Each building and each interior like each individual, has its own personality. Therefore, lighting of each object or area must be approached individually, searching out its salient characteristics and bringing them to light. Without light our eyes see nothing. Therefore, the manner in which we use light - its placement, its intensity and its color - are critically important, as these are the elements on which our mental and emotional image of the building or area are based.

Whether working in Asia, Europe and America this basic principle remains true. But in Asia our task is often more complex, as there are two, sometimes conflicting strains of design: regionalism and internationalism.

Regionalism is still a strong force in Asia, although it has lost considerable ground since its hay-day in the late 1960s - the early days of mass tourism. At that time, developers and hotel managers felt that the arriving tourist would like to be greeted by the native culture after their long flight from a cold, damp New York winter to a tropical Asian hothouse of humidity, warm breezes and hot sun.

However, the horizontal planning of these large single or maximum two leveled indigenous-style complexes had their built-in operational problems. In addition, developers soon discovered that the majority of guests were only paying lip service to the love of native warm balmy breezes, but really wanted to be cool at night.

So, as hotels began to go up again, not the towers of the early 1960s, but what might be called 'semi-vertical' - with their height limit being the coconut palm. Native structural styles were, however, not adaptable to modern hotel guest block usage as their elegantly sloped roofs lost their proportions when stretched higher than one or two levels. So the native structure became restricted to the entrance lobby, dining pavilion and poolside bar, while the guest blocks returned to the international style. A hybrid appeared dictated by guest comfort, operational practicability and a new factor: environmental concern.

The impact of mass tourism on the target countries has been felt sometimes negatively. The tourist was bringing money and local prosperity, but also ideas and life-styles which often conflicted with the local culture. The need for abundant water (two to three showers per guest per day) and waste disposal (eco-friendly settling systems to neither pollute the rain-forest or the blue seas). Energy conservation challenged not only the air conditioning plants but also the lighting systems. And our work and approach again - had to change.

But why do all these building changes affect the lighting anyway? Because lighting is directly dependent upon the architecture and its interiors. Remember light is invisible. And our work is to give vision and impact to the creation of the architect and interior designer. The lighting consultant is, at the same time, a practical technician and a visual artist. Function and aesthetics are one.

So, how has our work changed in the last 25 years? Good vision is still related directly to the selection of well-designed and manufactured fittings - installed unobtrusively in the building fabric.

Is there regionalism in lighting design?

Yes and no.

Yes -- in that the twentieth century guests entering a hotel built in a Malaysian rain-forest are captivated by two great wooden horses, symbols of the Malaysian warrior class, standing free in the gigantic native-style lobby pavilion (see photo). The horses glow with light and create a lasting impression. These regional works of art are lighted by carefully concealed lights in the floor and pedestals, supplemented by accents mounted high in the roof structure.

No -- in that the guests would not be able to see adequately from only the reflected light of these decorative objects and are unconsciously grateful that the lighting designer has integrated functional lighting, by way of unobtrusive downlights, also in the pavilion structure!

So we of the twentieth century can't escape. We want to profit from our modern achievements of relatively cheap power to let us see to read in bed, shave or make-up at the bathroom mirror and select clothes from the closet. After dinner, we want to walk back to our room through the covered pergola (gently lighted for function, as well as romance), bordered by palms and bougainvillea (beautifully up-lighted) but seeing the uneven stone paving, level changes and steps (step lighting).

Lighting design, in essence, is international. The regionalism comes from the cleverness with which a good designer uses the tools of the twentieth century.

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John Marstellar graduated at the Yale University School of Architecture and began his architectural lighting design specialization in New York, with Richard Kelly, and later opened TSLE AG/The Spatial Light Environments Limited in Hong Kong -- thereby introducing lighting design to Asia. He is lighting consultant to Hilton International Hotels and has designed lighting in Hilton hotels in all continents except Antarctica. He also works for the smaller chains such as Aman resorts, Mandarin and Rafael, as well as the giants Sheraton and Hyatt.