| Recorded at | October 10, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Event | TEDxAmsterdam |
| Duration (min:sec) | 16:30 |
| Video Type | TEDx Talk |
| Words per minute | 190.48 fast |
| Readability (FK) | 56.32 medium |
| Speaker | Rogier van der Heide |
| Country | Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| Occupation | engineer, architect |
| Description | lighting designer |
Official TED page for this talk
Synopsis
Lighting architect Rogier van der Heide offers a beautiful new way to look at the world -- by paying attention to light (and to darkness). Examples from classic buildings illustrate a deeply thought-out vision of the play of light around us.
| 1 | 00:16 | There's a beautiful statement on the screen that says, | ||
| 2 | 00:19 | "Light creates ambiance, light makes the feel of a space, | ||
| 3 | 00:25 | and light is also the expression of structure." | ||
| 4 | 00:28 | Well, that was not by me. | ||
| 5 | 00:30 | That was, of course, by Le Corbusier, the famous architect. | ||
| 6 | 00:34 | And here you can see what he meant in one of his beautiful buildings -- | ||
| 7 | 00:39 | the chapel Notre Dame Du Haut De Ronchamp -- | ||
| 8 | 00:43 | where he creates this light that he could only make because there's also dark. | ||
| 9 | 00:49 | And I think that is the quintessence of this 18-minute talk -- | ||
| 10 | 00:54 | that there is no good lighting that is healthy and for our well-being | ||
| 11 | 01:00 | without proper darkness. | ||
| 12 | 01:04 | So this is how we normally would light our offices. | ||
| 13 | 01:07 | We have codes and standards that tell us that the lights should be so much Lux | ||
| 14 | 01:12 | and of great uniformity. | ||
| 15 | 01:15 | This is how we create uniform lighting from one wall to the other | ||
| 16 | 01:20 | in a regular grid of lamps. | ||
| 17 | 01:22 | And that is quite different from what I just showed you | ||
| 18 | 01:26 | from Le Corbusier. | ||
| 19 | 01:28 | If we would apply these codes and standards | ||
| 20 | 01:31 | to the Pantheon in Rome, | ||
| 21 | 01:32 | it would never have looked like this, | ||
| 22 | 01:34 | because this beautiful light feature that goes around there all by itself | ||
| 23 | 01:40 | can only appear because there is also darkness in that same building. | ||
| 24 | 01:44 | And the same is more or less what Santiago Calatrava said | ||
| 25 | 01:48 | when he said, "Light: I make it in my buildings for comfort." | ||
| 26 | 01:53 | And he didn't mean the comfort of a five-course dinner | ||
| 27 | 01:56 | as opposed to a one-course meal, | ||
| 28 | 01:58 | but he really meant the comfort | ||
| 29 | 02:00 | of the quality of the building for the people. | ||
| 30 | 02:03 | He meant that you can see the sky and that you can experience the sun. | ||
| 31 | 02:08 | And he created these gorgeous buildings where you can see the sky, | ||
| 32 | 02:13 | and where you can experience the sun, | ||
| 33 | 02:15 | that give us a better life in the built environment, | ||
| 34 | 02:19 | just because of the relevance of light in its brightness and also in its shadows. | ||
| 35 | 02:25 | And what it all boils down to is, of course, the sun. | ||
| 36 | 02:29 | And this image of the Sun may suggest | ||
| 37 | 02:32 | that the Sun is something evil and aggressive, | ||
| 38 | 02:34 | but we should not forget | ||
| 39 | 02:35 | that all energy on this planet actually comes from the Sun, | ||
| 40 | 02:39 | and light is only a manifestation of that energy. | ||
| 41 | 02:44 | The sun is for dynamics, for color changes. | ||
| 42 | 02:48 | The sun is for beauty in our environment, | ||
| 43 | 02:51 | like in this building -- the High Museum in Atlanta, | ||
