ABSTRACT
The discovery of fire, the first source of light and warmth that they were able to control, was a transformative moment, and the invention of artificial light may be seen as the continuation of the same phenomenon. The development of gas production, its improvement and the growing availability of piped gas supplies unleashed a major advance in interior lighting. Electric lighting thus significantly reduced the risk of fires and eliminated the blackening of ceilings from soot – and, crucially, was very simple to install and operate. The enormous influence of electric light on the avant-garde artistic movements is something that cannot be ignored. Electric light was, according to English architectural critic Reyner Banham, the greatest environmental revolution in the history of humanity since the taming of fire. Artificial light is a useful instrument for bringing out all of a building’s theatrical, dramatic and even transcendent effects.
