david k warfel
"What is the lighting budget for our new home?" "We have 68 recessed cans at $150 each." The Lord of the Rings books and films are staples in our household. The kids share LOTR memes, we have the extended-way-too-long movies, and there are copies of all the books strewn about the house. The beloved stories... Continue Reading →
Lighting designers are trained from birth...okay, that's an exaggeration and a cliche, so this blog post is not off to the best start. Where was I? Ah yes, lighting designers are trained to know the difference between good lighting design and bad lighting design. This morning I pondered the possibility that this embedded understanding of... Continue Reading →
"We don't want any recessed cans in our home." Architects, interior designers, and homeowners occasionally tell us they do not like recessed can lights in their projects and homes. My habit is to get defensive, to fight back, to draw upon decades of lighting design experience to tell them why they do want recessed cans... Continue Reading →
This post might make some of my lighting colleagues a little angry, because I'm going to claim that light meters are nearly useless tools. I'm going to claim that the numbers we produce, the foot-candle levels or lux we calculate and measure, the math behind lighting design is all rather pointless. (And before you write... Continue Reading →
There is a popular story that ties the Space Shuttle technology to the width of Roman horse's backside, and it just occurred to me that there is may be a parallel in lighting. The first story goes something like this: the booster rockets on the Space Shuttle were a certain diameter because they had to... Continue Reading →
Satellite image from NASA via Blue Marble. Can you find your town? When it comes to light, it is hard to tell exactly how much we throw away. The International Dark Sky Association estimates that 35% of lighting energy is wasted making the sky glow. This is energy that has no discernible positive effect on... Continue Reading →
Would you be concerned if you had to eat McDonald's hamburgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of your life? Did you know you are probably doing the equivalent with your light? Without food, we die. We need food, regularly and sufficiently, to survive. Many of us now have the privilege of moving... Continue Reading →
I want you to buy my car. It is white, has 18" wheels and a hybrid motor, and I want you to pay me $50,000. Pretend that you do not know much about cars, so you ask the friendly clerk at a nearby tire shop. It turns out that they can also sell you a... Continue Reading →
Whoops. I just spent a lot of time re-designing the "light and health" section of our design presentations to include updated sections on the latest research, examination of snake-oil-sounding miracle products, and in-depth explanations of our six strategies for incorporating the science into our design work. I was very proud of the finished product. "Pride... Continue Reading →
And...we're back. The conversation around my first BS* + Beer guest appearance was so, er, illuminating that we found ourselves together just a few weeks later. This time the focus of the conversation was on lighting for the rest of us, or practical strategies we could apply on our own projects. Once again the hosts... Continue Reading →
the language of light 