Addressing variability as an expansion of naturalistic lighting theory for user wellbeing

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2017-01-01
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Zhang, Zhenru
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Fred Malven
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Interior Design
Interior design is an ideal academic home for energetic and inquisitive students seeking a meaningful, varied and creative profession. For each new problem encountered, interior designers use a variety of methods to investigate and analyze user needs and alternatives for satisfying them. Armed with this insight, they enhance interior spaces to maximize occupant quality of life, increase productivity, and protect public health, safety and welfare. The interior designer's ultimate goal is to transform generic, impersonal rooms and areas into unique, expressive spaces that provide the greatest possible "fit" with the values, personalities, roles and potential of their occupants. The Department of Interior Design was established in 2012. Previously, the Interior Design Program was in the Department of Art and Design.
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Abstract

This study is an exploration into the relationship between lighting and office occupant productivity and wellbeing, attempting to better understand how enhanced naturalistic lighting and lighting control might enable an environment that affects occupants positively. To explore the possibilities of this concept, a morphological research approach has been implemented to ultimately integrate the following three major lighting developments; human affinity to nature; accommodation of physiological, functional, and psychological aspects; and acknowledgement of the inherent need for variability and evolution.

This study consisted mainly of two segments. First, through the review of literature, three key lighting-oriented developments have been identified; human affinity to nature; accommodation of physiological, functional, and psychological aspects; and acknowledgement of the inherent need for variability and evolution. No lighting solution that integrates all these factors has yet been found. Second, the study introduces the concept of enhanced naturalistic lighting and its control schematic, holistically combining all three of these key developments. Future exploration of interior design implications related to enhanced naturalistic lighting and associated control systems will be discussed to clarify how such lighting systems could impact the wellbeing of the users.

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Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2017