Effects of different lighting arrangements on space perception

The importance given to the quality of lighting design has increased in recent years. This makes lighting design more an art than an engineering problem and it is closely related to the way a space is perceived. It is difficult to discuss perception as it is the subjective interpretation of a certain situation. This study concentrates on the quality of lighting and the relation between the lighting arrangements and perception. A room that has four different lighting arrangements was prepared and the differences between the perception of the participants under each lighting arrangement was analyzed in terms of the six impressions, clarity, spaciousness, relaxation, privacy, pleasantness and order. The variation in these terms due to the alterations in the lighting systems was studied. The age, gender and the eye deficiency of participants were collected as personal data and their relations to the process of perception were taken into account.