh, which isextremely pleasing to look at,
and that experience of walkingthrough the rays of light is
something that we wanted tomimic.
(12:29):
Now we had the task of creatingthis experience in a space which
was about six feet in width andabout 10 feet in height.
So we started doing mock-ups,used sheets of light on the
ceiling and we used bird fliesat regular intervals, say, about
(12:52):
12 mm to 20 mm of spacingbetween.
And if you see the mock-ups, wewere successfully able to
create those nice rays of lightthrough the spots.
Again, you know, this is thebacklighting is used for mostly
(13:15):
those stretch lightingapplications.
So for us to get these texturedlights, what we did was we
negated the stretch fabric sothat the light doesn't lose its
texture and the sharpness isintact.
So if you see on the image onthe right, we were able to
(13:37):
create this nice sharp lines oflight.
If you go further you'll findmockups of this.
We were able to get these nicesharp rays of light and, as we
go towards the finish, the doorand the faggon was made with
this frosted glass which wasconverting, which was kind of
(14:02):
radiating, into a clear glasselement.
The idea was that this, thiswalk of say, about 20 feet,
should, should make you get intoa new zone of space Another
interesting experience that Iwould like to share where we
(14:22):
were able to successfullytransform the visual weight of a
material, weight of a material.
So we were doing a lounge herein Bangalore and the architect
had come up with this idea ofhaving gabion walls around the
periphery of the space and theobvious solution, what we
(14:47):
thought, was to apply the gabionand kind of pick up the texture
of the pebbles that areinserted into the mesh.
Now, to our horror, when we didthe markup, the gabion had a lot
of undulations and the pebbleswere coming out of it and it was
looking really, really horrific.
(15:07):
So so, as a practice, what wetry and do is that we do a lot
of mock-ups with the materialsthat the architect is planning
to work with, which helps usunderstand how light is behaving
with different elements of thespace.
(15:28):
The moment we got this, weimmediately said, okay, why not
do a backlight to this elementwhich will help us get this nice
soft light through the gabion?
Now, to our surprise and ofcourse, I mean architect was a
(15:50):
very inclusive part of thiswhole exercise and we were able
to create an element which wasthis you know, the whole
heaviness of gabion that we seeby the daytime was completely
transformed into a nice subdued,translucent, vertical
(16:13):
experience.
So those heavy variants weretransforming into nice glowing
wall elements.
So this is the power ofmock-ups and practically
interacting with the material,with light.
So this is another projectwhere we were working with a lot
(16:38):
of natural stone cladding and alot of form, exposed concrete
elements, and this is where weworked with interaction of
combination of lighting controls, customizing of luminaires and
(17:00):
working with the colortemperature of light.
Now this is a lounge space withsemi-outdoor space, an outdoor
space and an indoor space withsemi-outdoor space, an outdoor
space and an indoor space.
The idea, the conceptual ideaof this space with light was to
(17:21):
reveal the material of theelements through light.
So if you see how we havetreated.
Each element is to reveal itstrue nature, like I mean, if you
see this form exposed concretecoffers, we wanted to show the
concrete elements into it.
(17:43):
If you see the patina finishunder the bar counter, we wanted
to show the textural aspects ofthe patina and the textured
natural stone cladding that yousee on the backdrop.
We wanted a person who isvisiting this space to
experience the textural elementsof the whole space throughout,
(18:08):
and for this we had to plan alot because, I mean, since this
was a form-exposed concrete,there was a lot of planning
involved, because we had toplace all the drivers remote.
We had to make a decision as tohow many fixtures will be looped
into one circuit and how manyfixtures will be driven by one
network.
(18:28):
So all this planning had tohappen before the construction
stage, because after theconstruction there was no scope
of doing anything.
And if you see the brightnesscontrast.
Also, we made sure that thebackdrop was a tad bit higher so
(18:49):
that the experience of thebackdrop is never missed and
doesn't dilute the textural area, and experience always becomes
a backdrop of the space.
Another very interestingelement here were the tanks, the
(19:10):
beer tanks that a brewerygenerally has.
Now these beer tanks werestainless steel in color, so we
had to make sure that there isvisual contrast that is seen
clearly.
