Light and sense of place: an analytical study of the effect of lighting in lecture theaters on emotional responses of users

Abstract

Character of built environment influences the psychological well being of users and their emotional response to the place. Lighting of a place plays a major role when it comes to the emotional response of the user to a place. A misperception of a place occurs when the needed character for a place is not achieved. If the person is a regular user, this will cause a major impact on him. At present use of light and its effect on user psychology is not much thought of at the design stage; therefore it is essential to focus the attention of architects towards this issue. In this dissertation correlation between lighting (illuminance level, colour appearance and colour rendering) of lecture theaters and their impact on users emotional response is analyzed. Based on the results lecture theaters lighting design strategies are formulated.