This study focuses on the visual characteristics of buildings illuminated with floodlights, primarily investigating how the visibility of building façades varies according to the distance from an observer. The authors also attempt to compare the visibility of building façades between direct observation and photographic slides. The changes in the appearance of a building façade when illuminated with floodlights can be gauged according to the two stages of “perception” and “recognition.” There is also a typical gap between the visual recognition distances for direct observation and for slide viewing. Generally the visual recognition distance is longer for direct observation that for slide viewing. This is shown by the close correlation between the two types of observation for visual recognition distance for all of the buildings studied.