Lighting and its design

by Leslie Larson

A book on the lighting of non-residential structures. including architects, interior designers and lighting consultants.. The author explains his own theory of lighting which is that quality of light is more important than quantity - it is not necessary to light offices with such tremendous candlepower in the ceilings that it is no longer possible to see shadows. --- The argument for quality of illumination is backed up by the 350 illustrations of lighting installations from Europe and U.S. For easy reference these are divided into sections according to the purpose of the lighting. Public Gathering places covers restaurants, theaters and auditoriums, churches and synagogues, for examples. Then there are sections on large and small Concourse Spaces; Work Spaces, which includes offices ticket windows, schools, industrial plants; Viewing Spaces which includes shops and stores, museums, exhibitions; Exterior Lighting including buildings lit from the inside and the outside as well as a few handsome nightscapes. There is also a section on lighting sources which includes luminous surfaces, skylights and windows, built-in lighting and fixtures both manufactured and custom made. --- The final section is devoted to critical essays on the lighting of eight buildings including the Guggenheim Museum, two campus buildings, a small business machine show room, Le Corbusier's Ronchamp Chapel, the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, and Cinemas I&II.

228 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1964

About the author

Leslie Larson grew up in San Diego, California, in a working class family. She is the author of Slipstream, which Dorothy Allison called, “A genuinely startling novel that caught me up in the lives of people used to being looked past, over, or beyond.” The New York Times called her second novel, Breaking Out of Bedlam, “A kick.” Sandra Cisneros said, “Leslie Larson is a writer of tales that are hilarious and heart-breaking at once—no easy feat, but the mark of great storytelling.” A veteran editor and copywriter for independent publishers, Leslie is the recipient of an Astraea Foundation Award and a Hedgebrook Writing Residency. She has taught writing nationwide and her work has appeared in O (The Oprah Magazine), Faultline, the East Bay Express, More magazine, Writer magazine, and the Women's Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.