Historical Design Practices  Historically, it was common practice to have

Historical Design Practices  Historically, it was common practice to have ambient lighting provide all the lighting in a space.  Banks of light fixtures were routinely used to uniformly light classrooms, offices, manufacturing work spaces, and retail stores.  Uniform banks of light fixtures provided light in all areas of the space, which offered flexibility in situating and repositioning the workstations in the space (e.g., desks in an open office could be moved with little concern over inadequate lighting).  Uniform ambient lighting is uninteresting to the occupant and very wasteful because of high investment in rows and rows of light fixtures.  It has been found that ambient lighting is more efficient and psychologically effective when used as a soft, background light combined with additional local lighting at the workstation and accent lighting to feature artwork or a display. FORMS OF ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING
Architectural Lighting Good architectural lighting is crucial to the performance of everyday activities and to the appreciation of the built environment. ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING DESIGN  Architectural

lighting design is both a science and an art, and there is no single correct lighting solution for all situations.  A good designer studies and evaluates existing lighting installations and blends knowledge gained from these observations with use of scientific principles in creating new designs.  The scientific principles introduced are relied on to formulate proper levels of illuminance and to make the lighting installation efficient. The creative side of lighting design helps make the space aesthetically interesting and psychologically comfortable.  Because lighting is an integral part of the building, the lighting designer must work closely with the architect to achieve a lighting solution that blends with and becomes a part of the architectural design.  Photos 20.25 and
20.26 show the contrast between a traditional classroom lighting installation and a modern installation, which offers a more comfortable seeing environment because there is less glare.