LIGHT ILLUSIONS

Silence, well-spent, is the most dramatic of a performer’s devices. Most any musician, lawyer, comedian or actor can rattle out the right words or notes, but a true master puts to music the quiet times in between. It is the pendulous pauses that bring the opposition to its knees in the courtroom and the audience to its feet in the concert hall.

In the same manner, shadows are the silent, powerful spaces of light. A heavily shadowed face can communicate many of the emotions within, and the shadows of a living room or bedroom set the mood of all who enter. But, to their own misfortune, most people consider paint chips and fabric swatches much more important than serious consideration of lighting sources; the lighting of a room takes a back seat to other decorating decisions.

So, lighting is most often left to chance – to the random beams that escape a single hanging Tiffany lamp, or worse, to an insensitively placed small ceiling bulb with a thick, cloudy shade. The result is usually flat, blanketing light or harsh, white glare. Light becomes depressing.Boring. Even green and nauseating. It is aperversion of the clear, dramatic luminantthat God flung down on earth to give itcolor – and there was light.

A disinterested attitude toward lighting fails to take advantage of all the magic that can be worked. If only a contrast of some sort were used in a drab room, the results could be dramatic. Dallas architect Yoichi Homma speaks of Venice as an excellent example of the drama of light. Long, narrow exposures of buildings lead to brilliantly lit courtyards or to the ocean where light sparkles off the water. Light gives that city a charm known nowhere else.

Venice is a large-scale example of the mind-control that shrewd lighting can work. Light can define space and set warm, comfortable moods. Light can be used to direct people into and out of a space. People move toward light -they gravitate toward a sunlit patio rather than a shaded one and, filled with curiosity, walk through a dark area toward a light on the other side of the darkness.

Japanese architect Tadao Ando designs tiny slits into the roofs of his structures to allow shafts of light to enter and divide spaces. Ando and other designers and architects work under the assumption that contrast is essential; human perception is such that if a man is in a light area, he does not realize light is there unless darkness is also present.

Through the use of shadows in properly illuminated interiors, furniture becomes more sculptural, plants more dramatic and art pieces more brilliant; colors grow soft or vivid. Light patterns are interesting and dramatic. Shadows can sift the light through screening devices such as glass bricks, window grids, woven shades and segmented skylights and throw baroque patterns across floors and walls.

Almost all the knowledge we have about the use of light and shadow we owe to the work of master architect, Louis Kahn. He was fascinated with the reflection of light and emphasized the importance of the surfaces of the materials that were to be lighted. Kahn spent a great deal of time and energy creating surfaces that were receptive to light, and considered the effects on lighting before choosing building materials.

Architects such as Kahn define space through the use of planes and use walls, windows, furniture and even plants to block out, reflect or receive light in a controlled manner. Ideally, architecture is a means to control light and dramatize space; therefore, your lighting needs should be an integral consideration in making design decisions. In other words, the time to think about lighting your home is before the foundation is poured. If you miss out on the chance to plan lighting methods from the beginning, you may forfeit a good amount of control of the appearance of your home in the future. You leave the lighting of your rooms to the arbitrary beam sprays of a builder’s standard fixtures.

Craig Roberts of Architectural Lighting Design suggests that “instead of taking what builders and real estate brokers offer [in the way of oversized, badly designed and illuminated houses], people should think about how they live and what they need.” Roberts asks each of his clients what they want to see, how much light they need and what quality they desire.

“Then I decide what fixtures to use,” he says. “Fixtures should be the very last consideration.”

In making lighting decisions, many people are at first concerned with the energy efficiency of the designs they choose. But Roberts says lighting uses so little energy in comparison to electrical appliances that their worries are overblown. “The key to being efficient with light is to light only what you need to see.

“The most important thing in interior design is the usefulness of the living spaces. It is important to make the space count.

“In the same way, multipurpose lighting is important and the ability to control the light through the use of dimmers and incandescent lighting [which is adjustable] is necessary. Different effects can be created when and where they are needed.”

Decide first what objects need to be emphasized – evaluate your artwork and prized possessions, and spotlight them. An investment in the right kind of lighting equipment may beam life into a painting or wall hanging that your guests hardly knew existed. This investment can certainly be less expensive than replacing those items; in the long run, it is more satisfying: Regardless of the beauty and expense of an object, it can appear dull if improperly lit.

Perhaps the best available control of the lighting in your home, while sticking to a limited budget, is with track lighting. This versatile system continues an evolution that began in department stores. Now, a variety of fixture designs and colors makes it not only the most versatile lighting alternative, but perhaps the most practical – it can easily be moved to your next home.

