DL
What moved you to go into
lighting design?
SA
I have an architectural background.
At the beginning of my architectural career I
got the assignment to do the site supervision
of a prestigious, large renovation project.
Everything in the project had been taken care
up to the smallest details. The historical buil-
ding had been renovated with a lot of atten-
tion, all the frescos and the statues had been
redone by professional conservators using the
original stones. To my greatest surprise no
lighting designer was involved in the project.
The more I insisted on the need of hiring
one, the more friction and incomprehension
raised with the clients. I ended up hiring a
lighting designer myself, but not being able
to bring the designer to the site I ended up
studying and learning so much in those years.
When the projected ended I sort of got “enli-
ghtened”. I left the architectural practice and
concentrated on architectural lighting design.
I actually went to work for that lighting de-
signer - at that time studying lighting design
was almost impossible - and so this is how it
all started.
DL
Do you have a design or a lighting
philosophy?
SA
Our practice believes that the less
the users of the architecture notice the
function of the light, while enjoying it in full,
the better the design.
The designed light in architecture is suppo-
sed to induce a mood adapted to the space’s
function, allow the qualified perception of
space and special architectural features, give
the viewers and users a sense of safety and
security while facilitating their orientation
and facilitate the adequate visual tasks requi-
red in that space. And all of this while being
sustainable. So, the philosophy is that the
lighting intervention should be perceived and
not seen.
DL
Is all architecture as important at
night as it is during the day?
SA
Yes and no: If the architecture
retains its functions around the clock, then
there is no doubt that its nocturnal impor-
tance doesn’t change and sometimes actually
may increase. Many times, architecture that
doesn’t retain its daytime functions after
dark, but might become an important part
in the nocturnal definition of the public spa-
ce, so the “importance” changes but it is still
there. In very few cases, some architectural
items, usually badly designed, lose all impor-
tance at night and regain it during the day.
DL
How do you view the relationship
between architecture, lighting and
landscape?
SA
As previously mentioned, lighting
is an essential building block in architecture
and landscape is an inherent part of archi-
tecture. The relationship is symbiotic: the
architecture allows the integration of the
lighting in such a way that the lighting
allows the architecture to impact its users
in the way intended by the architects (and
the clients).
DL
What elements are essential to
come up with a good exterior
lighting plan? Which parameters
are taken into account to select the
right light effects?
SA
Practically every project is unique
in its elements and that is true for interior
projects as much as for exterior ones. Because
of our approach to lighting, the permanent
and/or temporary functions of the illumina-
ted space; the permanent or seasonal climatic
conditions in the space’s area; the geometry
of the space; the vertical surfaces defining the
perimeter of the space; the salient objects in
the space and their purpose; the materials of
the space; its defining perimeter items, and its
salient objects, their texture and colours; the
definition of the space’s expected permanent
or temporary users and finally the laws, regu-
lations, standards and norms that can impact
lighting choices, are all essential for the suc-
cess of the design of the lighting and will all
impact the choices of intensities, distribution,
correlated colour, colour rendering, lighting
direction, location and type of mounting and
the equipment needed to deliver all above.
The specificities of the project will determine
an importance-hierarchy between all these
elements and this will differ from one project
to the other, but all of them will be conside-
red and taken into consideration when elabo-
rating the project.
Interview
Susanna Antico
124
OUTDOOR
DELTA LIGHT
