The Design Campus at the Polytechnic University in Milan held the 13
th edition of the annual conference
“Lighting Innovation” on 27
th of November. The meeting, which discusses forward-looking topics every year, is an important event for the Master’s in Lighting Design and LED Technology at the Polytechnic University of Milan. The main topic of the 2017 edition was the influence of light on circadian rhythms in people, as a tribute to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine having been awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young "for their discovery of molecular mechanisms that control the circadian rhythm".
Among the speakers at the conference,
Piergiovanni Ceregioli, Director of the Cultural Research Centre at iGuzzini, spoke about iGuzzini’s commitment to research in this field through the design of lighting products that are able to improve the psychophysical wellbeing in people. His speech, titled
“More than a vision” is an explicit reference to the book with the same title, published by the Study and Research Centre of iGuzzini. The paperback, as well as the main topic of the talk, offers a deep analysis of the influence light has on the human biological cycle. iGuzzini started its first experiments in the photo-biological field through a collaboration with the University of Troy (USA) in 1988, aiming to study the influence of artificial lighting on psycho-physiological wellbeing. The study resulted in the patenting of a biodynamic lighting system called
SIVRA (Variable Lighting System with Automatic Regulation) used to reproduce the natural shift of sunlight through artificial lighting, in order to improve human wellbeing.
Lighting Europe, the association that represents the lighting industry in Europe, promotes the idea of a light that can improve human wellbeing . In fact, Lighting Europe defines
Human Centric Lighting (HCL) as a core issue of its
Strategic Roadmap 2025 for the development and the growth of the lighting industry. As a pioneer in this field of research, iGuzzini has always implemented biodynamic light into its products, evolving from SIVRA to the Tunable White technologies, based on the latest LED sources. Dynamic light has various application fields: from working areas and confined places with no direct access to daylight – where it is used to improve the work environment, to the medical field – where it helps speeding up patient’s recovery, and finally, to the cultural field – where it enhances the perception of art.
The new Scuderia Ferrari building in Maranello, the Motel refinery control room in Marseille and the traffic control room in Oslo, the Virgin call centre in Norwich, and the headquarters of HSBC in London are main examples of dynamic light applications that improve the employees’ working environment. Meanwhile, the collaboration with the Coma Research and Study Centre (Ospedale Maggiore of Bologna) proves that dynamic lighting schemes can positively impact memory recovery, supporting patients’ general rehabilitation. Finally, the recent IoT lighting system at the
Scrovegni Chapel is an excellent project which shows the positive impact of dynamic lighting on the perception of artworks. The application uses Tunable White technology that can be dynamically adjusted in line with the variable intensity of natural light, ensuring visitors get to see Giotto’s frescoes in the best light, irrespective of the time of day.