| 44 | 02:54 | which has been created by Renzo Piano from Italy, | ||
| 45 | 02:57 | together with Arup Lighting, a brilliant team of lighting designers, | ||
| 46 | 03:01 | who created a very subtle modulation of light across the space, | ||
| 47 | 03:08 | responding to what the sun does outside, | ||
| 48 | 03:10 | just because of all these beautiful openings in the roof. | ||
| 49 | 03:13 | So in an indirect way, you can see the sun. | ||
| 50 | 03:17 | And what they did is they created an integral building element | ||
| 51 | 03:21 | to improve the quality of the space that surrounds the visitors of the museum. | ||
| 52 | 03:27 | They created this shade that you can see here, | ||
| 53 | 03:30 | which actually covers the sun, | ||
| 54 | 03:34 | but opens up to the good light from the sky. | ||
| 55 | 03:37 | And here you can see how they really crafted a beautiful design process | ||
| 56 | 03:41 | with physical models, | ||
| 57 | 03:42 | with quantitative as well as qualitative methods, | ||
| 58 | 03:45 | to come to a final solution that is truly integrated | ||
| 59 | 03:49 | and completely holistic with the architecture. | ||
| 60 | 03:52 | They allowed themselves a few mistakes along the way. | ||
| 61 | 03:54 | As you can see here, there's some direct light on the floor, | ||
| 62 | 03:57 | but they could easily figure out where that comes from. | ||
| 63 | 04:00 | And they allow people in that building to really enjoy the sun, | ||
| 64 | 04:06 | the good part of the sun. | ||
| 65 | 04:08 | And enjoying the sun can be in many different ways, of course. | ||
| 66 | 04:12 | It can be just like this, | ||
| 67 | 04:14 | or maybe like this, which is rather peculiar, | ||
| 68 | 04:17 | but this is in 1963 -- | ||
| 69 | 04:20 | the viewing of a sun eclipse in the United States. | ||
| 70 | 04:24 | And it's just a bit bright up there, | ||
| 71 | 04:26 | so these people have found a very intriguing solution. | ||
| 72 | 04:30 | This is, I think, a very illustrative image of what I try to say -- | ||
| 73 | 04:33 | that the beautiful dynamics of sun, bringing these into the building, | ||
| 74 | 04:38 | creates a quality of our built environment that truly enhances our lives. | ||
| 75 | 04:42 | And this is all about darkness | ||
| 76 | 04:45 | as much as it is about lightness, of course, | ||
| 77 | 04:47 | because otherwise you don't see these dynamics. | ||
| 78 | 04:49 | As opposed to the first office | ||
| 79 | 04:51 | that I showed you in the beginning of the talk, | ||
| 80 | 04:54 | this is a well-known office, which is the Weidt Group. | ||
| 81 | 04:57 | They are in green energy consulting, or something like that. | ||
| 82 | 05:00 | And they really practice what they preach | ||
| 83 | 05:02 | because this office doesn't have any electric lighting at all. | ||
| 84 | 05:05 | It has only, on one side, this big, big glass window | ||
| 85 | 05:09 | that helps to let the sunlight enter deep into the space | ||
| 86 | 05:13 | and create a beautiful quality there and a great dynamic range. | ||
| 87 | 05:16 | So it can be very dim over there, and you do your work, | ||
| 88 | 05:19 | and it can be very bright over there, and you do your work. | ||
| 89 | 05:22 | But actually, the human eye turns out to be remarkably adaptable | ||
| 90 | 05:26 | to all these different light conditions that together create an environment | ||
| 91 | 05:30 | that is never boring and that is never dull, | ||
| 92 | 05:32 | and therefore helps us to enhance our lives. | ||
| 93 | 05:36 | I really owe a short introduction of this man to you. | ||
| 94 | 05:39 | This is Richard Kelly who was born 100 years ago, | ||
| 95 | 05:43 | which is the reason I bring him up now, because it's kind of an anniversary year. | ||
