For thousands of years man has lived and worked in daylight and has evolved over time to match a day’s activities with the diurnal cycle of the sun. In more recent times, we have moved to residing and working indoors and have also begun using artificial light to extend our daily activities. This has significantly impacted our health and well-being, and a lot of research and design is currently being carried out to mitigate the ill effects of overdoses of artificial light while improving their quality sources and altering our interactions with natural and artificial light.

Lorraine Calcott, IALD (CLD), an award-winning lighting designer, founder of It Does Lighting, an advisor to the All-Parliamentary Health Group and an expert on the European Commission on SMART cities, was a perfect choice to discuss the research and bust some of the myths on this very important connection. Her body of work taps into the physiological and psychological aspects of light and how it can be used to foster good health and well-being.

08 mins watch

Calcott’s conversation with Nirmit Jhaveri, an architect and award-winning lighting designer practising in India and Europe, is intriguing and dives deep into the many intersections between the quality and type of light and the human mind and body. Together they examine the research, probe some of the applications in medical and recuperative facilities, and test some of the truths and myths about human-centric and biophilic lighting. They also discuss how aspects of design thinking and innovation can be used to improve the quality of indoor spaces to minimise the detrimental effects of new lifestyles and modern ways of living.

Watch out for more from the series Spread the Light 6/6 presented by Wipro Lighting, in collaboration with PLDC.