Connecting People – A Lighting Philosophy that Highlights the Built Environment
Light plays an extremely important role in creating engaging environments, helping to enhance our living experiences.
For me, people and art—connecting humans with their surrounding environment through light—are two indispensable elements in the process of designing architectural lighting solutions. Architectural lighting solutions would become meaningless without the presence of people. Light constructs a context that offers people a variety of experiences, and conversely, people also arrange and interact with light in different experiential contexts.
“A perfect lighting solution needs to be designed based on its surrounding context, so that the main character—people—can fully immerse themselves in the space and atmosphere.”
Building on the concept of the interplay between light and humans, this article discusses “Connecting People”—a concept, idea, and philosophy that has become a cornerstone in both DJCoalition’s work and my own career as a lighting designer.
People
I began my career in lighting design at a time when no specialists were working in this field in Australia. Therefore, what I needed most back then was to identify the key elements required in designing lighting solutions. The transition from working as an architect to becoming a lighting designer helped me realize that the human element is the key to creating built environments, both in architecture and lighting. From that point on, placing people at the center became a core value in my journey as a lighting designer.
The “People” in the term “Connecting People” is exactly what you might be thinking. It focuses on the needs, desires, and experiences of the users and their interactions—often unintentional—with a given space.
In recent years, thanks to media influence, experts and the public have increasingly discussed human-centered lighting. The concept of Connecting People intersects with these principles, aiming to provide guidance and practical approaches in lighting design that meet expectations regarding human sensory perception, emotions, and physiological well-being.
The Nest—one of DJCoalition’s projects in Shanghai—is a prime example. One could say the story behind The Nest embodies our ambition to create an “island” amid the bustling city. My concept for the lighting design at The Nest was to create an effect that could convey this story as directly as possible. In the hotel’s bar, we installed a central decorative lighting system inspired by a series of still images of a flying swallow. The light beams were shaped like the wings of the bird in motion, immersing everyone in an atmosphere reminiscent of an island.
The lighting at The Nest is gentle during the day and becomes more dynamic with colors and movement as lively activities take place, evoking imagery of birds in flight and adding vibrancy to the surrounding environment. We designed the lighting solution with the intention of nurturing emotional well-being and mental health for every guest who visits The Nest. The process of designing lighting layouts is a creative endeavor that requires careful consideration of how light can evoke emotions. This process revolves around the question, “What is emotion?” focusing first on the “perceiving subject,” and then asking, “How can we evoke emotion in this subject?” Light impacts people and emotions primarily through visual perception. Based on this understanding, I believe lighting design should aim to generate emotional responses.
For The Nest and any other project, DJ Coalition always prioritizes the human element, mental well-being, and emotional experience. We strive to ensure high-quality visual performance, creating beneficial visual experiences that soothe the eyes and foster happiness through lighting design.
Each project tells a unique story through imagery and the intention behind the contextual design conveyed via light. As I mentioned, a perfect lighting solution must be designed based on its surrounding context so that the “main character”—people—can fully immerse themselves in the space and atmosphere.
DJ Coalition pays close attention to how people respond to light, how they perceive it, and how it affects them. From these three perspectives, we can begin to build our own unique approach to human-centered connections through lighting.
Fostering Connection
Lighting design is not only intended to highlight architectural spaces but also aims to enhance interaction between spaces, transforming them into hubs of exchange and sources of new ideas. Light acts as a connecting thread—linking people to themselves, to others, to the surrounding space, and to the broader environment.
One of the key roles of a lighting system is to support the subjective experiences of individuals. In other words, lighting designers pay close attention to the degree of connection people feel with themselves and their environment. For personal connections, light can serve as a tool to help people achieve their intentions within a specific space. Beyond illuminating the surroundings, light also creates a sense of satisfaction. For example, task lighting is a crucial element in building these personal connections. Well-designed task lighting avoids shadows, minimizes distractions, prevents glare, and provides sufficient brightness to reduce eye strain, allowing people to focus on their work. DJ Coalition had the opportunity to design the lighting layout for the Perth Library, a project we are proud of. In this quiet and private space, light helps users locate what they need, guides movement between floors, and creates a calm and comfortable atmosphere. This illustrates how light influences the interaction between people and their environment.
We also consider shared experiences, especially in public spaces where people interact. Lighting can narrow the perceived distance between individuals and their surroundings, evoking moods and shaping the ambient atmosphere. Shared environments encourage dynamic yet stable interactions among people. Therefore, lighting systems should be arranged to ensure that everyone can coordinate and interact effectively. Ambient lighting can transform a space into a communal area, allowing people to connect and express themselves comfortably. For instance, Glowfish Office in Thailand, a DJ Coalition project, is a shared workspace where the lighting solution was required to satisfy both visual and functional needs while supporting interaction among coworkers. Lighting in a space not only facilitates direct interactions but also influences indirect ones, such as orientation and movement. From observing the overall picture, we recognized the importance of light in shaping how people connect and interact within a space.
Ultimately, humans cannot be separated from their environment and the space around them. Living in harmony with the natural environment is the key to nurturing human happiness, and light is the factor that connects the environment to us. We need to understand that sustainable development is not limited to energy conservation alone. The concern of experts working in the field of lighting is artificial light and how it affects natural ecosystems. It is true that we need time to understand light pollution and its adverse impacts on wildlife, but that is no reason to ignore the issue. Humans exist within nature, and lighting for human health is also lighting for environmental health. Lighting designers need to pay special attention to the connection between human health and nature, rather than focusing solely on one side.
Expanding the Concept
In the past, the lighting industry primarily focused on human vision, paying attention only to traditional factors such as lighting quality. Although many human-centered lighting concepts and approaches have been developed to meet industry needs, can the term “human-centered” truly capture all aspects and the full essence of the idea? At its highest level, human-centered lighting solutions consider both the visual and non-visual effects of light to create more positive outcomes for people. Yet, in practice, lighting designs remain overly reliant on human vision and standard requirements such as brightness. I believe, however, that human experience and connection should take priority when designing and developing lighting technologies. Through the lens of Human Connection, designers can tell stories and strengthen bonds through the medium of light.
Since entering the profession, Human Connection has felt like an intuition—a vague concept that I subconsciously incorporated into my designs. As my career progressed and the lighting industry evolved, the increasing presence of experts provided me with countless opportunities to learn from different perspectives. It took me a long time to refine the concept of Human Connection and identify its relevant elements, and even more time to learn how to communicate and express this concept to our designers at DJCoalition. After many years of dedicated experimentation—not only with light, space, and the effects of lighting on people, but also with how people perceive space, how they interact within it, and the impact of our designs on environmental health—our team has come to place Human Connection at the core of every design we undertake.
In summary, whether in public spaces, commercial areas, transportation hubs, or even our own small homes, light affects human lifestyles, perception, thinking, and interaction. If we widen our perspective, we can see that light not only connects people to space but also influences environmental relationships, social bonds, and individual well-being. To reach the ultimate goal of Human Connection, we all need to continue developing and refining our understanding. Designing high-quality lighting solutions should not be limited to providing commercial benefits. The effort to create quality lighting designs contributes greater value to people, communities, and the environment. Lighting is a constantly evolving field, and the message I want to convey to the next generation of young professionals is not to simply follow in the footsteps of those before you. Instead, I hope to connect with you through the concept of Human Connection in lighting and to see your contributions to the ongoing development of this idea.