Monica Cota: Color and Light Lecture by Barbara Klinkhammer

Light is a form of radiant energy and it is the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. White light contains all colors. If there is no light there is no color. In the color spectrum violet has the shortest ray and red has the longest. Sunlight contains all colors from the light spectrum. It is the perfect white light.

Different light sources have different distributions of color.

Incandescent

Fluorescent

Low Pressure Sodium

Interior spaces are effected by both daylight and artificial light. Natural light is different throughout the day so the orientation of spaces can effect how light looks in the space. North daylight is good for color matching because it has less red, orange, and yellow. Afternoon light has more red, orange, and yellow giving a glowing appearance.

No two surfaces are the same color because light hits them all differently. Floors get the most light then the wall facing the light source gets the next greatest amount of light. After those comes the wall perpendicular to the light source then the ceiling. The wall with its back to the light gets the least amount of light in a room.

Lighter surfaces are more reflective than darker surfaces and shiny surfaces are more reflective than dull surfaces. Both light illuminating and light reflected can be measured with a meter.

There are three ways to measure light:

1.) Color Temperature- Describes the color of a white light with kelvin. Light with a high color temperature has a bluish light and is greater than 5300 Kelvin. Light with a low color temperature has an orangish light and is less than 5300 kelvin.

2.) CRI- is the Color Rendering Index. It uses a rating system of 1- 100 with the higher number being better which is more able to reproduce colors similar to the colors produced in natural lighting.

3.) SPD- is Spectral Power Distribution. SPD differentiates by measuring the power in a section of a wavelength of an illumination.

General Interior Guidelines

Interiors with warm surfaces look best with warm lighting.

Interiors with cool surfaces look best with cool lighting.

Areas with much sunlight look best with cool artificial lighting.

Don't mix warm and cool lighting.

Colors Can Evoke a Mood