RICHARD KELLY KELLY’S

Richard Kelly (1910-1977) was an PERCEPTUAL

American Lighting Designer and highest THEORY
ranked pioneer of qualitative lighting
design who borrowed existing ideas from In the 1950’s Kelly made a distinction
perception psychology and theatrical between the
lighting and combined them into a basic functions: Ambient luminescence,
uniform concept. Kelly broke away from Focal glow, and Play of brilliants.
the rigid constraints of using uniform
illuminance as the central criterium of the AMBIENT LUMINESCENCE
lighting design. Richard Kelly was also a
luminaire and daylight designer, working Kelly called the first and foundational form
with famous architects and of light "ambient luminescence". This is the
manufacturers. element of light that provides general
PLAY OF BRILLIANTS illumination of the surroundings; it ensures
that the surrounding space, its objects and
The third form of light, "play of brilliants", the people there are visible. This form of
results from the insight that light not only lighting facilitates general orientation and
draws our attention to information, but activity.
can also represent information in and of
itself. This applies above all to the FOCAL GLOW
specular effects that point light sources
can produce on reflective or refractive To arrive at a differentiation, Kelly came up
materials. Furthermore, the light source with a second form of light, "focal glow".
itself can also be considered to be This is where light is first given the express
brilliant. This "play of brilliants" can add task of actively helping to convey
life and ambiance, especially to information. The fact that brightly lit areas
prestigious venues. What was automatically draw our attention now
traditionally produced by chandeliers and comes into consideration. By using a
candlelight can now be achieved in a suitable brightness distribution it is possible
modern lighting design by the targeted to order the wealth of information
use of light sculptures or by creating contained in an environment.
brilliant effects on illuminated materials.
Richard Kelly illuminated some of the twentieth century’s most iconic buildings: the
Glass House, Seagram Building and Kimbell Art Museum, to name a few. His design
strategy was surprisingly simple, but extremely successful.

GLASS HOUSE
One of Richard Kelly´s first significant works was the renowned
Glass House by Philip Johnson in New Canaan.
The challenge for transparent architecture, which was gaining
popularity with the rise of the International Style, was the clear
glass itself, which at night turns into a mirror, reflecting the interior
lighting. By minimizing the interior lighting and illuminating the
surrounding lawn and trees, Kelly restored the continuity and flow
from the daytime into the night.

Architect: Philip Johnson

Location: New Canaan, Connecticut, 1948-1949

It was on this Glass House project that Kelly developed the basic
principles of indoor and outdoor lighting which he was to later
apply to countless residential and business properties.

OUTDOOR LIGHTING CREATING DEPTH:
Several lighting components in the outdoor area augment the
view out of the living area and create spatial depth.
• Projectors on the roof illuminate the front lawn and the
trees beside the house.
• Additional projectors highlight the trees in the middle
ground and the background, thereby making the landscape In 1948, early in the planning stages of the Glass
backdrop visible.
KELLY’S DESIGN COOPERATING
JOHNSON PLANS
Johnson’s original plans had no permanent lighting
fixtures to interrupt the interior architectural volume or
the transparency of the glass walls. Flat, contiguous
surfaces characterized the interior and the exterior; no
allowances were made in the original dwelling for ceiling
or wall mounted fixtures. Kelly maintained the character
of this design, the clarity of the glass, and the rigor of the
architectural structure by devising a lighting scheme
comprised entirely of hidden and indirect lighting sources,
successfully illuminating the interior of the enclosure
without a single visible fixture.
BARE WINDOWS:
Kelly avoided the use of blinds for the sunlight
because he found they obscured the view and
impaired the feeling of distant space.
DIM INTERIOR LIGHTS:
Instead, to reduce the harsh daytime brightness
contrast between inside and outside, Kelly used
dimmed lighting on the interior walls.
CANDLES FOR SPARKLE:
For the night, he designed a concept that works
with the reflection of the glass facade and
retains the spatial feeling. Kelly recommended
candles for the interior as this would give
sparkle and add an exciting atmosphere.
LIGHTING DESIGN STAGES OF
GLASS HOUSE
STAGE 1:
House, Johnson approached Kelly with his concern
regarding the problem of glare and the challenge of
after-dark illumination in an all-glass enclosure. He
wanted to enjoy the outside at night too instead of
being kept behind the conventional walls.
Kelly suggested that the house be illuminated from
“the outside in,” a novel but costly and inefficient
solution. He was unconvinced and he decided to
design the lighting for the Glass House himself.
However, unable to eliminate the sharp glare and
reflections on the blacked-out glass after dark and
finally reducing his total lighting scheme to six
taper candles, Johnson failed.
STAGE 2:
In 1950 , Johnson again sought Kelly’s advice on the
illumination of the Glass House. Kelly suggested
that the interior would be illuminated indirectly
and the glass would retain the desired
transparency. He stated that the glass walls would
not only serve as transparent protection from
outside elements but also as frames for planned
compositions made visible through select nighttime
illumination of the landscape.
 LIGHTING DESIGN FEELING OF OPENNES

