Problem
Uniform illumination—the sweetheart of the lighting engineers—serves no useful purpose whatsoever. In fact, it destroys the social nature of space, and makes people feel disoriented and unbounded.
Solution
Place the lights low, and apart, to form individual pools of light which encompass chairs and tables like bubbles to reinforce the social character of the spaces which they form. Remember that you can’t have pools of light without the darker places in between.
Related Patterns
… this pattern helps to finish small social spaces like Alcoves (179) and Workspace Enclosure (183), larger places like Common Areas at the Heart (129), Entrance Room (130), and Flexible Office Space (146), and the furnishing of rooms like Eating Atmosphere (182), Sitting Circle (185), and Different Chairs (251). It even helps to generate Warm Colors (250).
Color the lampshades and the hangings near the lights to make the light which bounces off them warm in color - Warm Colors (250) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 1160.