| 96 | 05:47 | In the 1930s, Richard Kelly was the first person to really describe | ||
| 97 | 05:52 | a methodology of modern lighting design. | ||
| 98 | 05:54 | And he coined three terms, | ||
| 99 | 05:56 | which are "focal glow," "ambient luminescence" | ||
| 100 | 06:00 | and "play of the brilliants" -- | ||
| 101 | 06:02 | three very distinctly different ideas about light in architecture | ||
| 102 | 06:06 | that all together make up this beautiful experience. | ||
| 103 | 06:10 | So to begin with, focal glow. | ||
| 104 | 06:12 | He meant something like this -- | ||
| 105 | 06:13 | where the light gives direction to the space | ||
| 106 | 06:16 | and helps you to get around. | ||
| 107 | 06:18 | Or something like this, | ||
| 108 | 06:19 | which is the lighting design he did for General Motors, | ||
| 109 | 06:22 | for the car showroom. | ||
| 110 | 06:23 | And you enter that space, | ||
| 111 | 06:24 | and you feel like, "Wow! This is so impressive," | ||
| 112 | 06:27 | just because of this focal point, this huge light source in the middle. | ||
| 113 | 06:32 | To me, it is something from theater, | ||
| 114 | 06:33 | and I will get back to that a little bit later. | ||
| 115 | 06:35 | It's the spotlight on the artist that helps you to focus. | ||
| 116 | 06:39 | It could also be the sunlight that breaks through the clouds | ||
| 117 | 06:42 | and lights up a patch of the land, | ||
| 118 | 06:45 | highlighting it compared to the dim environment. | ||
| 119 | 06:50 | Or it can be in today's retail, in the shopping environment -- | ||
| 120 | 06:54 | lighting the merchandise and creating accents that help you to get around. | ||
| 121 | 06:58 | Ambient luminescence is something very different. | ||
| 122 | 07:01 | Richard Kelly saw it as something infinite, | ||
| 123 | 07:04 | something without any focus, | ||
| 124 | 07:06 | something where all details actually dissolve in infinity. | ||
| 125 | 07:11 | And I see it as a very comfortable kind of light that really helps us to relax | ||
| 126 | 07:17 | and to contemplate. | ||
| 127 | 07:18 | It could also be something like this: | ||
| 128 | 07:20 | the National Museum of Science in London, | ||
| 129 | 07:22 | where this blue is embracing all the exhibitions and galleries | ||
| 130 | 07:27 | in one large gesture. | ||
| 131 | 07:30 | And then finally, | ||
| 132 | 07:31 | Kelly's play of brilliants added to that | ||
| 133 | 07:34 | really some play, I think, of the skyline of Hong Kong, | ||
| 134 | 07:37 | or perhaps the chandelier in the opera house, | ||
| 135 | 07:39 | or in the theater here, | ||
| 136 | 07:41 | which is the decoration, the icing on the cake, something playful, | ||
| 137 | 07:45 | something that is just an addition to the architectural environment, | ||
| 138 | 07:49 | I would say. | ||
| 139 | 07:50 | These three distinct elements, together, | ||
| 140 | 07:53 | make a lighting environment that helps us to feel better. | ||
| 141 | 07:56 | And we can only create these out of darkness. | ||
| 142 | 07:59 | And I will explain that further. | ||
| 143 | 08:00 | And I guess that is something that Richard Kelly, here on the left, | ||
| 144 | 08:03 | was explaining to Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe. | ||
| 145 | 08:06 | And behind them, you see that Seagram Building | ||
| 146 | 08:09 | that later turned into an icon of modern lighting design. | ||
| 147 | 08:14 | Those times, there were some early attempts | ||
| 148 | 08:17 | also for light therapy already. | ||
| 149 | 08:18 | You can see here a photo | ||
| 150 | 08:19 | from the United States Library of Medicine, | ||
| 151 | 08:21 | where people are put in the sun to get better. | ||
