In the right light

No-one knows the effects of light better than Ulrike Brandi. The Hamburg-born lighting planner has taken care of many international projects over the course of her career. In this issue of WORK, she tells us all about how to put your kitchen in the right light.

Crisp green vegetables, juicy red tomatoes, shimmering silvery fish – as the old adage goes, “you eat with your eyes”. Really fresh ingredients can look incredibly appetising on the worktop or kitchen island as long as the lighting is right. However, if the lighting has been poorly designed, the colours can look undefined and muddy, it can be hard to spot small bones, you can create shadows and any kitchen magic evaporates under harsh neon lights. The right lighting in a kitchen is a – somewhat neglected – art form.

This is why WORK sat down with Ulrike Brandi, the world’s best-known and most experienced lighting planner, to find out how to perfectly light a kitchen.

WORK: Ulrike Brandi, what matters when it comes to getting the right light in a kitchen?

BRANDI: The first and most important question you have to ask is: where is the window, where does the natural light come from? I would always put my worktop in this light. Maybe also a little table for cosy breakfasts with your other half in the morning. These two elements should always be as close to the natural light source as possible. This way, you can also always enjoy a – hopefully beautiful – view outside when working in the kitchen and when eating your breakfast.

So the natural light is always the starting point for you?

Yes, every lighting concept starts with the room and its position with regards to natural light. If we are lucky, we get to work with architects early on and the client says that they want to work around the natural light that their building gets. Then we can have some influence. I once worked with an architect who actually changed the location of a restaurant in a hotel in his ground plan. He wanted the restaurant to be oriented east and I pointed out that anyone eating breakfast in the restaurant would not stay for long. The best orientation for a restaurant is towards the west so that diners can watch the sunset. I thought it was fantastic that he listened to what I had to say.

„You need to make sure that the light can move. The most important thing is to make the light reach where you actually need it.“

Ulrike Brandi, lighting planner

Does this principle apply to private homes and apartments, too?

Of course. I advise all self builders to think about their lighting early on while they are still in the planning stages. Lighting is not simply about installing a light here or there. You have to start with the natural light. How does it behave in the space? How far into the space does it reach? What kind of mood do I get from the room? In some places, you even have to ask yourself: where should I block out the natural light because it might be too much? There are a lot of good options here, too. It is surprising how important shade has become, even up here in the north, because of climate change.

What are the advantages of natural light when you can always create optimal lighting with good lights?

Natural light adds atmosphere and also serves as a guide. The worst thing about living in a windowless space is that you lose all concept of time. There is also the health aspect to consider as we do not get enough natural light when we are inside, and artificial light really does not do much to help. Not only is natural light important for your mind, it can also help you sleep better. Studies in hospitals have shown that when you try to simulate natural light, people actually heal quicker and need less medication.

Now, not everyone has a massive window in their kitchen or can choose the ideal room. So what should you think about when planning the lighting in your kitchen?

We use our kitchens at many different times: on bright summer and grey November days and in evenings when the world outside the window is dark and you cannot really see anything outside. A subtle, delicate light in the garden can help to make a space feel larger. To accommodate changing natural light, you may need and want different artificial lighting options. Grey November days need the most light. Indirect light with high colour temperatures around 4000 Kelvin cast onto the ceiling in living areas can make a space look taller. When the sun is shining, I mainly need my light on my worktop if it is not directly in front of the window. Then I have evenings, when only artificial lighting is truly effective. When I am working in the kitchen, I like my worktop to be well lit. As such, I like to position a well-oriented light above it that does not – and this is very important – blind me. I also like to add another low light over the dining table, something like a pendant light, that is quite close to the table but not in the way. If you use candles, the point of light should not be too high; otherwise, it prevents you from seeing the person sat opposite. Candles are nice and cosy, though. They look beautiful if you put them on a sideboard, for example. The wonderful thing about them is that the flames move, and this movement can be seen on the walls.

Let’s go back to the height of the point of light...

Of course, I can make sure that light is directed downwards from the ceiling onto my dining table by using a downlight and creating an island of light. But if the light comes from a point on the pendant light that is quite low, it gives an even cosier effect. From an atmospheric point of view, it is important to have several other points of light in a room. This can be achieved with wall lights or a small desk lamp. This way, you do not simply sit around a well-lit area, you can also see the other areas of the room. With this method, not everything around you is dark. You can find your bearings within the space and understand that it is not endless but has its limits somewhere. This makes me feel safe and secure.

„You perceive light subconsciously because it is everywhere and we take it for granted.“

Ulrike Brandi

Do you not often feel that it is too dark in modern, “cosy’” restaurants?

Well, it creates a lovely atmosphere, but when I am eating, I like to know what I am eating and what it looks like. I want to see the colours. As someone of a certain age, I feel somewhat discriminated against when I cannot read the menu. As soon as you hit 40, you need more light to see well. Often, there is a general dim light, but that is not necessarily comfortable. Or the island of light that it provides is far too small. It should fill the table and the place where I hold the menu or have my plate. You must – and this, of course, also applies to lighting in your home – ensure that the light can be moved if you want to shift a table and change the seating arrangement. There are lights that you can move, but I also think that lights with cables running from a plug in the ceiling to the middle of a table are still better than having lighting in the wrong place. The most important things is to make the light reach where you actually need it.

