Light Affects: Towards a body-sensory approach in lighting design

Informing current research on how light effects our performance, hormones and moods, this paper presents a body-sensory approach to studying atmospheric affects of light. Presenting ethnographic data from three studies on the bodily feel of colour illuminated spaces, the paper shows how architectural lighting designs go beyond their immediate potential of supporting visual needs and aesthetic delight, by their ability to attune bodily sensations and states of being. Consequently, the paper argues for a qualification of current methodologies within lighting research and calls for an atmospheric mindful awareness of the sensory body when designing with chromatic lighting technologies for architectural spaces.