david k warfel
Giving the Simple Gift of Light #4 When I was much younger, I looked at box full of chocolates with a mix of excitement and trepidation. I knew, somewhere in the box, would be a delicious chocolate with a creamy caramel center, but I was deathly afraid that I would bite through a cherry, or... Continue Reading →
The Simple Gift of Light #4 Light can help you move with energy…and perform brilliantly all day long, no matter what you do. Sometimes I feel a bit like a huckster selling a miracle elixir when I talk about the benefits light can bring to our lives. I picture myself standing in a dusty wooden... Continue Reading →
Giving the Simple Gift of Light #3 As I get older, my running routine has become a jogging routine or, sometimes, what I call my slogging routine. A few times a week I get up, pull on running clothes, and stumble out the door. As I start slogging towards the lake, my body sometimes says:... Continue Reading →
The Simple Gift of Light #3 Would you like to wake gently each morning, refreshed and ready for the new day? Light can help you. A few years ago I caught some kind of nasty cough, the kind that gets worse when lying horizontal (so much for sleep), and it just wouldn’t go away. For... Continue Reading →
Introducing a second new series for 2025 focused on practical advice for designers. Today I start a second new series for the year that I hope will make a strong compliment to the first. Last week I started the Simple Gift of Light series as a place to explore several key benefits of light in... Continue Reading →
Introduction to a new series for 2025...and beyond? Light, to me, is the first divine gift of the universe. In the middle of a career centered on light, I have more questions than answers, despite knowing more than ever before. Why, for example, do so many people suffer from light that hurts as much as... Continue Reading →
We recently lost a potential client to a manufacturer who offered “free” lighting design services (so long as you purchased fixtures from them, of course, which have the cost of service buried into the sale price). My first reaction was indignation but, as is often the case, a closer look revealed a much more nuanced... Continue Reading →
Coffee, when poured into a mug and consumed, delivers a strongly desired boost of energy through caffeine. The same coffee, when poured onto the laptop, can be ruinous. The question of usefulness or harmfulness, applied to coffee, is answered by the use. The same can be true for light, especially outside. But indulge me a... Continue Reading →
Not all that is new in lighting is much better. One of the newest trends in architectural and residential lighting is tubes of light about 1” in diameter. When I started my career a rather good number of years ago, we called these T8 Fluorescent Tubes, and they were universally loathed for their institutional feel.... Continue Reading →
Lately I have heard others describe my work and the work of my company as “not as good” as some others. They are right. That is my goal. I suspect that the average citizen, when asked to describe the work of an architect, might wander into descriptions of skyscrapers and art museums. Frank Gehry, Zaha... Continue Reading →
the language of light 