| 152 | 08:25 | It's a little bit of a different story, this health aspect of light, | ||
| 153 | 08:28 | than what I'm telling you today. | ||
| 154 | 08:30 | In today's modern medicine, | ||
| 155 | 08:33 | there is a real understanding of light in an almost biochemical way. | ||
| 156 | 08:38 | And there is the idea that, when we look at things, | ||
| 157 | 08:43 | it is the yellow light that helps us the most, | ||
| 158 | 08:45 | that we are the most sensitive for. | ||
| 159 | 08:47 | But our circadian rhythms, | ||
| 160 | 08:50 | which are the rhythms that help us to wake and sleep | ||
| 161 | 08:52 | and be alert and relaxed and so forth and so on, | ||
| 162 | 08:54 | they are much more triggered by blue light. | ||
| 163 | 08:57 | And by modulating the amount of blue in our environment, | ||
| 164 | 09:01 | we can help people to relax, or to be alert, | ||
| 165 | 09:05 | to fall asleep, or to stay awake. | ||
| 166 | 09:07 | And that is how, maybe in the near future, light can help hospitals | ||
| 167 | 09:13 | to make people better sooner, recover them quicker. | ||
| 168 | 09:18 | Maybe in the airplane, we can overcome jet lag like that. | ||
| 169 | 09:22 | Perhaps in school, we can help children to learn better | ||
| 170 | 09:26 | because they concentrate more on their work. | ||
| 171 | 09:28 | And you can imagine a lot more applications. | ||
| 172 | 09:30 | But I would like to talk further | ||
| 173 | 09:32 | about the combination of light and darkness | ||
| 174 | 09:38 | as a quality in our life. | ||
| 175 | 09:41 | So light is, of course, for social interaction also -- | ||
| 176 | 09:45 | to create relationships with all the features around us. | ||
| 177 | 09:48 | It is the place where we gather around | ||
| 178 | 09:51 | when we have to say something to each other. | ||
| 179 | 09:53 | And it is all about this planet. | ||
| 180 | 09:55 | But when you look at this planet at night, | ||
| 181 | 09:58 | it looks like this. | ||
| 182 | 09:59 | And I think this is the most shocking image in my talk today. | ||
| 183 | 10:02 | Because all this light here goes up to the sky. | ||
| 184 | 10:06 | It never reaches the ground where it was meant for. | ||
| 185 | 10:10 | It never is to the benefit of people. | ||
| 186 | 10:12 | It only spoils the darkness. | ||
| 187 | 10:14 | So at a global scale, it looks like this. | ||
| 188 | 10:17 | And, I mean, that is quite amazing, what you see here -- | ||
| 189 | 10:20 | how much light goes up into the sky and never reaches the ground. | ||
| 190 | 10:25 | Because if we look at the Earth the way it should be, | ||
| 191 | 10:28 | it would be something like this very inspiring image | ||
| 192 | 10:31 | where darkness is for our imagination and for contemplation | ||
| 193 | 10:35 | and to help us to relate to everything. | ||
| 194 | 10:39 | The world is changing though, | ||
| 195 | 10:40 | and urbanization is a big driver of everything. | ||
| 196 | 10:43 | I took this photo two weeks ago in Guangzhou, | ||
| 197 | 10:45 | and I realized that 10 years ago, | ||
| 198 | 10:47 | there was nothing like this, of these buildings. | ||
| 199 | 10:51 | It was just a much smaller city, | ||
| 200 | 10:54 | and the pace of urbanization is incredible and enormous. | ||
| 201 | 10:57 | And we have to understand these main questions: | ||
| 202 | 11:00 | How do people move through these new urban spaces? | ||
| 203 | 11:04 | How do they share their culture? | ||
| 204 | 11:05 | How do we tackle things like mobility? | ||
| 205 | 11:08 | And how can light help there? | ||
| 206 | 11:10 | Because the new technologies, | ||
| 207 | 11:11 | they seem to be in a really interesting position | ||
