An Architect’s Guide To: Recessed Lighting

Want a sleeker look? Then recessed wall lights might be just the thing you’re looking for. These have a minimalist design, which gives your façade a touch of architectural class. This type of wall light is often mounted under or next to stairs to make the steps clearly visible in the dark. You can also place it at the bottom of a wall as path lighting. These are virtually invisible during the day making these perfect for a modern architectural style with a clean façade.

Our favorite? It’s the extremely elegant Fuse USB Sconce from vakkerlight. You can choose between a black or a Nickel model. The light of this stylish recessed wall lamp is directed at a perfect angle to the ground to ensure it does not blind you.

Emanating out from a hollow opening in a ceiling, wall or floor, recessed lighting is a popular form of architectural lighting that can be specified across a wide range of typologies. However, from selecting the fixture all the way to positioning it on-site, it is both a subtle and complicated aspect of design for architects to perfect.

“It’s important to remember that recessed lighting is just one portion of the broader spectrum of architectural lighting,” designer says. In most cases, you will want to specify a variety of different lighting types and fixtures, as this will result in multiple layers of light. By doing so, you can create contrast and visual interest, and avoid a space that looks bland or stark.

While there are many types of recessed lighting on the market, “today it’s most appropriate to talk exclusively about integrated LED recessed lighting. There are still territories that will allow you to use non-LED lights, but they are dwindling very quickly.”

Shape: Square and round profiles are the most common shapes among recessed lighting, though endless custom profiles are also possible. For further inspiration on recessed linear profiles, check out Vakkerlight’s collection.

According to designer, “the greatest enemy of a lighting designer is not another lighting designer; it’s no lighting designer at all. What we hope to see in the future is advancement in education as far as specifying architectural lighting. It’s a very subtle science, and a very important one” that deeply affects the end result of a project.

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