So what we did was we did thecomplete lighting in 2700 Kelvin
(19:34):
and what we did to the beertanks, the brewery tanks, was to
take it a step cooler, to 3000Kelvin.
So what you see here is thevisual contrast with the color
also, so that depth ofperception that you see in this
(19:54):
image was brought out.
So I think the rightapplication of the see not just
generating the concept, butunderstanding how a luminaire
works, how a roll works and howit has to marry to each other is
(20:17):
an extremely important thingfor every designer to understand
repeatedly is because I wantyoung professionals who are just
(20:39):
getting into the field tounderstand that these aspects
are extremely important whenyou're working with light,
especially with Indiansubcontinent, where the lines
between who is doing what is notvery clear.
You know, you can't just tellthe contractor to take care of
the driver details and stuff,because the contractor might not
(21:00):
be aware what kind of effectsyou want to achieve and stuff.
So it's very important for alighting designer to be there
throughout the whole journey andand make sure that these
communications happen in theright way with every agency
involved.
(21:20):
So, coming to the next project,this was a very, very
interesting project.
Again, this was a project whichwe recently completed in
Bangalore.
Which we recently completed inBangalore.
This is a high-end restaurantand lounge space in Bangalore
and the requirement was tocreate spaces, multiple spaces,
(21:46):
within the restaurant itself,because they wanted to have
various activities in the wholespace and they wanted diverse
experiences throughout the space.
Of course, architecturally, thearchitects had done their job
brilliantly.
So they had.
(22:08):
The entrance was like asemi-enclosed space with a lot
of greenery, and then as you goin, it was more of a lounge feel
to the space, since the spacehad a lot of depth.
We wanted to bring out thecharacter of the architecture
and on the first floor, theywanted it to be used as a
(22:29):
private party space and the samespace could convert into a
private PDR, also a dining spacetoo.
So, using light and the rightcontrol, we were able to work on
this space Like.
I mean, if you see thisentrance space, we made sure
that the greens are picked up,though the density of the greens
(22:52):
is not so high as asemi-outdoor space you would
expect, but then perceptuallythese greens are very dominating
when you are seated in thespace and lighting it up in the
right way.
It helped us create thisexperience in the space that
this is a nice semi-outdoorspace, experience in the space
(23:15):
that this is a nice semi-outdoorspace.
Now, as you go within the space, the whole depth, the character
that the architect had built toenhance the perception of this
space, which was rectangular andhad a lot of depth we made sure
that this was accentuated inthe right way and vertically.
Also the detail that thearchitects had come up with of
(23:37):
having a mirror on the top,which is a very tricky detail
when you're doing integratedlighting details, because you
end up seeing a lot ofreflections Of course.
I mean this is a verychallenging detail, but we ended
up addressing it in a recentway.
Again, looking at the samespace from the opposite side,
(24:03):
you know the whole depth.
The experience of depth is verynicely communicated.
At the same time there arethese intimate pockets of
seating also.
At the same time, there arethese intimate pockets of
seating also.
So there is a space for everymood that a client comes up with
.
If you want a nice private cozydinner, you have that space.
If you're with your friends,you want a vibe that is more
(24:33):
lively, you can take up thecentral seating, you know.
So this experience within thespace is something that really
attracts me towards this project, because this is something that
is very, very I feel that it isvery, very difficult to achieve
.
Coming to the PDR again, youknow this.
PDR was a combination of twospaces, wherein you know they
(24:54):
could divide these spaces intotwo Again, this was of a very,
very specific requirement and wecould achieve this.
Now, taking you through how weachieve these requirements, you
know how we understand what aclient is wanting and how we're
(25:18):
able to communicate and makesure that the client is aware of
what he's going to get, which Ifeel is an extremely important
aspect to being a lightingdesigner.
It's very important to keep theexpectations right from every
stakeholder, be it the architect, be it the end client, be it
(25:41):
the contractor, be it the restof the consultants.
The communication ofinformation is extremely
critical of information isextremely critical, so I thought
I will spend about four to fiveminutes explaining how we are
(26:02):
communicating these aspects tovarious stakeholders.
Of course, this was anotherproject where it looks very
simple.
