MAGAZINES NOVEMBER 15, 2007 ARX building N 12

1. How and why various buildings - inhabited, public, monuments - are highlighted? The request to tell more in detail about illumination of each of types of the buildings, what light scripts are possible, what fixtures are used and why.

At the decision of any light problem we always balance between five main parameters: function, aesthetics, operation, energy consumption, cost.

At any strong skew aside one of these parameters the project ceases to be viable.

For example, even the most attractive residential building from the point of view of architecture has many restrictions on the opportunity of its advantages illumination.

Naturally, these restrictions concern the comfortable stay of the people living in this building during that moment when night illumination turns on.

Therefore there are many restrictions of possibilities concerning the illumination of residential buildings, especially if their architecture is minimal on style.

The majority of similar restrictions are removed on business and shopping centers and on other constructions, therefore they look at night differently and it's much more pleasant working with them.

2. What specificity of skyscrapers' illumination in? In all. In general the skyscraper is the one separate specificity.

More often the skyscraper is the luminous object.

I mean light involved spontaneously in internal premises during dark time of day.

There are some exceptions: opaque or mirror facades of skyscrapers.

Basically it is accepted to highlight any top, crowning elements, dominants of skyscrapers: crowns, spikes, wreaths or something similar.

Also shaving illumination along facades so-called light streams of high capacity with digit sources and concentrating optics is very popular.

With the advent of diode sources there was the opportunity to establish the devices of new generation on facades of skyscrapers, without the fast necessity of service or replacement.

And the opportunity of the removed management of diode systems also has allowed us creating the light dynamic installations, allowing realizing new creative ideas or, if keeping up to date, creating media facades.

3. What the media facades are? What their basic competitive advantage consists in?

Being expressed simply, the media facade is strongly rarefied monitor.

Probably, many readers saw facades of buildings opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Basically, it is the first signs of media facades in Moscow.

Now there are easy flexible constructions - grids which don't cover the facade in the afternoon and perfectly work in twilight and at night.

Media facade is a facade capable to transfer a dynamic picture in full color.

Certainly, besides, in my opinion, first of all, it is the advertising-marketing tool, and only pretty poor last it is the architectural or light tool. Though, if you don't broadcast something especially advertising, it is possible to use a palette somehow, from the art party.

Imagine, if you repeat a structure of glass fixing of any large glass (by the way, not necessarily glass) facade in color diode tubes, then on a certain distance, for example, 0.8 meters it changes to the monitor.

4. How in modern light design the questions of energy saving are solved? As has been said, it is necessary to balance. A choice of devices and applied light sources is the most effective tool in the decision of questions of energy saving for today.

Actually, in most cases, the equipment, more economical and more effective from the point of view of the energy saving, is the most expensive. All the investors don't understand it at once. Certainly, in time these investments will be paid off.

By the way, according the modern tariffs it occurs enough early. Earlier, it was not actually, but now - rather. On great office areas, we shall tell from 10 000 square meters the system of the automatic control of light exposure depending on intensity of getting natural light is very actual.

That is, it is the automatic control over intensity of a luminescence, and, hence energy saving, of the placed light devices depending on time of day, weather, season, duration of light day etc. All of us, we connect the great hopes with diode technologies concerning the energy saving.

The matter is that a light-emitting diode for today is the most effective and a long-term light source in operation. But its opportunities of application are limited because of the limited capacity and, as consequence, of a spectrum of the decision of great light problems.