Analyzing the Glass House from both its material and performative context, Kelly

transparent membranes. Equally important to maintaining the continuity

devised an illumination scheme that emphasized the transparency of the glass

with a functional level of indirect light while allowing the glass walls to remain
walls and controlled views of the landscape from the interior and exterior of the

Kelly’s innovative plan lit the house from the “outside in,” providing the interior

EMPHASIZING GLASS HOUSE
To achieve the desired effects, Kelly
positioned powerful lights in regular
intervals along the cornice to illuminate a
strip of lawn on the perimeter of the
building. After dark these lights created a
band of highly illuminated grass around
the house, forming a light-frame for the
structure, emphasizing the footprint of the
pavilion and defining the Glass House
against the landscape. The intensity of this
light-frame on the lawn also made the
floor of the pavilion appear to be
between indoors and outdoors was the incorporation of the landscape into the
The lighting design eliminated the need for
drapes and the unease of feeling as
if “in a goldfish bowl” or of being on display.
JOHNSON’S SERENITY OF
GLASS
Kelly’s lighting design permitted Johnson to
control the appearance, performance, and
importantly, the experience of the Glass
House. After dark he could gaze over the
domain of his “decorative” landscape from
the serenity of his glass pavilion without

visual environment of the Glass House.

suspended above the ground. threat of unwanted exterior surveillance.

FLOODLIGHTS

Outside the glass walls, floodlights buried

in a trench surrounding the house directed
strong beams of light onto the interior
ceiling, providing soft diffused illumination
that served as the principal and functional
lighting for the interior.

pavilion.
WALLPAPER FOR GLASS
HOUSE

To create the “wallpaper” for the Glass

House, Kelly drew from the natural site,
placing individual spot- and floodlights at
the base of selected trees in the near and
far ground, and he mounted spotlights on
the roof to accent certain trees from
above.

MAINTAINING PRIVACY

Day or night, as occupant of the house,

KELLY retained the primary power of The Glass House achieved its greatest transparency at night, when
the gaze. After dark, the perimeter bright illumination fused architecture and landscape into precisely
downlighting of the lawn and the planned views. the Glass House was occupied by the presence of an
landscape illumination cast soft reflections outward controlling gaze, one that brought all in alignment with
on the outside of the glass, camouflaging Johnson’s aesthetic agenda.
those inside the Glass House from
unwanted observation. The after-dark
illumination allowed the glass to remain
transparent inside the pavilion by
mimicking the effects of natural daylight
on the exterior of the glass.
CONCLUSION
 The Glass House is built of three main materials: glass, steel (painted black) and
brick. The glass panes are large (about 8 feet tall and 13 to 17 feet wide), but
they don’t quite reach from ceiling to floor. Smaller panes at the base provide a
modern version of a chair rail at the perimeter, but they do not include operable
vents; doors in the center of each elevation would have to be opened to
naturally ventilate the interior.

The steel is carefully articulated to blur the distinction between structure and
framing. The Glass House appears to be a roof propped upon glass walls and
framing.

The third material is brick, which is used for the floor and a bathroom enclosure
that also acts as a hearth (next photo). The herringbone pattern on the floor
creates some ambiguity between inside and outside, especially as it is always
seen with the lawn extending from it on all sides.

REFERENCES:
• http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/44844/35_Margaret-Petty_The-Edge-of-Danger.pdf

• https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/5651571/mod_resource/content/1/iluminARQ%20Textos%2003.%20Margaret%20Maile%20Petty.%20Illuminati
ng%20the%20Glass%20Box.%20The%20LIghting%20Designs%20of%20Richard%20Kelly.pdf

• https://www.erco.com/en/guide/basics/perception-orientated-lighting-design-2896/

• https://www.archdaily.com/501008/light-matters-richard-kelly-the-unsung-master-behind-modern-architecture-s-greatest-buildings