AUD’s Interior Design and Architecture students participated in the initiative, Light.ication v4.0., which aimed to encourage mentorship & creativity through the peer lighting design community in opening the eyes of university and college students on the creative and technical characteristics of lighting design. The word Light.ication means, “Lighting Design through Education”. As an initiative, Light.ication was founded by Sakina Dugawalla-Moller, Design Director & Founder @Light.Func.

For the past three years, student/mentor teams have exhibited their design-build installations at the Light Middle East Exhibition and Conference. For the fourth installment, the installations left LME and were to be at university campuses.

Merging the themes of ‘tolerance’ and ‘women in lighting’, our team chose to use AUD itself as the analogy. The AUD campus and community are the literal and metaphorical backdrop; a microcosm of both tolerance and a place where women have a strong voice. University years are formative years, where an entire community works together to explore, disagree, connect, and create. The students used a site within AUD that they believed was the heart of the community- the triangular path that circumnavigates the oldest tree on campus. The triangle can represent the unity of mind, body and spirit; it is both masculine and feminine.

Intersecting pathways were lit with lanterns, which shared commonalities in overall dimension and materiality, yet abound with differences in pattern and color. When lit, each of the lanterns were transformed into something new, a different experience, due to their shadows.
The tree in the center was washed with light, offering a different perspective at night. All programming of these lights was done by students.

Along the back wall of the Administration building, there was a story playing out from left to right. Grazing light is used initially to show differences and textures, yet as the user moves towards the right, the light changes to reflect something more smooth and unified.

Four concrete footings provided the base for four ideas that are intrinsic to the AUD community. Created from found objects and samples related to the student work of the School of Architecture, Art and Design, they represent unity, exploration, diversity, and flexibility; the students invited the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

The group working on Light.ication 4.0 represented both Interior Design and Architecture students, with roots in India, Egypt, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Kuwait; under the guidance of their lighting design mentor from the USA. The overall process has taught the students and the AUD community that when we respect and help each other, a solution is easily found.