Track lighting can be run through one central junction box or wired on two circuits so selected lights can be dimmed or turned off completely. The newest fixtures available are low-voltage track lights, which are perfect for spotlighting special objects because of their bright, narrow beam. Halo makes an interesting track system, and Walter Culp offers an all-metallic line manufactured by the Christopher Lloyd Collection. And, just as people are becoming accustomed to the studio-light look, several manufacturers are providing ways to hide track lighting.

In many instances, lighting can be used cosmetically. Small rooms look larger when wall washers are used. These fixtures direct a wide beam of light toward a wall and wash the wall from floor to ceiling with soft, even light. They can be recessed or mounted on a track and used with different wattages.

A similar effect can be created architecturally by using a built-in valance that hides fluorescent tubes. This type of lighting, called grazing, washes the wall with light while enhancing texture and color. Illuminated walls often make people feel secure in a space because the lighted walls define boundaries. But since they can be extremely dramatic, illuminated walls should be used selectively and only when walls deserve special attention.

A third method of illuminating small places such as bathrooms and hallways is to create a false skylight by using a recessed panel. The panel contains a fluorescent strip over which is stretched cloth, rice paper, milky-white glass or acrylic. This provides evenly diffused light and an illusion of space. If recessing is a problem, a number of ceiling-mounted fixtures manufactured by Lighting Services Inc. are available through David Sutherland that will achieve the same effect.

Flatter your guests with soft incandescent light in the bathroom, but be sure plenty of clear, nonglaring task light is available for grooming. This light source should come from above and from the sides of the mirror so that it lights the face directly. The best lights for these tasks are makeup strips at the top and sides of the mirror. These strips were first used in stage dressing rooms, and provide your face with a soft direct light from frosted bulbs. The desired effect in the makeup area is for the light to give a sculptured quality through shadow. Fluorescent lights are often the choice for the powder room, but they are too flat for this use.

Recessed downlights over countertops, in showers and in the middle of the room easily provide general illumination for a bathroom. But these lights alone will not provide enough light for applying makeup or for shaving.

Closets, on the other hand, are a good location for fluorescent lights. In smaller closets, where the lamp can be mounted on the ceiling above the door and will not be seen, the fluorescent tube will give a grazing light across the clothes, enhancing textures and eliminating shadows.

In the kitchen, a combination of fluorescent and incandescent light is the best solution. Incandescent light enhances food colors and gives the room a warmer atmosphere, while fluorescent is a good work light, giving more light per watt and per dollar yet not adding extra heat to an already warm kitchen. The important areas to light in the kitchen are the coun-tertops, stove, sink and serving areas. The light from these areas will provide general illumination.

For a variety of other work-area light problems, fluorescent light may also be the answer. Sleek, new decorative fixtures such as Lytetubes by Lightolier come in rich colors and shiny metallics.

The area where atmosphere is most important and function is least stressed is the bedroom. A soft, relaxing light is most often desired and can be achieved through the use of portable lamps with incandescent bulbs. These sources, placed by the bed, provide light for reading while giving a warm glow to the room. Accent light on artwork will also provide light where it is needed and contribute to the overall ambiance of the room. The biggest decorating mistake one can make in the bedroom is to assume that one fixture in the middle of the room is all that is necessary. This method guarantees failure and either a harsh, glaring light or a diffused, flat wash.

Lighting in dens and family rooms should come from several sources, each on dimmers so that different moods can be created for work, entertainment or relaxation. Again, the key here is to put light only where you need it. A portable lamp is excellent for reading or task situations and can be decorative as well as functional. Artwork, sculpture, flower arrangements and large plants should all be accented with unobtrusive directional spotlights, which create a sculptural effect. In this room as in others, the goal is to see the light, not the fixture. Fixtures should not allow you to look into a bare bulb or catch reflected beams. Indirect light that points toward the walls and reflects light is softer and more comfortable.

Accent lighting can be used for dramatic effects and emphasis in uninteresting entryways and in dark hallways. With proper lighting, these areas can become showcases for artwork and can provide a focal point for otherwise dismal areas. Narrow incandescent spot lamps with adjustable fixtures can give the right accent for a painting, and dimmers can be used to control the light on these objects. A finely accented art object at the end of a dark hallway is quite dramatic.

Maximum control over the light levels in a room can be achieved with dimmers. If you use dimmers on as many individual fixtures as possible, you can vary the amount of light in several parts of the room. Good quality dimmers are manufactured by Lutron and Hybernetics. These systems can be keyed to produce specific lighting atmospheres and give you many mood choices.

