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FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – Like the proverbial cobbler whose children need new shoes, architecture professor and lighting expert Tahar Messadi has the know-how but lacks the time to take care of business at home – or in his case, the office. Co-author of the new Field Guide to Illumination, which promises to be the go-to reference on lighting for building industry professionals, Messadi deals daily with a textbook example of bad lighting. A large window behind his desk casts him into gloom and floods his computer screen with glare; for a man keenly aware of the optimal ratios between task, ambient and outdoor lighting, you know this set-up has to hurt.

Messadi has delayed office improvements up to now to focus on finishing the Field Guide, which was recently published by the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. With co-authors Angelo Arecchi and R. John Koshel, Messadi summarizes the science of illumination in just 137 pages densely packed with diagrams, tables and formulas. The book is primarily intended as a briefcase reference for architects, engineers and scientists who need a concise reference on the fundamentals of light and color in various contexts. Topics range from lighting open plan offices to enhancing small target visibility in roadway lighting.

“It’s not just about light in buildings,” Messadi said. “The book covers instrumentation, laser lighting, control panels – the broad range of lighting applications.”

The Field Guide to Illumination gives detailed coverage to sustainable lighting strategies that save energy. A key principle, Messadi said, is to “use daylight – it’s common sense. The sun gives off 10,000 footcandles of light; the fluorescent fixture above my desk, just 50.”  The book discusses how to harness daylight in varying weather conditions to create even illumination with minimal glare, and notes the importance of environmentally responsive lighting controls.  Messadi also devotes a section to the concept of illuminating space in layers, from concentrated task lighting to focal lights that signal key spaces, such as the reception area in an office.

“We try to avoid indiscriminate general illumination. That accomplishes little in aesthetic appeal, wastes energy, and offers no flexibility – it’s on or off,” Messadi said, flipping his hand over an imaginary light switch. The book also touches on solid state lighting, basically a dramatically improved version of light emitting diode technology that in the near future will generate four times more light per watt than traditional incandescent lamps and twice as much as compact florescent ones. LED lights are capable of lasting up to 10 years.

“The challenge with LED is that these lamps are not yet as efficient to see with, though they are very effective for signaling – for use in brake lights, for example,” Messadi said. “Researchers are making major breakthroughs so that the technology will soon be applicable for widespread use.”

In addition to refining new lighting systems, Messadi researches and publishes papers on smart facades and other environmentally sensitive building technologies. He consults on lighting and acoustics and building environmental systems; recent clients include architects Marlon Blackwell and Rob Sharp. Messadi also serves as chairman of the steering committee of the northwest Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

At the School of Architecture, Messadi teaches design studios and courses that cover the nuts and bolts of building construction and environmental systems, emphasizing new technologies that save energy and reduce waste. For example, last spring he led a studio on ventilated double skin facades, a new technology that uses a feedback process to adjust lighting, solar heat and ventilation in response to users’ comfort needs.

When asked whether his students are interested in “green” design, Messadi replied: “It’s no longer a matter of interest – it’s a reality. They’re aware of the importance of sustainable design, and they’re trying to get ready for it.”

Born and raised in Algeria, Tahar Messadi earned his Diplôme d’Architecte at the Université de Constantine, Algeria. He then pursued graduate studies in environmental technology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in architecture. A graduate school visit to a solar home that he described as “spectacularly uninspiring” led him to seek solutions in which energy efficient technologies coexist happily with good design.

“Today, I try to bring the two together in the minds of my students,” Messadi said. “You have to understand the technology, and the technology has to be put to the service of design. Either one alone is not architecture.”

This spring, in addition to teaching, Messadi will lead a professional seminar on green architecture in Little Rock. He has already started work on a more in-depth treatise focused on architectural lighting. Hopefully he will find time to shop for a credenza and rearrange furniture to correct the glare in his office, which, he concedes with a sigh, is “annoying – very annoying.”

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Contact:

Tahar Messadi, assistant professor of architecture
School of Architecture
(479) 575-7102, tmessadi@uark.edu

Kendall Curlee, director of communications
School of Architecture
(479) 575-4704, kcurlee@uark.edu