For generations, task, ambient, and accent layers of light have led many, me included, toward a brighter future. But a lot has changed in lighting design.
There is nothing inherently wrong with task, ambient, and accent layers of light. These three types of lighting sometimes go by other pseudonyms like “play of brilliants” or “sparkle,” but in any form they have held the hopes and dreams of lighting professionals, design pros, and clients for many years.
As I look around today, I see a nearby floor lamp that provides all three layers — good strong task light directed down toward the chair, soft ambient light reflected off the ceiling, and comforting accent filtered through the lampshade. So perhaps we shouldn’t completely abandon task, ambient, and accent, but simply let them step aside into an advisory role.
The wide world of lighting has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, yet we still rely heavily on language and concepts that are older than I am. Task, ambient, and accent still act as stand-ins for good lighting, but they struggle to encompass all the complexities of our modern approaches.
Energy conservation was the primary focus of lighting design when I was starting out 25 years ago; an energy-first focus might render both ambient and accent lighting wasteful. Now, energy conservation is simply one of many important modern design considerations.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
There is growing interest in preserving night skies from light pollution (and saving energy and money at the same time). Light’s impact on human health and wellbeing is increasingly well-documented, yet we struggle to change lighting to respond to the research. And we have smart light bulbs that change colors in sync with daylight; this would have been nearly impossible to achieve when I started out.
Unfortunately, we stretch task, ambient, and accent layers to encompass these and other newer aspects of good lighting. They simply cannot hold the future. Indeed, we will consult that trio from time to time, but in reality we are going to do things differently from here on out.
Relying on outdated concepts, terminology, techniques, and technologies puts the industry at risk of failure. Think I am exaggerating? Visit a brand-new million-dollar home filled with wafer lights, see the glare bomb pendants over the kitchen island, and listen to the designer talk about undercabinet task light as part of the “great lighting” in the home.
Today’s lighting world would be nearly unrecognizable by the first users of task, ambient, and accent. We would astound them with our ability to submerge lights in the bottom of flower vases, the proliferation of solar novelties that litter our landscapes, light bulbs you can talk to and strip lights that can party.
I believe that they’d also urge us to keep up with the times.
David Warfel is Chief Evangelist of Light at design firm Light Can Help You (lightcanhelpyou.com).
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