Another way to create drama through the use of shadow is to back-light plants using an uplight on the floor behind the pot. Unusual patterns arise on the wall and ceiling as light shoots up through the plant. Plants can also be lit with a spot from above. This use of lighting around plants is particularly useful in front windows, which may be beautiful if uncurtained by day when sunshine streams through, but become black holes at night.

Quality in fixtures is especially important when recessed lighting is used. Paying more for quality makes the difference here, because the more-expensive fixtures with the deeper cans keep the light source high in the ceiling and out of view. They also have greater adjustment capabilities and their reflectors are more precisely engineered to reflect light evenly. A number of companies manufacture similar fixtures, but the best quality will come from the Lightolier Calculite series, Edison Price or Prescolite.

The Lightolier Lytecaster series is a less-expensive version of recessed lighting. These fixtures often need special shades to hide the bulb because they fall so low in the can and are easily seen. Another disadvantage of this series is that since the adjustable fixtures will only adjust to 30 degrees, they are not useful on sloped ceilings.

The most exciting decorative fixtures on the market are those designed by the Italians, who seem to be the only people who have really learned to coordinate form and function in their lighting. Many of these lights are available at Via Condotti and S. Vogue. Companies such as Artemide, Flos and Stillnova offer lamps strung on taut wires from ceiling to floor, artistic sculptural shapes and other lamps modeled after car headlights. Most come in a selection of colors.

If your tastes run toward the historic rather than the sci-fi -if you’re more interested in a period look – Progress offers a reasonably priced new line of antique fixture reproductions. Halo makes a series of novelty fixtures for track lighting that can be used in more historical settings or restored interiors.

A more theatrical effect can be achieved with fixtures from Lightolier that resemble the ones used on stages: Shutters open or close, letting in a narrow or wide beam spread. Colored gels can also be used with these to paint the room a sultry purple or a glaring red. Pattern projectors, which shine patterns onto walls or ceilings, are also available. These are sort of psychedelic-chic, straight from the disco to the living room.

Color choices are not to be neglected when choosing lighting methods. Remember that soft pastels reflect more light than saturated colors, which absorb light. Pastels can be made richer through the use of light. Incandescent light makes colors warmer. And the lower you dim these lights, the more yellow the light becomes.

Be careful when choosing paper and paint shades because colors will always look darker once on a wall. Paint should be tested directly on the walls under the light in which they will be seen. People often carry a paint chip home, stand in the room they are going to paint and look down at the swatch of color in their hand. This is deceptive, because this is not the angle at which the light will hit the painted walls.

Dark walls can be washed with light to bring out the color, or they can be lighted so that the objects on the walls are highlighted and the walls seem to disappear. Color is relative to what surrounds it. Intense color will reflect onto surrounding walls and fixtures.

Architect Luis Barragan took the study of light and shadow a step further by using color. He knew that color changes according to light and surroundings, so he used stucco walls as screening devices for the sun, painting them vivid colors and creating, at once, private areas of soft shaded hues and public areas of bright direct color. As the sun changes during the day or with the season, the walls change also.

The most important aspect of lighting for residential interiors is visual balance. This is created through the correct combinations of fixtures, lamps, dimmers and colors and will produce a successful light and, therefore, a successful atmosphere for the whole room.

As with white wine and romance, the more you learn about lighting, the less simple it becomes. For this reason, yet another specialty profession has been born: lighting design. An expert can be hired to consult with you or to design an entire lighting package for your home for $75 an hour and up. Lighting designers combine technical engineering with conceptual art, and if the effect they want is not available from marketed sources, a lighting designer should have the ability and resources to provide the fixture that fills your needs.

New Yorkers and Californians have employed lighting designers and consultants for years, but it is only recently that Tex-ans have acknowledged a need for help. Craig Roberts of Architectural Lighting Design seems to have the corner on the market in Dallas. This talented young Parsons graduate came to Dallas six years ago and now has quite an impressive client list.

Bruce Yarnell, formerly a lighting consultant for the architecture firm of Howard K. Smith, has also opened a lighting design office in Dallas, Lighting Consultants International.

It is a full-time job to keep up with all the lighting sources on the market, not to mention knowing what each fixture and lamp does best. Lighting salespeople are a less-expensive source of information than lighting designers. Gloria Koch at Summers Electric on Spring Valley Road has excellent sales experience and has the distinction of an electrician’s license. Distributors such as Summers Electric have no display, but offer bargain prices because they do not pay for a showroom.

Mary Tatum with Lightolier is one ofthe most knowledgeable consultants in theindustry. And Rogers Your LightingCenter has a new salesman, Rod Tommey,who has a background in architecture andis a helpful consultant.