The play of light: rethinking mood lighting in performance

Tracing the Evolution of Lighting in Architecture

“…From aperture to performance, light is a prime instigator for the advancement of architectural thinking and designing. As Brawne stated, light's effects are a palpable and inseparable component of architecture (Brawne, 2005), a playmaker (Palmer, 2015), and a sculptor (Graham, 2020).…”

“…The uniformity of artificial light from the "lenses" stands out as a beacon. While the light itself is immaterial and changes the materials of building (Brawne, 2005) and revealing their "ekstases of things" (Graham, 2020), it can be manipulated to challenge our perception of it, an evolution where light in its capacity to help navigate our surrounding but instead has a way to make us question what we see, to make us wonder, evaluate and re-evaluate what we encounter and sometimes, what we believe. We will examine light as immaterial based on J.J Gibson's definition of medium, substances, and surfaces and some examples to examine light's evolution from material to immaterial (Gibson, 1979).…”

“…Light as a material or light as medium, substance, and surface, it is evident that light, its manifestations, including plasticity (Walker, 2012) and its capability to generate atmosphere (Graham, 2020), can create, challenge, and affect our vision, behavior environment, and perception to the fullest.…”