Design in Society: Simple hooded lighting fixtures

          In design, there is a lot of focus on innovation and improving society. They are major objectives of designers, and the simple design of hooded lighting fixtures are an example of utopian design as it tries to improve society economically, environmentally, and health-wise (of individuals and animals alike) by reducing light pollution. Hooded light fixtures and the components that make up its design, such as the type of light bulb used, all contribute to the enhancement of society.

"GlareBuster GB-2000", the original dark sky friendly light

        The "GlareBuster GB-2000" is a outdoor lighting fixture I come upon while I was checking out the Starry Night Lights website which is an online store specializing in lighting fixtures that help reduce and reverse light pollution and promote dark starry night skies.The "forward-throw cut-off" form and shape of GB-2000 is specifically designed so that light is directed to the ground efficiently, which reduces glare and prevents light from escaping into the atmosphere.

          Aesthetically the GB-2000 is not much of a visually pleasing design because it is plain, boxy, and only comes in generic white and bronze color, but being one of the first of its kind, it does the tasks that it is intended to. This is where innovation comes in, and designs with the same objectives are created that meet standards that prevent light pollution that were derived from the GB-2000 and the personal styles of individuals as well. There is a freedom in the many different kind of lighting fixtures with hooded design so it is easy for designers to produce varying styles of lighting fixtures like wall laterns, sconces, shades, etc.

Outdoor Wall Lamp

Wall Sconce

Aluminum Bollard Pathway Light

Lamp shade with Compact Fluorescent light bulb

          As I've mentioned earlier, the use of these dark-sky friendly light fixtures improve society economically, environmentally, and health-wise in humans and in animals. It improves society economically because most of these fixtures use energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, like the GB-2000, which uses less energy and they have a photocell that makes sure that it only operates at night, so you save money on energy bills. The environmental improvement is something I've already covered, as it reverses light pollution. And lastly, it improves the health of humans and animals. Light pollution affects the natural circadian rhythm of humans and animals in which there is evidence that strongly suggest that there is "an etiology of suppressed melatonin production, depressed immune systems, and increase in cancer rates such as breast cancers," (American Medical Association) due to light pollution.
           The simple hooded lighting fixture does a lot to try to improve society, making it such a utopian design.

Credit/Links:

[All images and products] http://store.starrynightlights.com/

[GlareBuster GB-2000, info] http://store.starrynightlights.com/gb-2000.html

[IDA - International Dark-Sky Association] www.darksky.org
[PDF - American Medical Association - Resolution 501, page 52] http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/475/refcome.pdf