Vertical Surface Illumination
When wall lighting is added, Flynn discov-
ered that ratings shift to the positive for all
three categories of impression. Lighted verti-
cal surfaces reinforce feelings of spacious-
ness, clarity, and pleasantness.
Variation
Lack of variation in the built environment is
an obstacle that lighting helps to overcome.
Monotony results in boredom and depres-
sion: even a string of bright, sunny days will
become boring through overfamiliarity. Vari-
ation increases stimulation and impressions
of pleasantness.
One way to increase the load of office or
factory environments is to introduce stimuli
that vary over time; otherwise, workers
quickly become accustomed to the setting.
For example, areas for coffee and lunch
breaks that have greater contrast and sparkle
than the workplace introduce variety through
a change of the lighting condition, while also
encouraging sociability and conversation.
People using a library, as those in the
office and factory, benefit from more stimu-
lating lighting systems in areas used for
taking breaks, socializing, or simply day-
dreaming, for relief from the fatigue caused
by concentrated work. The typical library has
quiet stacks and cubicles conducive to
study, and other areas for relaxed reading
and scanning periodicals. People prefer less
loaded settings for difficult, complex materi-
als, and more loaded spaces for casual,
pleasant reading.
If workers are performing complex and
dangerous tasks, however, a pleasant low-
load lounge lowers their degree of stimula-
tion. Conversely, performance of low-load
tasks in dull settings benefits enormously
from pleasant and mildly stimulating diver-
sions. If you must wade through low-load
paperwork, such as reading reports, review-
ing dull proposals, or composing routine cor-
respondence, productivity is increased when
offices are provided with a means of altering
the lighting condition.
A fixed, ideal lighting solution that will
increase performance while a person is
doing a monotonous task is unattainable.
Changing all the lamps in a factory to an
improved-color light source is insufficient,
for example; in time, such a static modifica-
tion loses much of its stimulating value. A
controllable variability of the lighting environ-
ment is necessary and beneficial.
In addition to the lighting system, sur-
face finishes, textures, and colors also con-
tribute to the environmental load. In prac-
tice, they all must be considered at the same
time.PSYCHOLOGY