C. Mark Wilson of Wilson Escalona Design shares his creative process and teaches us how to light up the spaces we live in
We may not think much of it, but light is a big part of what makes a home so lovely to live in. Natural light pouring through glass windows, dim ambient light just right before we sleep: for those in high-end residential areas, these things take as much thought as one can imagine. "Lighting design is built around tasks," C. Mark Wilson, a Principal at Wilson Escalona Design, points out. "So if you're going to ask a doctor who performs heart surgery what he needs in lighting, it's very different from what you need for conversation at a dining table."
Design as Function
As with any aspect of home design, the lighting in various rooms of an abode must flow seamlessly according to the lifestyle of its owner. In the dining room for example, where the two main tasks are to sup and to converse, the lighting becomes an essential pillar of support. "You need to see the food . . . because if you can't see it, you don't know what you're doing," Wilson addresses. "The second task is conversation [which] is not just about what you hear, but also about reading the facial expression of the person [you're talking to]. So in a high-end residential interior, those two things are always addressed. My clients will often want a beautiful pendant fixture or chandelier or, what's [popular] nowadays, which a directional fixture [on the edge of the table]."