Living withlow intensity and warm light:Designing light in living roomsthrough Nordic daylight qualities

This thesis concentrates on lighting preferencesin living rooms concerning Nordic lightqualities in winter. Living rooms are spaceswhere we relax, communicate, eat, gather andread. Lighting in living rooms gives hints aboutour perception and character.Nordic countries, there is something uniquethan others; use of light and daylight sensiblyand wisely. In the Nordic countries, where thelight and darkness change dramatically betweenthe seasons, the transitions have a specialsignificance. Higher the latitude, twilight hoursare getting longer, and it creates a homogeneoustransition between daylight and night.The thesis consists of literature research andsurvey. Literature research concerning the topicbriefly explains different aspects of the color oflight, its effects on performance, basic lightingsolutions and Nordic daylight qualities in winter.Furthermore, the culture of window lightingand use of daylight as a background are studiedand added to the survey in order to understandthe relation between indoor and outdoor lightqualities from the participants’ perspective.The survey with twenty-one questions andseventy-two participants tries to evaluatehow Nordic light affects people’s preferences.Evaluation and results followed by thediscussion of desired color temperature, lightinglevel, comfortability under Nordic daylight inwinter. Additionally, paintings from differentseasons help me to understand awareness oflocal daylight and attention of participants.Results show us that the attention people giveto the desired light intensity and colors aremore related to the people’s interests than totheir background, profession and length ofstay in Stockholm. It would be interesting toinvestigate this topic with more people who livein Stockholm more than five years.The concentration of the thesis is understandinghow local daylight conditions can affect people’slighting preferences in their living room.Results will help us to implement the knowledgeand collected information into the lightingdesign process in living rooms in Nordic countries