Light and lighting are central to the disciplines of design and are essential to the perception and well-being of people in their relationship to the built environment. The quality of light and its experience in inhabited space is recognized as an important environmental factor that influences behavior, a wide variety of physiological and psychological responses, and is linked to contemporary ecological, social and political issues.

Understood as a living laboratory, the light-lab offers an experiential platform where teaching and research draw on a variety of methodologies and approaches, including research-creation, research-by-design, reflection-in-action and case studies. The aim is to bring theory into dialogue with practice, to enable mutual enrichment, generate discoveries and stimulate innovation. With its flexible installation of various lighting fixtures, the laboratory provides a space for experimentation and the study of lighting environments, encouraging direct contact with light and learning through manipulation.  It can be used for a wide range of activities, such as teaching basic lighting principles, the shaping of full-scale lighting scenarios, the creation and conduct of exploratory research, the validation of project lighting strategy with mock-ups, and the supervision of graduate research projects.  By promoting a transdisciplinary approach to light and lighting, this laboratory brings together students, teachers, researchers and communities to explore light as a lived phenomenon and its effects on people in relation to their living environment.

Research units

• Groupe de recherche en illumination et design

At Université de Montreal

• Marie Tremblay-Laliberté - Responsable