Lighting Design

With advancements in technologies, new opportunities are available for application in (public) spaces to enhance (smart) environments, e.g. (O)LED lighting and screens, daylighting systems, emerging photonic (bio-)materials. These generate new possibilities to apply lighting in our public spaces for:

- Ergonomic (e.g. visibility, perceptual and cognitive fluency, safety),

- health (influencing biorhythm, recovery in hospitals, daylighting for wellbeing),

- mobility (city master plans, lighting for transport facilities),

- sustainability (lighting design for darkness, bio-design),

- aesthetical (attractiveness, beauty, light art), and

- commercial (branding, atmosphere creation, persuasive environments) purposes,

- influencing our environment visually and non-visually and thereby our affects, cognitions, behaviour and (mental) health.

In this interdisciplinary studio we work with academics and professionals covering various fields from the "hard" technologies to "soft" perceptions, namely lighting designers from BeersNielsen, Atelier LEK, Koerner Design, Philips, ERCO, over a dozen of Dutch lighting designers and professors from the faculty of Architecture. The lecturing lighting designers also provide opportunities for asking advice, and in the final stage the lighting design café is organised to provide such professional advice, which currently attracts about a dozen practising lighting designers.

The course offers training in light and lighting, both theory and practice of lighting design, via lectures and hands-on practicals, workshops and excursions, plus the popular lighting design café. Throughout you will be working on a lighting design assignment going through a complete design cycle researching, (re)framing, and formgiving the intangible matter called light. For whom, what, where, and when it is needed.

The study goals of this course will be assessed by:

- Final Design presentation (50%)

- Final report (50%)

The quality and content of the group assignment is assessed in a summative manner.

Formative assessments

In the first part of the course students will get four individual homework assignments on which they receive written feedback via Brightspace. The course organisers are permanent coaches during the course; mandatory group coaching meetings will be scheduled on specific course afternoons to provide oral feedback and voluntary coaching moments may happen on appointment. Halfway the concept for the group assignment will be pitched after which feedback by peers and teachers will organized.