A problem that taller people often experience is that they cast a shadow on their worktops. How can this problem be solved?

By not positioning the lights directly in the middle of the worktop. Instead, they should be a little further back, closer to the wall. Then it comes back to the actual light fittings. The best are those that you can adjust yourself. You can even add classic anglepoise lamps to the ceiling that can be pulled down and positioned exactly where they are needed. The worst is when there is no worktop lighting at all, just the main room light that provides light from behind.

What do you think about lights under kitchen cabinets?

I think they are great, but you need to make sure that the light is hidden a little at the front. Otherwise it can blind you when you sit at your table. I use linear lights that you can tilt slightly so that they do not shine into the room so brightly.

How can you tell if something is wrong with the lighting?

You perceive light subconsciously because it is everywhere and we take it for granted. But lots of people notice if, for example, the light is not the right colour. If warm white LEDs and a cold white light are used in the same room, for instance. Oddly, the person that installed them usually never notices. LEDs are available in a range of different colour temperatures ranging from 2000 or 2200 Kelvin, very warm, to 2700 Kelvin, similar to older light bulbs, and up to 3000 Kelvin, which is suitable for offices. We actually developed lights with 4000 Kelvin for a project in Malta. This was done at the request of the customer, and as they live further south, these lights had a cooler effect inside the building. The temperature of natural light is around 10,000 Kelvin, so these were a lot cooler but also fresher.

I suspect that it is not just about the colour temperature but also the quality of the LED...

The LEDs that we use everywhere today are a great source of light because they are very energy-efficient, but we no longer really pay attention to the quality of the lights. LEDs have a thin light-emitting layer. They actually produce blue light that is then transformed into white light by this light-emitting layer. Lower-quality LEDs emit a white light directly forwards but more of a green light towards to the side. So you have to pay really close attention to the quality of the LED if you want to have good lighting. In any case, the colour rendering is particularly important.

How naturally are colours rendered under an artificial light source compared to natural light, or even light from a lightbulb?

Both have a colour rendering index of 100. When LEDs were first developed, nobody really paid attention to this so most of them have a colour rendering index of just 80. This means that all colours looked slightly muddy. We look forward to a beautiful sunset by the sea and completely forget that we can have a huge impact on how our kitchen looks if we skimp on lighting. You probably spent hours thinking about the colours of your cabinets, chair cushions or floors and took the time to carefully pick out the wood you want only for it to all look grey because you chose the wrong light. That is a welldeserved punishment (laughs). Luckily, there are more and more LEDs with a CRI of 90. Most museums try to use LEDs with a CRI of 99. Anything between 95 and 99 is already pretty good.

How can you find out the colour renderingindex of an LED if the packaging only features the number of watts and the Kelvin, i.e. “warm white” or “cool white”?

You can find the RA or CRI value, oftenin very small print, on the packaging. This is the colour rendering index. Unfortunately, DIY shops usually only sell LEDs with a CRI of 80.

The light bible

Ulrike Brandi studied under legendary designer Dieter Rams at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. To date, Ulrike and the team from her office, which is located just opposite Hamburg’s warehouse district, have successfully completed over 1,000 projects. These include designing the master plans for the British Museum and the new Royal Academy of Music in London, the French National Natural History Museum in Paris, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Terminal 2 of Munich Airport, Rotterdam Central Station, the Victory Column in Berlin, the lighting concept for the new ICE 4 trains and numerous plans for private houses and apartments – including their kitchens. In 2012, she founded the Brandi Institute for Light and Design to train professional light planners. Her book “Light, Nature, Architecture: A Guide to Holistic Lighting Design” was published by Birkhäuser Verlag last year.

So how can we improve the lighting in our homes?

Think about it early on. It is a real tragedy that lighting is often not planned from the very beginning and only thought about at the end of a project when the budget is already all used up. I think that the only thing we can do is keep discussing it and let home-owners try different things to see what suits them best. You should ask yourself questions like: Does the lighting blind me? Does it blind me when I stand up or when I sit down? Is this really a light colour or temperature that I will enjoy throughout the day and in the evening? Would I like to dim it? Even though it is a bit gadgety, being able to control lighting from your mobile phone is making people more aware of lighting. You can even try out two different lighting situations in your home. Here is a tip: simply take a desk lamp with an extension cable and point the light up towards the ceiling and then down. It is really cosy and lovely. There are also smaller lights that can be placed on the floor. This can make a huge difference. They almost develop their own life. I think that trying out opposites can help to create a really good lighting plan.

Interview: Peter Würth Photos: Majid Moussavi, HÄCKER KÜCHEN Hair & Make-up: Eva Hennings

www.ulrike-brandi.de

You can find out more about lighting in our video:

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