Towards enlightened students of architecture: What lighting strategy is necessary for supporting the pedagogy of architectural design studios and the learning experience of students?

Light is essential to human’s rhythm. It is therefore necessary to adapt the lighting of a building to its occupants in order to support them during their specific activities. This thesis has been entirely centred on addressing the needs and requirements of students in architecture for their visual and non-visual responses, and to sustain at once, their learning experience, as much as their comfort, health and wellbeing. To answer this problematic, it was needed to characterise the needs of the students, particularly in terms of the lighting that is demanded to support their visual task performance, and the specific non-visual requirements that are dictated by their working and living styles. To do so, this thesis was articulated on three fundamental research methodologies: surveys, measurements, and simulations. They were done in the actual studios. Based on the results obtained from the analysis of the actual design studios and its inhabitants, verification and recommendations can be provided for the design of the new building. The lighting strategies for an architectural design studio should support the students and the pedagogy with great horizontal and vertical homogeneity, good colour rendering, and consistent luminous intensity. Moreover, daylight with a view would always be the preferred source of this light, but this has to be complemented by a spectrally-tunable and flexibly adaptable electric lighting system. Yet personal control is an element of major importance because all users of an architectural design studio should be able to choose, and adapt, the lighting they need at the time they want.