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Published on: 2nd of January 2012
Current city: Lisbon

I met up with João Luís Carrilho da Graça (JLCG), an award winning architect who has a very extensive and diverse work in Portugal and internationally, for a short conversation on light and architecture.

On architecture and light, JLCG referred James Turrel who sees light as a mean to define space regardless of the light source, either being nature or man-made technology. This is how the architect interprets lighting in his buildings: light is not only seen as another component of architecture but also as an ephemeral element of architecture. More so with the advance of technology, it is hard to design lighting for an undetermined life of the building. Lighting should allow for changing and improvement in the course of the life of architecture.

Nevertheless, as JLCG adds, light should be functional too and provide a comfortable environment for people to work or live in. This is even more relevant, especially in cities in which there is a tendency to be over illuminated, as the architect concludes. We compared cities and talked about light in Lisbon and how we have the impression that natural light in cities next to water feels different.

Another interesting aspect of light design as JLCG points out, is the lack of education in this field. This was interesting to discuss because it is a common subject that has come across from most of my conversations with people all over the world: there are not that many people that actually studied lighting design and it raises  the importance and relevance of educating people on light.

On his work JLCG uses light as a scenic element. Light sets the mood and highlights what is relevant in the building. I had the chance to visit one of JLCG´s projects in the city: the Pavilion of Knowledge, the equivalent to the Science Museum here in Lisbon. The building was designed in the context of the 1998 world exhibition but already with a permanent character very much different from the original concept of the world exhibitions which are temporary.

In 2010 the interior space was converted to allocate the last phase of the Science Museum and being a recent intervention, LED technology was used to enhance and backlight the wall panels. As simple as this idea can be, I think this is a great example of how lighting can transform a space into something more ‘scenic and extraordinary’!