About us
Light Follows Behaviour is a female-led, forward-thinking lighting design studio founded in 2012.
We specialise in public realm and after-dark placemaking. Our inclusive, collaborative studio integrates social research and community engagement into innovative lighting design. We deliver technical solutions that celebrate local character and create safer, more inclusive public spaces at night.
How we work
We have played a major role in building ‘social lighting’ as a design approach over the past 20 years. With strong links to research and academic studies, we continue to help shape lighting policy and professional practice through our methodology and projects, and our participation in policy forums, conferences, research programmes and education.
Our design approach and methodology aim at a thorough analysis of both the lighting space and the social space. We use creative methods to understand each context we work in, which is crucial in particularly complex environments such as housing estates, communal and outdoor spaces.
Our experienced team follow each projects from beginning until completion. We are committed to caring for each moment of the project - from concept design through construction and commissioning – in order to get the best possible result.
Each project begins with a technical and spatial analyses of the after-dark context to understand the central issues of space, architecture and lighting infrastructure.
The social space analysis adds an additional layer to our design work, relating the lighting of a space to the needs and concerns of the many diverse stakeholders potentially making use of the place, and understanding the ways in which they interact both with the space and with each other.
This approach arises from ongoing collaboration with Configuring Light/Staging the Social research group at the London School of Economics which works with sociologists and urbanists to integrate lighting design and social research.
Team
We have an experienced multi-disciplinary design team which have worked for renowned design offices bringing diverse skills and knowledge to each project.
Elettra brings over 20 years experience in public realm lighting projects focused on community engagement and co-design. She is Senior Policy Fellow at London School of Economics and member of Configuring Light research group since 2014.
Elettra brings a wealth of experience merging social research and lighting design. This approach has ensured the delivery of projects which function by day and night while also meeting the unique needs of London’s diverse local communities. Having worked extensively on exterior and public realm projects from design through to completion, Elettra also brings vast knowledge in successfully designing and delivering unique and memorable projects on site within a realistic time frame and budget.
She has led courses at the University of Rome, Milan and Turin and was visiting professor at Rhode Island School of Art and Design (RISD), Providence, USA where she led a design and build co-design project with undergraduate students that provided a new community centre space in South Providence, one of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the city.
Luciana has worked across a multitude of design disciplines during her career including landscape design and artwork fabrication. Luciana is an advocate for promoting good quality lighting design within our cities and improving public spaces. She aims to help bridge the gap across the many urban and public realm design professions.
Since 2014 she has worked for award winning lighting studios where her attention has been focused exclusively on public realm lighting projects, lighting masterplans and night time strategies. Her diverse design background and experience in outdoor environments ensures lighting becomes and integral element in the overall design from concept through to construction.
She is a part time lecturer at AAU Lighting Lab in Copenhagen and actively participates in various design and research led workshops and research initiatives focused on improving and expanding discussions about lighting design. She has contributed to numerous publications and conferences with the aim of at promoting an improved, holistic approach to lighting design.
Argun is a trained architect with a passion for urban lighting. His strong technical background and focus on lighting research brings a forward thinking approach to the design process and implementation.
After being appointed Research Fellow at the Politecnico di Torino, Argun worked on various research lighting projects prior to joining LFB. Argun brings a strong technical knowledge to the team with experience at all stages of design at varying project scales. Argun is a champion for lighting research in cities and ensuring a strong connection between academic and professional work.
He is a visiting tutor at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy where he works with students and professors to help bridge the gap of research and on site implementation.
Don Slater and Configuring Light (CL) research group at the London School of Economics specialises in community-focused social research, aiming to integrated social understanding with design practices. All CL projects involve collaborations with non-academics such as councils (including Southwark, City of London, Barking, Hackney, Mairie de Paris, Derby, Brisbane, etc); lighting professionals (Arup, Speirs Major); and developers. CL worked with the city of Paris on Place des Fetes- a good example working with council and lighting professionals to link public realm activation to social research in the context of a regeneration programme. Slater’s lighting research programme extends very long-term commitment to working with communities, starting from community photography (Camera work, in Bethnal Green) through international programmes of community action research on digital culture with UNESCO, DFID and British Council (in Trinidad, South Asia and Ghana).
Lily is a sociologist focused on the body and healthcare, with considerable experience researching intimate topics through a narrative approach in community settings. As well an external consultant, she is also Education and Wellbeing Apprentice at Brook, developing and delivering holistic and inclusive Relationships and Sex Education in a range of settings.
She is also freelance research assistant at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), working on interdisciplinary projects with Configuring Light and Light Follows Behaviour developing ethnographic fieldwork and publications on the international ENLIGHTENme health and wellbeing project. She worked extensively on community engagement and social research for the Lighting and Safety Assessment of the Olympic Park in London.
Who we work with
We believe in long and stable collaborations to deliver social change. We are committed to working with practices, organisations and individuals that improve wellbeing and support similar initiatives to our own.
