Abstract:

Lighting is one of the central parameters along with other environmental features such as colour, temperature, noise, materials of volumes and furniture that improve the learning environment and the performances of students. Well-being and the ability to cognitively perform in educational premises are research issues of increasing importance in the lighting design sector. This research topic ranges through a variety of educational establishments, from early childhood nurseries to universities classrooms.

Since the early 70s, several studies have dealt with the influence of specific features of natural and artificial lighting on pupils’ well-being and their cognitive performances. In particular, investigations focus on mood, mental performance, activity, alertness, and cognitive functions along with stimulation of behaviours, interactions and learning performances. Beyond the vision, the lighting conditions occurring in a learning environment are influential parameters in affecting also the psychophysiological and cognitive performances. New lighting technologies, nowadays, can improve this relationship. In the last decade, the recent significant transformation in the lighting industry has been driven by the massive introduction of solid-state lighting (SSL) systems for general lighting. In addition to this, the overall lighting system performances has been further improved due to the use of digital lighting networking and sensor controlling to connect, manage and monitor the lighting performance according to users’ needs.

The purpose of the study is to review the existing literature on the relationship between lighting design influencing vision, well-being, satisfaction with the luminous environment along with the enhancement of developmental and cognitive functions. The overall research questions are: How does light support the general wellbeing in learning? Can the artificial lighting and the interplay between natural and artificial lighting be enhanced and better integrated into the architecture? How designers can implement lighting conditions to determine social, psychological, aesthetic and functional features in the context of application of educational premises?

The methodology focus on a review of existing literature about the visual, physiological, psychological influence of lighting by also considering the development of sensory perception through the evolutionary perspective. This theoretical part states that the quality of light can influence the cognitive skills and the academic performance of students (e.g. attention, concentration, cognitive reasoning and fluency of reading). Specific lighting receipts which can be dynamically changed, can support the rhythm of school class activities and enhance the sensory stimulation of children in their formative years.

From this evidence-based knowledge, the researcher proposes suggestions to how the lighting design may provide the most supportive environmental learning conditions for the future design of education environments. The paper develops design scenarios for environments that improve the learning abilities of infants, toddlers and academic students. Since that all the operators of learning and teaching environments spend most of the daylight hours indoors in classrooms, it seems essential to consider the opportunities given by the new lighting technologies to design enhanced luminous learning environments.

Keywords:

Artificial lighting, natural light, dynamic light, learning related activities, environmental stimuli, well-being, learning environments, cognitive development.