Stavroula Angelaki

The work discussed in this article aims to present and reflect upon different levels of participatory design methods applied in indoor and outdoor lighting research projects. Papers selected through a systematic literature review covering the period from 2019 to 2024 were categorized by the level of participation and corresponding research stage. The four defined stages include: locating and defining issues or problems, collecting research data, interpreting research data, and reporting research findings. The theoretical framework suggested by Kaulio (1998) was adapted to categorize the studies. The framework distinguishes three levels of participant involvement: research for (no direct participant involvement), research with (active collaboration), and research by (participant-led collaboration). Results indicate that participatory design methods are most frequently employed during the data collection stage, whereas the initial and final stages of research typically remain researcher-led. This suggests that collaboration is valued but primarily concentrated in the middle phases of research. Greater integration of participatory methods in early and late stages could improve communication of research goals and outcomes to broader audiences. These findings provide a foundation/motivation for integrating participatory methods more holistically in lighting research, strengthening user participation and context-relevant proposals.

This study focuses on a workshop exploration based on participatory methods before lighting interventions at a primary school in east-central Sweden. This approach is based on participatory design (PD) principles, aiming to support teachers’ and pupils’ voices within educational research (ER), lighting design, and architecture disciplines. Two workshops are presented, one addressing teachers ( n = 5) and the other addressing pupils ( n = 33). The first workshop focused on lighting perception, while the second addressed pupils’ choices of space for certain learning activities. Results from teachers’ work revealed that higher light levels are evaluated more favorably for on-screen activities. Furthermore, shadow evaluation was the factor that varied the most when comparing the two lighting scenarios. Additionally, pupils’ preferred working location depended on their activity, and the proximity to daylight was higher for individual tasks than group discussions. Findings from both workshops were later implemented as design directions to inform a larger research project on school lighting interventions.

This study explores how lighting can be employed as a visual language to enhance communication between the space and its users and develop a design framework for educational spaces. A primary school is used as a case study to apply the proposed design framework. The study focuses on lighting interventions in existing educational spaces to support daily schedules and transitions between activities. In this context, electric light is used as an indicator, highlighting the daily schedule and activities in the space. A theoretical approach is used as a foundation for establishing the design framework that leads to lighting proposals based on the specific spatial characteristics of each study. The outcome is a design solution based on the dominant spatial elements that define the space’s identity and function. The study focuses on educational spaces and lighting for peripheral vision while considering pupils’ visual and spatial development. The proposal has the role of an additional light layer that signals transitions in terms of activities or spatial mobility.

Light is the foundation of the visual perceptual process that initiates the evaluation of the surrounding area. Linked to various aspects and rhythms of the body, light connects us to both the natural environment and the interior space. The process of perceiving and assessing space for children and adults with different viewing heights and viewing perspectives as well as the role of light to facilitate this are the key elements of this study. The paper describes general lighting design strategies for kindergartens, specifically developed to create an environment that takes into account the children’s scale and cognitive processes. The objective was to discuss environments that support the child’s spatial perception along with shape and object recognition by means of lighting design, for example by creating distinct, well-placed shadows. The proposed strategies are informed by a literature review on the concepts and interrelations of light, human physiology and the perception of scale and space. In addition, our process also included visits to kindergartens to observe and analyse existing lighting as well as the use of simulation programs to test lighting scenarios and their patterns/distribution of light and shadow. The outcome described in this paper is a proposal and strategy to take into account children’s vantage points when designing lighting in kindergartens that is still open to practical interpretations in real-world sites.