3 minute read
Japanese Flowers
from Architectural SSL - March 2022
by Buildings & Construction Group
ABOVE: A delicate lattice constructed from metal rods reflects light and creates a hazy, misty existence that references the fragrance of the lotus flowers.
ABOVE: The placement of the rods was not purely artistic. The spatial points were calculated and placed, one by one, using 3D modeling design technology to create a fog-like gradation of light.
ILLUMINATION OF
“FRAGRANCE WITH “FRAGRANCE WITH LOTUS FLOWERS” WINS LOTUS FLOWERS” WINS AMP BEST OF BEST AMP BEST OF BEST
A space that seems to be enveloped in a rising mist is the stage for Egiku Japanese Dance. Behind the dancers are more than 1,000 thin wooden pieces, attached to a delicate lattice, assembled with metal rods that are suspended from the ceiling. When lighting hits the pieces, a hazy, misty existence is created by these countless “lines.” The line, notes show conceptualizer Kazunobu Nakamura, of Nakamura Kazunobu Design-Works, has a Japanese beauty, “as if it softly absorbs light, rather than strongly repelling it.” The designer took inspiration from the lotus. In Japan, he explains, the lotus is sacred—something often found in gardens and ponds. “The flowers are usually shrouded in a light mist in the early morning. So, fog becomes a way to visualize the fragrance of the flowers, says Nakamura. Fog represents profundity—a mist formed by delicate water particles that catch the light. “I tried to design a new space by objects that have such a vague appearance,” he explains. The concept earned him an Architectural MasterPrize. By designing the sparseness of how the lines come together, he notes a gradation with shades of transparency is drawn, spreading across the space. “The delicate artwork touches the light and depicts the vague figure of light, revealing the existence of the air that fills the space.” Nakamura conceived the lighting design with Masao Igarashi of Theaterbrain. The spatial points were calculated and placed, one by one, using 3D modeling design technology to create a fog-like gradation of light. “It follows the way gardeners, who maintain the beauty of Japanese gardens, adjust the density of branches and leaves by pruning trees, creating gradations of sparseness, and denseness to design transparency and depth. The installation is also sustainable in that it can be developed in a variety of ways to suit different spaces by changing the number of lines and the arrangement of the lines.•
GOVERNMENT: LIGHTING FOR BROADCAST
Satisfying HDTV Standards
The subterranean Committee Rooms of the Canadian Parliament’s West Block in Ottawa, Canada, achieve an incredible feat—making an underground space not only highly functional, but enjoyable to occupy. A 2021 IALD Award of Excellence winner, its lighting design, by the Office for Visual Interaction (OVI), befits a formal government space and more than meets high-definition broadcast television lighting specifications. With unforgivingly low 9-ft. to 12-ft. ceilings, the challenge was met by the creation of custom ceilings that also house MEP, security and acoustic elements. Because meetings there are broadcast, each seating position had to be lit to high-definition camera standards. Glowing, star-shaped ceiling panels, luminous coffers, and perimeter wall wash illumination, provide ambient light; while recessed, adjustable downlights create horizontal and vertical lux levels to separate subjects from their background, all in a flattering 4000K color temperature. Photometric calculations and aiming angle studies paired with internal and onsite mockups were necessary to fulfill the lighting requirements and to perfect the proportions of the star-shaped panels and illuminated coffer ceilings.•
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STUDIES: Photometric calculations, angle studies and onsite mockups were necessary to perfect the star-shaped panels and illuminated coffer ceilings. ABOVE: The lighting in the Committee rooms blends a star-shaped ambient fixture designed to resemble an abstract version of the acorn leaf, the national symbol of Canada, and directional spotlights that can be individually aimed to provide the necessary levels of vertical illumination.
