Universal lighting design: Towards sustainable lighting solutions that support function, experience and human diversity

Abstract

Abstract This paper introduces the principle of Universal design into the field of lighting design by pointing to and discussing their shared understandings of human diversities, and how functionality as well as experiencing are equally important aspects of designs. This introduction is initialized by the presentation of a thematic analysis of an ethnographic field study investigating how midwives practice and experience lighting in the delivery room during childbirth. Taking on a phenomenological approach, the analysis showcases how lighting both serves a tool to support functional medical practices, and as a tool to affect sensory experiences in the delivery room. As such, the analysis serves to integrate understandings of lighting having both functional effects and experiential significance, in addition to pointing out diverse and changing sensitivities to lighting. In this regard, the paper aims to initialize further discussions about how the principle of Universal design may serve as a tool to address and support the quality and sustainability of lighting designs, by embracing human practices, experiences, and differences - leaving no one behind.