Lighting for educational spaces
Designing spatial lighting distribution for school classrooms
Time: Fri 2025-11-21 13.00
Location: F3, Lindstedtvägen 26, Campus, public video conference
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/63086499891
Language: English
Subject area: Architecture, Architectural Technology
Doctoral student: Stavroula Angelaki , Ljusdesign
Opponent: Professor Yvonne de Kort, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Supervisor: Docent Ute Besenecker, Ljusdesign; Docent Christina Bodin Danielsson, Arkitektur
QC 20251028
Abstract
The following dissertation explores lighting design proposals for educational spaces focusing on children's activities and vantage points. The research project includes a field study within which spatial distribution acts as a lighting variable for defining light scenes according to different learning activities and pupils' viewpoints. From a design and intervention perspective, pupils' experiences are incorporated through direct and indirect collaborations across the research project. Aspects of spatial perception, visual development, human scale, and ergonomics are among the research areas setting the foundation to explore children's perception and vantage points. Workshops, as participatory methods, were used to involve pupils and teachers in activities and discussions, before the installation of new lighting at the school. Lighting was designed, measured, and evaluated considering design parameters targeted at 10-to-12-year-old pupils. An experimental field study was carried out to assess how spatial lighting distribution influences creativity and attention, using standardized tests to explore potential correlations between lighting changes and performance outcomes. Results suggested that lighting can positively affect attention, although no significant difference was registered in creativity performance. The projects result in synthesizing guidelines towards a child-based design structure to explore and analyse educational spaces from a perspective closer to children. The proposed model (Child-lens Lighting & Space Model) is introduced, as an outcome of synthesized theories from architectural design, cognitive science and pedagogy, and empirical knowledge from the field study addressing pupils’ perspectives. This model provides a foundation for child-centred lighting design approaches, suggesting steps to design proposals through collaborations with children and pupils as the primary users.