| 208 | 11:14 | to contribute to the solutions of urbanization | ||
| 209 | 11:18 | and to provide us with better environments. | ||
| 210 | 11:21 | It's not that long ago | ||
| 211 | 11:22 | that our lighting was just done with these kinds of lamps. | ||
| 212 | 11:26 | And of course, we had the metal-halide lamps | ||
| 213 | 11:28 | and fluorescent lamps and things like that. | ||
| 214 | 11:30 | Now we have LED, | ||
| 215 | 11:32 | but here you see the latest one, and you see how incredibly small it is. | ||
| 216 | 11:36 | And this is exactly what offers us a unique opportunity, | ||
| 217 | 11:40 | because this tiny, tiny size allows us | ||
| 218 | 11:43 | to put the light wherever we really need it. | ||
| 219 | 11:45 | And we can actually leave it out where it's not needed at all | ||
| 220 | 11:48 | and where we can preserve darkness. | ||
| 221 | 11:50 | So that is a really interesting proposition, I think, | ||
| 222 | 11:52 | and a new way of lighting the architectural environment | ||
| 223 | 11:56 | with our well-being in mind. | ||
| 224 | 11:58 | The problem is, though, that I wanted to explain to you how this really works -- | ||
| 225 | 12:02 | but I can have four of these on my finger, | ||
| 226 | 12:05 | so you would not be able to really see them. | ||
| 227 | 12:07 | So I asked our laboratory to do something about it, | ||
| 228 | 12:10 | and they said, "Well, we can do something." | ||
| 229 | 12:12 | They created for me the biggest LED in the world | ||
| 230 | 12:14 | especially for TEDx in Amsterdam. | ||
| 231 | 12:16 | So here it is. | ||
| 232 | 12:18 | It's the same thing as you can see over there -- | ||
| 233 | 12:20 | just 200 times bigger. | ||
| 234 | 12:22 | And I will very quickly show you how it works. | ||
| 235 | 12:24 | So just to explain. | ||
| 236 | 12:27 | Now, every LED that is made these days gives blue light. | ||
| 237 | 12:34 | Now, this is not very pleasant and comfortable. | ||
| 238 | 12:38 | And for that reason, we cover the LED with a phosphor cap. | ||
| 239 | 12:44 | And the phosphor is excited by the blue | ||
| 240 | 12:47 | and makes the light white and warm and pleasant. | ||
| 241 | 12:50 | And then when you add the lens to that, | ||
| 242 | 12:53 | you can bundle the light and send it wherever you need it | ||
| 243 | 12:56 | without any need to spill any light to the sky or anywhere else. | ||
| 244 | 13:00 | So you can preserve the darkness and make the light. | ||
| 245 | 13:03 | I just wanted to show that to you so you understand how this works. | ||
| 246 | 13:08 | (Applause) | ||
| 247 | 13:09 | Thank you. | ||
| 248 | 13:10 | (Applause) | ||
| 249 | 13:12 | We can go further. | ||
| 250 | 13:13 | So we have to rethink the way we light our cities. | ||
| 251 | 13:16 | We have to think again about light as a default solution. | ||
| 252 | 13:21 | Why are all these motorways permanently lit? | ||
| 253 | 13:23 | Is it really needed? | ||
| 254 | 13:24 | Can we maybe be much more selective | ||
| 255 | 13:26 | and create better environments that also benefit from darkness? | ||
| 256 | 13:30 | Can we be much more gentle with light? | ||
| 257 | 13:32 | Like here -- this is a very low light level actually. | ||
| 258 | 13:35 | Can we engage people more in the lighting projects that we create, | ||
| 259 | 13:38 | so they really want to connect with it, like here? | ||
| 260 | 13:41 | Or can we create simply sculptures | ||
| 261 | 13:43 | that are very inspiring to be in and to be around? | ||
| 262 | 13:45 | And can we preserve the darkness? | ||
| 263 | 13:47 | Because to find a place like this today on Earth | ||
| 264 | 13:50 | is really very, very challenging. | ||
