Episode 152: Darkness Provides Safety Too with Dan Weissman

Restoring Darkness

We invited Dan onto Restoring Darkness to discuss wallpacks, those glaring lights you see on the sides of commercial and industrial buildings that seem to point straight into your eyes when you're driving on the road or walking on the sidewalk. As these lights are purportedly for safety and security, the conversation morphed into a discussion about the need for light at night. Dan points out that there is light needed for safely walking down the sidewalk, light to feel safe and secure, and light to know where you are. There are many nuances to solving this, but as Dan points out, we can at least start with the glare from wallpacks. Dan Weissman, AIA, IALD, IES is an award-winning Architectural Lighting Designer, researcher, and craftsman specializing in sustainable design and digital technologies. As Associate Principal and Director of Lam Labs at Lam Partners, he collaborates on innovative projects and engages with leading academics to advance the field. Dan serves as Chair of the IES Daylighting Committee, is an active member of the IES Sustainable Design committee and Solemma’s Climate Studio Product Advisory Group, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Flint Collective. He periodically teaches at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and is a frequent guest lecturer nationally and internationally. An avid musician and amateur luthier of mandolin-family instruments, Dan also tends a garden, and two children along with his artist wife Lanie, and bakes two sourdough loaves a week.