Light is an integral part of life. It governs the circadian rhythms in living organisms. Daylight, which, in a tropical country like India, is taken for granted and design attempts to shield from the same, is the primary and the best source of Light. However, after sunset, Artificial Light comes to the fore.

Light has the power to facilitate activity. It has the power to rejuvenate. These underlie the theme of the workshops in March 2011 “ACTIVATING PUBLIC SPACES”. The Workshops in Goa will have six internationally acclaimed Lighting Designers, each working with a group of people, for duration of five days, on six selected sites. They will design and install Lighting solutions that will transform and enhance the visual and utilitarian value of these spaces. These installations would be of a temporary nature and be on display to the Public for the next two three weeks. This is an attempt to showcase how professionally designed Lighting installations can add Value to urban spaces and transform them into pockets of social activity with revenue generating potentials. It would also facilitate the exercise of collecting Empirical Data to study the tangible benefits of good lighting at the six completed sites.

India is developing at a fast pace with large new facilities being planned. Urban and Heritage preservation and up gradation projects are being seriously planned and implemented. It is of great interest to the Lighting Design Community that the seriousness of the role that Lighting plays in these developments is understood by the people in authority, who implement such scales of projects that can make an impact on the built environment. It is also important that the common man awakens to the benefits of good Lighting Practices.

The Workshops in Goa, “ LIGHTS IN GOA-2011”, will follow an educational model, with a larger goal of educating with impact all the participants, such as the decision making bodies and the community at large. This format of workshop is adapted form the PLDA workshops in Alingsas, Sweden. The Workshop week will also have a simultaneous Seminar on Architectural Lighting Design with eminent speakers from the International Fraternity. This is the first Initiative of its kind in the Asia-Pacific Region, and aims at making a positive difference to all.