“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.”
― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

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Did you know that when the first street lamp was invented and installed in the street of Paris, not so far back in the 19th century, people protested and destroyed the lamp with spears? 

Light is an interesting subject and for us it’s a continuous learning journey. Here’s a list of readings to help you understand it better: 

  1. In Praise of Shadow by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1933)
  2. Designing with Shadows: Lighting Design for Urban Environment and Architecture by Kaoru Mende + Lighting Planners Associates (2013)
  3. LPA 1990-2015: Tide of Architectural Lighting Design by Kaoru Mende + Lighting Planners Associates (2016)
  4. Handbook of Lighting Design by Rüdiger Ganslandt and Harald Hofmann (1992)
  5. Between Silence and Light: Spirit in the Architecture of Louis Kahn by John Lobell (1979)
  6. Lighting Design: A Perception Based Approach by Christopher Cuttle (2015)
  7. Urban Lighting for People: Evidence-Based Lighting Design for The Built Environment edited by Navaz Davoudian (2019)
  8. Illuminated Paris: Essays on Art and Lighting in The Belle Epoque by Hollis Clayson (2019)
  9. Electric Light: An Architectural History by Sandy Isenstadt (2018)
  10. Light for Art’s Sake: Lighting for Artworks and Museum Displays by Christopher Cuttle (2007)
  11. Light Revealing Architecture by Marriet S. Millet (1996)
  12. Architectural Lighting: Designing with Light and Space by Hervé Descottes with Cecilia E. Ramos (2011)
  13. The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in An Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard (2013)
  14. Lighting as an Integral Part of Architecture by Richard Kelly (1952)
  15. Catching the Light by Arthur Zajonc (1993)
  16. Illuminating: Natural Light in Residential Architecture by Michelle Corrodi and Klaus Spechtenhauser (2008)
  17. The Landscape Lighting Book by Janet Lennox Moyer (1992)
  18. Light Zone City: Light Planning in the Urban Context by Christa can Santen (2006)
  19. Light for Cities: Lighting Design for Urban Space by Ulrike Brandi and Christoph Geissmar-Brandi (2007)
  20. The Design of Lighting by Peter Tregenza and David Loe (1998)
  21. Human Factors in Lighting by Peter R. Boyce (1981)
  22. Billmeyer and Saltzman’s Principles of Color Technology by Roy S. Berns (2000)