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2012 IES Illumination Awards

Reiko Chikada Lighting Design Inc. received Award of Merit for "Sky Hall Toyota Sub Arena" and "Tohoku University Center Hall and Book Cafe."

Sky Hall Toyota Sub Arena (Budo-kan and Sub Hall)

Our lighting design was required to express the spirits of Japanese martial arts and to provide a harmonious illuminance and light colors with the main gymnasium that had been completed before to form a night scape as one facility. In Budo-kan and Sub Hall, we emphasized the pillars to represent the dynamism and stylistic beauty of martial arts.

Toho University Center Hall and Book Cafe (Aobayama Higashi Campus)

The university is located in Sendai City, which was heavily damaged by the earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011. The rectilinear main building (Dining Hall and offices) and the spiral Book Cafe building were used as temporary shelters for the citizens. Both the Dining Hall and the Book Cafe are used mainly in the daytime. There, we added utilitarian and visually relaxing pendant lights to functional architectural lighting to create a cozy atmosphere for students. (Plan: Tohoku University School of Engineering, Architectural design: Yamamoto Hori Architects)

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Toda City Urban Landscape Advisors Committee

Reiko Chikada attended Toda City Urban Landscape Advisors Committee as a member. Redevelopment plan of "Kodomonokuni" was reviewed.

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The investigative commission on "Excluding the wasteful usage of energy and energy saving means in retail premises"

Reiko Chikada attended the investigative commission on "Excluding the wasteful usage of energy and energy saving means in retail premises" as a member.The members discussed about attractive shop lighting compatible with energy saving.It was held by Urban Sustainability Planning Division, Bureau of Environment,Tokyo Metropolitan Government.The commission plans to put together a report in autumn this year.

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Kawasaki City Urban Landscape Council

Hisae Nozawa (Reiko Chikada Lighting Design Inc.) attended 2012 Kawasaki City Urban Landscape Council as a member.The topics were the revision of landscape policy and standards,transition to designated landscape design district, revision of public area landscape guidelines.

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The Illumination Design Competition

Hisae Nozawa (Reiko Chikada Lighting Design Inc.) attended the Illumination Design Competition at Kawasaki City Takatsu Award office and selected a contractor as a judge.(Organizer: Mizonokuchi Station KIRARI Deck Illumination Planning Committee)

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Saigo statue illumination test was carried out.

Several illumination target areas, lamp color temperatures, and wattages were tested by setting the fixtures 12m above the ground. As a result, a narrow angle LED spotlight with color temperature adjusting function, ranging from warm white "evening sun light" to cool white "moon light", was adopted. The illumination will be completed at the end of August.
Image 1 and 2 :Tokyo Shimbun, 2012 June 16th (Sat.)

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"Saigo in Ueno to be Illuminated" printed in The Tokyo Shimbun

The statue of Takamori Saigo, the very famous leader during Meiji Restoration, was made by Koun Takamura in 1898.
Although it is one of the most famous landmarks in Ueno, it is now lit only by a nearby street light.
The lighting image of a model made by Reiko Chikada Lighting Design Inc. appeared in the paper.
The statue is planned to be illuminated by lighting fixtures placed on the roof terrace of "The Ueno Park Saigo Hall (Construction: Uenohirokouji Retailers Union, Architects: MHS Planners, Architects & Engineers.)"
The illumination will be completed at the end of August, 2012.

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Light+Building 2012

People from all over the world visited Light+Building 2012 held at Frankfurt from April 15 (Sun.) to 20 (Fri.)
We could realize the accelerated technology transition to high quality and high performance LEDs.
Origami-like lighting fixtures "IN-EI ISSEY MIYAKE" were impressive.

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Share Yaraicho completed

It is 6m wide, 12m long, and 10m high shared house for 7 individuals (Architect: Spatial Design Studio.)
The house has a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in spite of using LEDs in all 3 floors including the kitchen.

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Design Award for Light and Lighting 2012 Selection

Reiko Chikada attended the second selection of "Design Award for Light and Lighting 2012" organized by The Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan as a judge.

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2012 3rd Saitama City Planning Council

Reiko Chikada attended the Council as a member and discussed the modification on the Saitama City Planning.

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An apartment house lighting plan

A graphic designer's office. Lighting fixtures, each with 4m power cords, are simply mounted on the wooden bookshelves. They can be easily removed when moving out.

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Illuminance Criteria After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

Turning off the light was the most popular and poor energy-saving measure implemented after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which turned out to be a social experiment of �glight down�h since the oil shock. Many people should have realized how much unnecessary light had been used, as they found no trouble without light on trains and in train stations in the daytime.

On April 14, 2011, The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry published a notification to revise the form of �gGeneral rules of recommended lighting levels (JIS Z9110: 2010).�h It stated the emergency countermeasures responding to the energy saving need after the Fukushima nuclear accident: to provide ranges for the illuminance criteria and to lower the overall recommended illuminances by adopting the lower limit equivalent to approximately two-thirds of the existing criteria. Thus, for the outdoor spaces, 3 lux for residential district was revised to 2 lux, 5 lux for pedestrian road to 3 lux, and 20 lux for 40km/h vehicular traffic road to 15 lux.

While there was a lot of positive feedback on less illuminated outdoor spaces in nighttime urban areas, partial lighting operations created a dismal atmospheres in some interior spaces. It is reported that many companies are planning to turn off all fluorescent lamps on the ceilings and to provide LED desk lights in order to achieve energy saving of 90%. It is easy to assume that this measure would result in a stressful working environment since the ceilings and the walls would be too dark compared to the working plane.

My suggestion is, therefore, revising the illuminance criteria. Instead of �gthe average illuminance�h of the entire space, �gtask and ambient illuminance ratio�h stated in �gLighting of outdoor work places (JIS Z 9126:2010 4.3.3) �h should be applied to interior illuminance criteria. For example, recommended illuminance for office is now 500-750 lux in average. If we apply the �gtask and ambient illuminance ratio,�h the illuminance target would be 750 lux for the task plane and 100 lux for the entire room. It will bring about a high energy-saving effect and simultaneously create a comfortable environment.

Effective energy-saving measures are required as the emergency energy-saving countermeasures are likely to be prolonged. Light source considerations, lighting circuit planning, non-glare fixtures usage, daylight usage, and daylight-integrated controls are inevitable. In addition, it is necessary to make bold changes in the illuminance criteria to ensure comfortable lighting environment for workers�f mental health.

Lighting Designer, Reiko Chikada

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A Happy New Year