Architectural Lighting: Government

Border Lines

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:19:33 EST

Light plays a critical role in meeting both the design and security requirements for U.S. land port of entry stations.

GSA Regional Field Office Building

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:19:42 EST

A secondary glass façade provides sun shading and softens visual boundaries.

DOE Modifies L•Prize PAR 38 Competition Requirements

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:25:11 EST

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced plans to modify the competition requirements for the L Prize's PAR 38 category. On Jan. 5, the DOE temporarily suspended the PAR 38 portion of the competition, and entries will not be accepted until that category reopens in May. The 60W replacement lamp competition category does remain open during this period. The DOE plans to announce and publish the revised PAR 38 requirements at Lightfair in May.

Green Lighting Icon

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:37:17 EST

Lighting designer Nancy Clanton is justifiably proud of her firm's involvement with the Empire State Building's ambitious green makeover.

Shimmer Wall, Raleigh, N.C.

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:52:31 EST

When the city of Raleigh, N.C., envisioned its new 500,000-square-foot convention center, displaying the building's massive air-conditioning system was not part of the design strategy. But given the building's prominent downtown location with all four elevations in public view, there was no “back of house” space to conceal the HVAC equipment. Left with the mechanical infrastructure sitting on the south façade along McDowell Street where upward of 80,000 cars drive by daily, the team had to figure out a way to hide the equipment with a visually pleasing treatment. The City of Raleigh, with its rich tradition of public art, called on local design firm, Clearscapes, to explore an artistic solution that would screen the unsightly equipment and create a dynamic art feature for the convention center.

Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:55:57 EST

outstanding achievement | exterior lighting

U.S. Capitol Dome Goes Green

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:11:23 EST

A plan is in motion as part of that program to update the exterior lighting scheme used to illuminate the Capitol Dome to improve efficiency, color, and maintenance.

Highlight: House of Sweden

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:37:43 EST

With the recently completed House of Sweden in Washington, D.C., this Nordic nation has created a “home away from home.” Located in Georgetown, on a prime waterfront site overlooking the banks of the Potomac River and bordering Rock Creek, the building celebrates the country's Scandinavian traditions of environmental awareness and design aesthetics that include a material palette of light, wood, stone, and glass.

Haus im Haus

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:03:49 EST

It seems only fitting that Haus im Haus (a house in a house), a project designed to provide new business service facilities for the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, should be located inside the Börsenhalle, the city's historic stock exchange building built in 1841 and long-time central meeting place of Hamburg's business world.

Custom House, New York City

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:07:14 EST

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, a 1907 Cass Gilbert masterpiece at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, contains many treasures. Portraits of explorers and carved wooden screens in the old collector's office vie to capture the visitor's eye, often losing out to the colorful fresco cycle of ocean liners adorning a Gustavino vault in the huge oval rotunda. But visitors need not enter what is now the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian to appreciate its Beaux-Arts grandeur. Flanking the north-facing grand entry stair stand regal female figures of Daniel Chester French's

Oklahoma State Capitol Dome

Wed, 3 Oct 2012 01:55:10 EST

Some projects take a few years to complete and others take decades; the latter was the case with the Oklahoma State Capitol Dome. The building was nearing completion just as the United States was entering World War I. Materials slated for the capitol were diverted to the war effort, and given the then-current state of events and projected dome costs of $250,000, an alternate roof design was selected. But 80-plus years of civic perseverance has prevailed.