| 265 | 13:53 | And to find a starry sky like this is even more difficult. | ||
| 266 | 13:57 | Even in the oceans, we are creating a lot of light | ||
| 267 | 14:00 | that we could actually ban | ||
| 268 | 14:01 | also for animal life to have a much greater well-being. | ||
| 269 | 14:05 | And it's known that migrating birds, for example, get very disoriented | ||
| 270 | 14:08 | because of these offshore platforms. | ||
| 271 | 14:10 | And we discovered that when we make those lights green, | ||
| 272 | 14:13 | the birds, they actually go the right way. | ||
| 273 | 14:15 | They are not disturbed anymore. | ||
| 274 | 14:17 | And it turns out once again | ||
| 275 | 14:19 | that spectral sensitivity is very important here. | ||
| 276 | 14:24 | In all of these examples, I think, | ||
| 277 | 14:26 | we should start making the light out of darkness, | ||
| 278 | 14:29 | and use the darkness as a canvas -- like the visual artists do, | ||
| 279 | 14:33 | like Edward Hopper in this painting. | ||
| 280 | 14:35 | I think that there is a lot of suspense in this painting. | ||
| 281 | 14:38 | I think, when I see it, I start to think, who are those people? | ||
| 282 | 14:42 | Where have they come from? Where are they going? | ||
| 283 | 14:45 | What just happened? | ||
| 284 | 14:46 | What will be happening in the next five minutes? | ||
| 285 | 14:48 | And it only embodies all these stories and all this suspense | ||
| 286 | 14:51 | because of the darkness and the light. | ||
| 287 | 14:53 | Edward Hopper was a real master | ||
| 288 | 14:55 | in creating the narration by working with light and dark. | ||
| 289 | 14:58 | And we can learn from that | ||
| 290 | 15:00 | and create more interesting and inspiring architectural environments. | ||
| 291 | 15:03 | We can do that in commercial spaces like this. | ||
| 292 | 15:06 | And you can still also go outside | ||
| 293 | 15:09 | and enjoy the greatest show in the universe, | ||
| 294 | 15:14 | which is, of course, the universe itself. | ||
| 295 | 15:17 | So I give you this wonderful, informative image of the sky, | ||
| 296 | 15:23 | ranging from the inner city, | ||
| 297 | 15:25 | where you may see one or two stars and nothing else, | ||
| 298 | 15:29 | all the way to the rural environments, | ||
| 299 | 15:31 | where you can enjoy this great and gorgeous and beautiful performance | ||
| 300 | 15:35 | of the constellations and the stars. | ||
| 301 | 15:38 | In architecture, it works just the same. | ||
| 302 | 15:40 | By appreciating the darkness when you design the light, | ||
| 303 | 15:44 | you create much more interesting environments | ||
| 304 | 15:46 | that truly enhance our lives. | ||
| 305 | 15:49 | This is the most well-known example, Tadao Ando's Church of the Light. | ||
| 306 | 15:53 | But I also think of Peter Zumthor's spa in Vals, | ||
| 307 | 15:59 | where light and dark, in very gentle combinations, | ||
| 308 | 16:02 | alter each other to define the space. | ||
| 309 | 16:04 | Or Richard MacCormac's Southwark tube station in London, | ||
| 310 | 16:08 | where you can really see the sky, even though you are under the ground. | ||
| 311 | 16:12 | And finally, I want to point out | ||
| 312 | 16:14 | that a lot of this inspiration comes from theater. | ||
| 313 | 16:16 | And I think it's fantastic that we are today experiencing TEDx | ||
| 314 | 16:20 | in a theater for the first time | ||
| 315 | 16:23 | because I think we really owe to the theater a big thanks. | ||
| 316 | 16:27 | It wouldn't be such an inspiring scenography | ||
| 317 | 16:30 | without this theater. | ||
| 318 | 16:31 | And I think the theater is a place where we truly enhance life with light. | ||
| 319 | 16:38 | Thank you very much. | ||
| 320 | 16:39 | (Applause) |