ILLUMINATION
Welcome to the inaugural electronic version of Columns.
If you are reading this note, light is most likely being emitted – not bounced – from a device connected to the hidden electro-digital infrastructure of our worldwide communication network.
When the editorial team convened to discuss the new format, it became clear that moving the publication from print to digital represented a profound conceptual shift. In the backlit nature of the medium, content, and light source are one. Leaning into what might be an offshoot of Marshall McLuhan’s assertion that “the medium is the message,” the editorial goal is to turn on the lights and make the invisible around us visible.
But this is not a celebration of technology. Columns remains fundamentally dedicated to highlighting the architectural and cultural achievements around us.
Much has been written and theorized about the role of light in design, most notably in the compilation of Louis Kahn’s thoughts in the book Light Is the Theme. A more appropriate dictum for Columns might be “Form Follows Photons,” as the essays and projects featured in the publication reveal the seemingly invisible aspects of design.
Arguably, a few things have been left behind in this new format, but many opportunities are being revealed. Akin to the Lumiere Brothers’ introduction of the moving picture, we can now tell stories with motion and sound. Readers can sit in the dark, pinch-zoom, and share with hyper-portability. While the speed of light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, is nearly instantaneous and the barrage of digital information is quickly consumable (if not always digestible), we hope this version of Columns slows you down, immerses you, and allows you to see things differently.
Our theme for this issue, Illumination, embodies the spirit and energy of the Columns architecture community and its work. And though studies show we now spend more time looking at screens than we do sleeping, here you will read about safety and well-being, new forms of storytelling, the technology curve of residential lighting, and behind-the-scenes theater lighting.
Ron Stelmarski, FAIA