Our Approach

Configuring Light is committed to developing an empirically grounded social understanding that can work for professional practices but contribute something distinctive
InsideOut Festival_Configuring Light/Staging the Social_Sociology Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Our approach

Our projects explore how lighting is configured into social life: as infrastructure, as technology, as ambiance or as a particular kind of material that we make and shape through our everyday practices and professional expertise. Therefore, our approach is diverse, sometimes zooming in on one specific location or zooming out to reflect on global technological& lighting transformations.

Research

Our core (Maybe something like most regularily used, or the formula used) research approach is ethnographic: a location- specific exploration of social practices, understandings and relationships to build rich qualitative data. Our approach differs according to size and scale of project but may include;

  • Identifying and seeking out a diversity of stakeholders- beyond standard demographics
  • Sensitive, extensive and engaged interviews
  • Walkabouts, mapping- in light or dark
  • Projective methods
  • Visual Documentation
  • Piloting innovative, community informed and creative lighting interventions, in collaboration with lighting designers
  • Intensive short burst research of a location or long-term projects that revisits the development of a site
  • Integration of quantitative and big data to our core qualitative strategy
  • Collaboration with, municipalities, councils, and local experts
InsideOut Festival_Configuring Light/Staging the Social_Sociology Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Today fuelled by technologies and urgent social (safety and wellbeing) and environmental (long& short- term costs) concerns, light is taking centre stage in urban discussions. Therefore, at configuring light we are also developing & researching projects that are methodologically comparative and far- reaching to comment on these global developments.

Configuring Light/Staging the Social_

CONSULTANCY

Configuring Light works on a consultancy basis with a range of clients – including lighting designers, city councils, housing trusts and developers. We offer cutting edge social research methodologies and analytical resources to build a rich and secure understanding of the social spaces for design and planning interventions. This social knowledge can enter into a productive dialogue with professional designers and planners to foster an iterative development process.