This was an apartment complexwhich one floor was one
apartment, and so the mostimportant thing is to convince
all the individuals that youneed a consistent color
(26:24):
temperature, at least here.
It's extremely importantbecause every individual wants
to deal with the space in theirown way the night time, because
the kind of synchrony that thebuilding is achieved, the kind
of unison that the structure isable to achieve, I feel, is only
(26:57):
because of light.
So it's extremely importantthat you know we were able to
convince the end clients and inthis case there were three
different end clients that wehad to convince.
So just to get back to, how arewe achieving this?
(27:18):
Is see, this was a very, veryinteresting slide that I had
come across from one of myteachers at the master's program
and this has made a verylasting impression for me
throughout my career.
So this was a simple slidewhich talked us look at things
(27:53):
the way we are looking at it.
One is the cultural image, theway we are brought up or what
happens around us, what we thinkis right and what we think is
right wrong.
And the second filter is ourpersonal experiences, which mold
(28:15):
us to see things in a certainway.
And I think when we interactwith the clients, we try to
understand what these filtersfor them would be, or we try to
strike this conversation withthem to understand what their
(28:38):
filters are, what is right forthem, what is wrong for them.
I'm pretty convinced that youknow it is as a designer.
(28:58):
I don't try to impose mythoughts to a solution.
I try to take inclusivedecisions with the clients which
will make the product not justa product that is mine, but a
product that is a solutionthat's come out from a
collective thinking and it helpsquite a bit, because everyone
feels that they are the owner ofthat particular solution.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
So from the communication aspect.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Once we understand what the client is wanting to
have, we make sure that this ispresented pictorially, because
this helps us make sure thatwhat we have understood about
the client is put on paper.
This was a residence that wewere doing and and we made sure
(29:53):
that the kind of experience thatthe client is going to get and
all the different layers oflight that he's going to achieve
is being clearly communicatedto them so that they are aware
and informed as to what are theyexpecting from the lighting
solution that we are proposing.
And I think this pictorialcommunication is the cornerstone
(30:16):
and the essence ofcommunication, because it
doesn't have to reflect theexact solution, but it certainly
has to communicate the layersthat you are planning to come up
with.
It helps them decide better.
It helps them say that, whetherthey will like the solutions or
(30:38):
not, again, we make sure thatwe give terminology and we add a
vocabulary to everything thatwe are doing, because it helps
when a client reads this vocab,it helps them to make better
decisions.
We try to communicate howdifferent beam angles are
impacting the space.
(31:00):
Of course, every lightingdesigner does calculations, but
we try to talk about thecalculation not just in terms of
the uniformity that they'reachieving, about the calculation
, not just in terms of theuniformity that they're
achieving, but we try to talk tothem about the kind of
contrasts that they have toexpect in space.
Another extremely importantpoint that we communicate to the
(31:22):
clients is how they are goingto achieve these different moves
in the space.
I find it's a lightingdesigner's job to really
understand how various scenesare going to be created and how
it's going to be controlled,because I don't think a control
(31:43):
system will be able to give youthat solution, because you are
the director as a lightingdesigner, you are the director
as a writing designer.
You're the director of thatcomposition and that composition
how is that composition goingto be triggered has to be
married with the requirements ofa client as to how is he going
to use the space.
I think these, thisunderstanding, makes you give
(32:08):
the best control solution as tohow different keypads should be
used by them in a space.
So this is what I wanted tocommunicate through my talk at
the VLDC as a lighting designer.
it is extremely important tounderstand and communicate to
(32:33):
different stakeholders in theirown language, and it has helped
us successfully achieve theresults in our projects that we
have been achieving.
So thank you so much.
It has been a pleasure talkingto you.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
We hope you enjoyed this episode and you've gained
some insight or inspiration.
So thank you so much.
It has been a pleasure talkingto you, your favorite podcast
app.
Consider subscribing to thepodcast and our YouTube channel
to stay up to date with ourlatest content.
Do check out our onlineplatform as well at vldcommunity
If you would like more.
(33:17):
Why not go back and listen tosome of our previous episodes
and hear more from our thoughtleaders?
Thanks for listening and wewill be back with more great
presentations or interviews verysoon.
Till next time.
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