residentialarchitect Magazine: Exposure to natural light during the daytime may enhance employee performance, but many work areas lack access to sufficient daylight. Rather than running the overhead electric lights at full power, consider adding user-controlled tasklights at workstations. We’ve rounded up the latest fixtures whose innovative technology and streamlined design takes desktop illumination to a new level.
8 comments:
I love all these lights. I think it is really important to have sunlight-like light in the workspace, I know 33 has a great lack of it. Sometimes without the natural light it feels like the space is so much smaller and it's hard to focus. Natural light also just creates a much happier, energetic workplace because life comes from the sun so to see the light we feel alive. We should definitely look into investing in a couple of these for around the building. The fluorescent and incandescent mix we have going on is just not cutting it- in 33 we tend to almost always turn off the fluorescents because they are such an ugly harsh light, so we are left with the relatively dim incandescents with do not lend well to seeing what we are doing and make it feel like it's time to sleep.
Lastly, I really like how these are all personal workspace lights because so often one person wants more light and everyone else likes the peaceful darker room (especially in the morning where we actually get real sunlight for a while) so being able to control your own light is great.
This is so important! It sounds a bit silly, but choosing the right lighting in a workspace is one of/if not the most important aspect of making sure that your workspace is going to be an enjoyable and productive place to, well, do work in. I know I always would rather work in a place with some more concentrated lighting if your lighting choices are limited, or somewhere (like Monica suggested) with natural light. Or, somewhere that has artificial lighting that mimics the effects of natural lighting.
The article points out some work lights that not only are easy on the eyes, but can provide a high quality beam of light that would make working at a desk that much more of a pleasurable experience.
For a school that has a whole program on lighting a lot of people seem to glance over the affect proper lighting has on your work space. Like Monica said 33 has some of the worst lighting, last year I would have to bring in a desk lamp for certain tasks just to be able see what I was doing and not have harsh light on me. Design 1 and Design 2 however those really great ceiling windows that open and let in great natural lighting. The more natural the light is the easier it is to work in a space. No one wants to work in a studio that has harsh or uneven lighting. Living off campus this year I have found getting my room to have good lighting for work to be a challenge and had to invest in a couple of desk and floor lamps. These were totally worth it though because I created a good work environment.
I love these lights! I am kind of obsessive about my work-light; at my desk at home I have a floor lamp and two different architect-style desk lights which I can aim at different areas of the desk or angle upwards for ambient light. I agree with everyone who was mentioning the lights in 33- I remember that being one of my least favorite things about working in studio last year. In addition to only having the choice between harsh florescents and orange incandescents, it seemed like everyone was always arguing over how many of the lights should be on. Design I and II are much better because of the natural light from the windows. This also reminds me of the lights in the locker hallway on the second floor of Purnell. It's one of the only places in the building where a person can work relatively quietly, but the lighting is so terrible (an awful kind of sickly orange color that for some reason reminds me of chlorine swimming pools) that I hate being there and avoid it as much as possible. Obviously the lights in this article are very expensive and not something we'd have access to, but LED lighting in general seems like a very interesting field that has great potential for solving some of these common issues.
Lighting is very important in creating a work environment, but I would say that it is only one factor of what is a very big picture. I feel that a workspace should be truly your own. You need to be comfortable and free, but still feel safe and engaged in your work. Lighting can play a role in this by telling you where to direct your focus. The lamps that are listed out in this article look to be very productive, but in the end it comes down to what will work for you. For some, natural light is the only way to go. While maybe for others it is only florescent light (not me, but could be for some). No matter what it is you just do you.
This is something that is so helpful, but people rarely think about. Having a great desk light can completely change your experience of working at a desk. I know that I have a harder time working in the studios when the fluorescents are on, while being in a dimmer space with a more concentrated light helps me focus. It is also easier on my eyes. We spoke a lot about being aware of the smaller details in Hawk V. Handsaw this semester and as a result we all became a lot more familiar with the different settings for the studio lights during our projects. This has now spilled over into how I set the lights for when I go into the studios for other work.
Proper lighting of your workspace is probably one of the the most important factors in productivity output. And if we have to see a light fixture in such close proximity to ourselves, why not make it also pleasing to the eye itself? I've always hated the look of clipstand lights a the tech table. I remember often when I was in highschool, I would bring in prop table lamps to illuminate the tech area in the house. It always looked so comforting from afar, and helped with some of the monotony of tech week.
In hindsight, prop table lamps were not really the best choice, as they are indeed props and such be treated as such, but also their light output was to uncontrollable. This article makes me hopeful for a future in which some of these very well designed lamps will make appearances at the tech table. Specifically the ones in which thought has been put into controlling not only the direction of the light but also intricate dimming capabilities as well.
I am a huge fan of task lights. I need to have a task light when im doing desk work or i get distracted too easily. However, I think most of the task lights discussed in this article are quite ugly. Most of the lights are very industrial and not very sleek. In terms of my own aesthetic, i would probably not find any of these complementary to the resk of my work space. The only one that i found interesting was the one with the green lamp shade. I like how this one appears to be an updated version of the classic accounting lamp. I find that to be a creative idea. The others look like mismatched erector sets.
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