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Against any Bans

From zéNuno Sampaio
Friday 3rd August 2007


I am totally against any ban of any kind. Especially the ban-alisation of the space experience, whether domestic, commercial or working.

By defending the ban of the main tool we have for good Architectural Lighting Design we may be making the apology of the end of the reason for quality values.

I totally agree that comfort means today environmental awareness and energy efficient solutions must be pursued for a sustainable well-being.

I totally agree that energetic constrains must be seen as design challenges for a problem-solving attitude, and that the designer must be aware and practice alternatives.

What I don't agree, and will be hard to prove me wrong, is that Lighting should be on the priorities list for solving the negative environmental impact of the human activity.

As a young but experienced Lighting Designer, from stage background to architecture, I prefer to admit that Building Integrated Photovoltaic possibilities will be our moral responsibility and our professional way for rethinking Light.

From Light to Lighting is in my opinion what Lighting Design may add positively to our dark scenario of fossil fuels dependency.

Yes. The energy we spend with incandescent lamps is enormous. Many of the present applications could suffer a functional substitution for other light sources, but many other applications are impossible to be performed with the alternative CFL, as proposed.

Just imagine that romantic dinner that once changed your life under a CFL. If your are not capable of imagining this maybe is because there is some human touch missing in your daily routines.
The bulb helps to that.

You can convince a Nordic that Fluorescent lamps are environmental friendly.
Can you convince the same Nordic to stop doing electrical sauna for the same reason?

Architectural Lighting Design should stand for quality and that means,
to be capable to a holistic approach to the Human existence, without fundamentalisms like banning.

If not:
Ban the car you drive.
Ban the airplane you fly.
Ban the plastics you wear.
Ban the exotic food you like.

And life will tend to green again.