Lighting, whether it be natural or artificial, can be use to do a variety of things:

to see...
to set the mood...
to perform tasks...
to highlight...
to announce or direct.

Hmm...looking at this list it seems like a big "Duh", but until tonight I'm not sure I'd have been able to articulate them. That's because tonight, with some trepidation, I attended a lecture presented as part of a monthly series entitled City Living Norfolk Style (a name in need of a colon or an elipses).

The series is presented as a service of some division of Norfolk government (I'll leave it at that because the variety of departments listed on the materials is staggering). At any rate, the handy dandy orange folder thingy I received stuffed with these materials was labeled as from the Norfolk's Neighborhood Design and Resource Center.

The lecture was titled simply "Lighting Design (Windows, Natural Lighting and Lighting)". The title was appropriate. Led by Steve Wright, an engaging lighting architect of the firm of Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas (those guys who designed that little building called the Feguson Center for the Arts), the hour long lecture was full of insightful information that I'm not sure I needed or wanted to know, but am happy to know that I now do. I learned about "glare bombs". I learned that many halogen lamps (they're "lamps" not "bulbs" these days) risk "non-passive failure". I learned that's it possible if your checkbook, I mean debit card, can bear it to purchase windows that will clean themselves when it rains (if you're interested I'm told they're made from "Hi-performance E4 glass" - this isn't the stuff you get at Home Depot.

Though twenty-four minutes into the lecture, Mr. Wright asked if "he was boring us to tears", I was happy to shake my head "No". Thanks to the lighting he could see me and continued.

My over-indulgence in coffee got the best of me a few minutes later and on the way to the restroom,

I was seeing things through new eyes.

Mr. Wright's lecture was accompanied by a quality PowerPoint presentation that was always used with purpose and that he seemed to enjoy marking up with electronic pen for emphasis. He truly loves lighting and his passion came across throughout his presentation. He persevered through some difficulties with the interenet capabilities he had been provided, and instead directed us to websites including www.rejuvination.com for further study when we got home.

Overall, the lecture was an informative experience, the likes of which I would attend again. In fact you might just see me at 7:00 PM on May 17 when the next lecture in series, "Is My Porch a Portico? The Language of Architecture" is presented at 111 Granby Street - and I don't even have a porch.