The tactics of illumination of high-rise buildings in the cities skyline. Research by design on Skyreach tower skyscraper in Warsaw

ABSTRACT The evening and night silhouette of the city differs from daytime views and is recognizable by the illumination of the buildings. The text refers to the theoretical issues and research by design related to the illumination project of the Skyreach skyscraper building located at ul. Grzybowska 59. The criteria to light the building at night and the methodology of designing the illumination of buildings in terms of architecture are introduced. The research results are presented. The proposed methodology includes carrying out an analysis of the visibility of the city panorama and the illuminated building from key vantage points and key observation plans for the designed building, the role of illuminated buildings in spatial orientation, lighting colours, aspects of connecting lighting with the nature of the illuminated building, lighting intensity and light sources. All these issues were taken into account when designing the illumination of a high-rise building in an urban environment, especially, as in the case of Warsaw, in the absence of municipal guidelines regarding the illumination strategy of the city skyline. Since shortly, in connection with the rapid development of LED and OLED lighting, a large impact of building illumination on the appearance of the city should be expected, therefore the right tactics in carrying out the project of illuminating high-rise buildings, is important, which is diagnosed in the text.