Principles of Designing an Experiential Lighting Showroom : Finding the Balance between Demonstrating the Experiential and the Technical-Aesthetical Qualities of Luminaires

Abstract: An analysis of existing showrooms showed that absence of atmosphere makes it hard for clients to imagine effects in a context, and that lack of guidance by the light makes the experience of the showroom overwhelming or static. Also, clients often prioritize luminaires' design over light effect, even in architectural lighting where design should be negligible. This thesis investigates whether it is possible by prioritizing light effect, to optimize the showroom experience and to direct clients' focus on the light, while minimizing the influence of design on the impression and eventually choice of luminaire. In order to achieve these goals, three main concepts are suggested – guiding light, contrasting atmospheres and sequence of presenting light effects first and luminaires afterwards. These enable good communication about light which is essential for clients to focus on the atmosphere created by the light, rather than price and design. Experiments were conducted in the basement of a Croatian company's office, where the exhibits were not the luminaires, but their light. Visitors' priorities before and after going through the installation changed significantly, which might mean that the light effect made an impact and influenced examinees to base their choice of luminaire more on light effect, than design. It is concluded that the used concepts contributed to putting more focus on the light itself. Instead of focusing solely on light experience or product, a balance between the two was achieved by prioritizing and showing the light effect first, and only afterwards joining it with the product, thus offering visitors a more complete experience of the luminaire.