Designing for People: IALD Enlighten Europe Reflections

I’m just over a month back from presenting at the IALD (International Association of Lighting Designers) Enlighten Europe Conference in Valencia Spain on Light and Health and now just getting some time to reflect.

It was an exhilarating few days after a hectic build up. To be able to deliver to my peers on a topic of such magnitude and so close to my heart was a privilege, I felt I had a golden ticket, the golden topic. I have been frustrated for a long time about the lack of attention to light and its impact on our health. In truth this goes I came across the Light Health story working in Lighting Design in London in 2009, but particularly so the last number of years of my knowledge in this area deepened. The science was there then back in 2009, but it also has always been an intuition. Surely we’re optimised for the sun as its under it we’ve evolved? Is there something off with these new light sources? They feel different, could there be something missing in our man made metrics?

In tandem with this I have gone through my own personal health journey. In 2013 I had a stroke.  From a rugby injury and a hole in my heart I didn’t know I had. It’s a long story and for another day, but it led me at the age of thirty three to a beautiful journey of learning as I managed my own recovery to a large extent. That necessitated reading lots of medical literature (I’m comfortable reading science papers, from my MSc days in UCL), which led me to awe at the intelligence of the human body. And then to recognise the importance of our environment to our health. This modern artificial world of ours is making us sick.

Ultimately over the last three or four years, it led me back to light, and to how light is not just important but foundational to how our bodies work. And we’re only at the start of that story. The medical research is clear, light is the language of the body, central to metabolism and co-ordinating almost every process, billions on a daily basis. We have clocks in almost every cell and organ, conducted by light. I had heard for years in the lighting world that the science wasn’t there. The science might not have been there for the limited artificial lighting systems we’ve been testing but when you delve into the medical research the science was there from 2007 (with the WHO classifying artificial light as a probable carcinogen) and it is most certainly there now.

So I’ve been frustrated. For years! Attending lighting conferences and walking through Lighting shows and questioning why is no one talking on this? Why is no one focusing on solving this problem? Should this not be the biggest issue of our time? We’re making people sick. There was only a handful of small manufacturers looking at it in any meaningful way. Does anybody else see this? The Dark Sky Movement has done a fantastic job highlighting the problems artificial lighting at night and its affects on our ecosystems, our wildlife. But what about our people? Are we not nature too? And should we not be designing for people?

My frustration led me to submit for Enlighten Europe earlier this year, more in hope than expectation. The IALD released a white paper in February, on a lot of what I had submitted to talk about, which was positive sign of our profession starting to look this way. And then in late March when I thought  my chance was gone, the email arrived in, and cue the excitement, followed by months of preparation and stress!

I got to tell a room full of some of the best and brightest lighting designers in the world of the myriad of problems artificial light is causing, it was exhilarating and daunting in equal measure. How will this land? Will I be a periah in my profession? But someone had to deliver the message and I felt privileged that it was me. And then energised to see how it connected with other designers, looking to do things better. I spent a long evening over dinner and drinks with like minded lighting designers strategizing on how to bring infra red back in our interiors, how to change our industry. It was exciting, I had met others ready to embrace the change. Our profession is waking up, and ready to reshape the future of lighting!   

At the end of my presentation in Valencia, I noted how my health journey brought me to this topic, but asked what drives my passion for this topic now? In truth, when I dig deep into my motivation, its for the people I love, my family, my eight month son Caelan. I take him for a walk every morning at sunrise because I know its one of the healthiest things I can do for him. We’re developing our “Healthy Lighting Home” because I know how foundational our light environment is to our health, to his health. I want to create a home designed so that he can thrive.

The biggest gift I can give him is the gift of health.

Who are we designing for if not for people?

For the people we love.