This book serves as a historical survey of architectural lighting throughout the twentieth century. It also examines the cultural, social, and artistic issues surrounding this phenomenon. During the 1920s and '30s architectural floodlighting was at its most intense, considered an essentially modern abstract art form that crossed the boundaries between film, architecture, and painting.

Architecture of the Night: The Illuminated Building explores this dynamic period in depth, considers the impact of architectural lighting today, and addresses the new issues that confront contemporary lighting, such as "light pollution," conservation, and aesthetics. The book features examples of building illumination such as the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo (1901), the Empire State Building, New York (1931), the Seagram Building, New York (1958), the Tower of Winds, Yokohama (1986), the Lloyds Building, London (1988), and the Sony Center, Berlin (2001).

Introduction

Architectural Illumination before the Twentieth Century

A Little Night Music: The Play of Color and Light

Light Architecture: A New Term's Genesis

Lichtarchitektur and the Avant-Garde

"Architecture of the Night" in the U.S.A.

Photography of the Night:

Skyscraper Nocturne and Skyscraper Noir in New York

Architectural IlluminaUon since World War II

Selected Projects

Lighting Designers-Selected Biographies

Historical Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Photographic Credits