Social Light Movement

'Light is a right not a privilege' 'People before places' The Social Light Movement is a philanthropic movement and has been founded in order to create a network for lighting designers and other interested parties to collaborate on the issue of improving lighting for people: particularly those who are unlikely to have access to good quality illumination within their environment. The SLM exists: to demonstrate and to design well lit environments for social and underprivileged housing areas and people to involve the community in the actual design of their own environment to encourage other designers to work in similar environments and use similar methodologies to educate housing associations, housing management teams and social housing ownership bodies about the benefits of good lighting to gain the support of city administrations, urban planners, architects, landscape designers, electrical engineers, lighting designers and other associated disciplines to create attention, arouse public opinion, influence politicians and decision makers to promote responsible energy use within lighting design to persuade people that they have the right to expect good lighting to never use sodium Vive La "Light Revolution"! Social Light Movement MANIFESTO

Other experiences

Sweden _ A social dimension to lighting design Lighting design is about creativity! Lighting design is about people! Lighting design is about people s needs and requirements in their daily life! Lighting design is also about attitude, approach and a different way of working: to create ideas and innovative solutions with all sorts of materials. Despite the fact that it s possible to save energy in almost every project that we have been involved in, our main focus is on the social aspects of lighting design: to work with and for the people. We have worked a lot with the large housing estates and the suburbs from the Million Housing Program (1960s building program) in Sweden and the work have included a struggle against social exclusion in socially disadvantaged areas. Every bigger city has, aside from areas where better situated people live, its socio-critical areas. In co-operation with private and municipal housing companies we are making inventories and developing lighting design plans. We are also engaged in renovation and refurbishment projects in the outdoor environment together with a commitment to safety and comfort in the suburbs. We do not only have a theoretical understanding of this topic. We are also involving the people in the neighborhoods in the space and in the projects. This is our way to decentralize the overall picture. Successful projects we have been involved in have been widely acclaimed on both a national and international scale.

UK _ A collective dimension of light Light Collective is a next generation lighting consultancy. Working inside and outside the standard architectural design framework, Light Collective is fueled by our passion for light, collaboration and creativity. Our aspiration is to understand, interpret and work with light in all of its contexts - artistic, social, architectural, commercial, cultural, physiological and psychological. We believe that light is an openly accessible medium that can be used to engage and inspire both other professionals and the uninitiated. Our objective is that Light Collective provides an umbrella and platform for like-minded and inspired people to collaborate in a multitude of ways and in different formats. From architectural lighting design, light installations and film, to education, community engagement, professional development and marketing, Light Collective is a home for, or the foundations from which many projects can be constructed all with the medium that fundamentally drives us at their heart - LIGHT. Light Collective Rules Always: #1 Be evangelical #2 Innovate #3 Inspire #4 Engage #5 Educate #6 Encourage collectivism #7 Share knowledge #8 Promote daylight #9 Live it or leave it #10 Embrace darkness #11 Make a dent in the universe #12 Challenge convention We aim to spread our enthusiasm and evangelical passion for light to everyone that we encounter.

Belgium _Light and cities Light cannot be confined within the overly restrictive constraints of a sometimes narcissistic exercise in style. Rather, it is an issue of social cohesion. Radiance35 does not, therefore, limit itself simply to designing the lighting or illumination for a site. It adds that extra something that is the hallmark of a resolutely political approach. Its recognised town planning expertise leads it to constantly question the meaning of its approach there where the town, a space inhabited by men, women and children, weaves its social fabric. A street, a square, an avenue or a tree, all become a another prism through which to comprehend the urban reality. It is therefore possible to organise the different types of lighting to reflect a social pattern. The author many lighting master plans (The Tracé Royal (Royal Way), Uccle, Anderlecht, Liege, Port of Brussels, etc) and lighting schemes (for churches, town halls, bridges, main squares, social housing schemes, etc.), the focus of Isabelle Corten's work has exclusively centred on lighting design since 2007. Faced with the her growing success, she decided to expand her practice and set up Radiance35 in 2010. At Radiance 35, lighting design has found an ideal, fertile environment in which to flourish, one that is steeped in architectural and urban design, and one that has won renown on the Belgian and foreign scenes.

Italy _Light and people Elettra Bordonaro is architect with a PhD on urban lighting, because since the beginning she developed a passion for light and people. Elettra thinks that moments when you share experiences and emotions with others are the best part of life. She is definitely Italian, that means that hanging out in public spaces is her way to live. She is convinced also that people make public spaces. Without people there is no reason neither for light. But light, in a broader sense (from lighting design, lighting art and temporary installation) can be a medium to collect people and so to renew neglected spaces. Trying to put together all her interests, she started working on lighting in public spaces and organize different workshops with a lot of people and participating to the design process to create and to give to Cities tips, suggestions, projects to develop in order to create not a better world, but simply a better space. Elettra Bordonaro