In a lecture years ago, artist James Turrell made an observation that architect Marlon Blackwell, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), founder of the Arkansas-based Marlon Blackwell Architects, still remembers: “There’s too much light.”
The comment has stayed with him. Looking across today’s commercial interiors—from workplaces and hospitals to hotels and retail spaces—Blackwell believes Turrell was onto something.
It’s not difficult to see what Blackwell means. Many commercial interiors are designed to eliminate shadow where possible. Spaces are bright and easy to navigate, but they can also lose the depth and atmosphere that make architecture memorable…