Vamos falar de Lighting Design?
Cada vez mais o termo “Design” se tem tornado popular e abrangente graças às várias vertentes que pode apresentar. As demandas industriais e tecnológicas que borbulham desde o final do século XX, multiplicam e dividem (ao mesmo tempo) o design nas suas diversas aplicações e categorias.
Convidamos Martina Frattura, lighting designer, para nos falar sobre esta área de atuação. A Martina foi recentemente reconhecida com o prémio “40 Under 40 Class of 2020” que identifica os jovens designers da área mais talentosos e promissores.
Conheci-a graças ao Festival Mental, onde em 2019 foi autora do livro “A Incrível História de Soul e Shame”. Já tinha, portanto, conhecido um pouco sobre ela:
“Uma designer apaixonada pelas artes e ciência. Através da sua pesquisa a “a Beautiful Light”, investiga como pode a iluminação manter os níveis de atenção, usando a percepção da beleza como uma variável” – deixa-nos curiosos, certo?
Foi então na apresentação do livro que tive o prazer de a conhecer pessoalmente. A Martina não quis falar sobre ela enquanto pessoa na entrevista, mas posso dizer-vos que do pouco que conheço, é uma pessoa verdadeiramente repleta de luz.
Vamos então às perguntas?
(Antes de mais, a Martina é Italiana, e apesar de já falar ridiculamente bem português, pedi-lhe para responder da forma mais confortável para ela. Ela optou pelo Inglês, e eu vou manter, desculpem.)
O que te levou a optar por esta área? Quando percebeste que “é mesmo isto que eu quero!”?
I wasn’t that convinced about my bachelor in interior design until I had the module of Lighting Design. I come from a family of artesans, mainly taylors, hence I grew up with looking something being made from scratch and, even more, balancing the clients’ needs with the professionals conditions. Interior design was, for me, a series of rules that had place in the consumerist world, but I was struggling to find a soul to it.
When I learnt that Lighting design had standards that is advised to follow, but it is up to the client need and to the designer concept the actual final word, I fell in love.
Como e onde deste início à tua carreira?
I started in Milan, after reading and studying anything possible about lighting. I pro-posed myself into an electrotechnical studio as “lighting designer” even tho I did have no experience whatsoever. I have been like a sponge for six months, absorbing everything, but since the technical part was partially covered, I went first to be the assistant of a light artist in the Netherlands, then to properly study Architectural Lighting Design in Sweden. All of this just as a ground base, as I believed (and still do) in lighting as a big umbrella for different disciplines.
Há procura no mercado por este tipo de trabalho? Especialmente em Portugal, sentes que é algo que é visto como “necessário” ou como em tantas outras áreas de Design, ainda tens que explicar o valor do mesmo?
Lighting design in Europe got developed into two different categories mainly: product and concept design. While countries like Italy and Spain have been using their background in Industrial design to establish quite an important decorative and Te-chnical lighting fixtures catalogues, in northern Europe, where natural light is an issue, the research and practise over the implementation of a lighting plan in the construction system turned them to be the center of the discipline. In fact, up to these days, England and Scandinavia are the biggest “lighting design forces”.
Que razão associas à rápida evolução da especialidade nos últimos anos, um pouco por todo o mundo? Que países a valorizam mais?
In continuation with my previous answer. The oldest european association of lighting designer has recently turned 50 years old and, actually, the word lighting design itself is even younger. This said I won’t really speak about old or new conditi-ons, but more about evolution of technology that made possible to “shape with light”, more and more.
O mercado nacional de iluminação já dispõe de tudo o que de melhor se produz no mundo? Se não, o que consideras que falta?
In terms of technology at the moment there is no a “one way solution”, which mean that companies are not really pointing toward the implementations of different fix-tures or light sources. These years are aiming to the integration of lighting into a bigger system of controls and automations, in the specific the IoT (Internet of Things) is the hottest topic.
Enquanto profissional, já enfrestaste algum tipo de discriminação por seres mulher? Se sim, como enfrentaste / resolveste?
I have been working in very safe and fair environments. In my personal life, instead, I have experience discrimination and the only way I could cope with it was to empower myself and the women around me more, by sharing knowledge and information and by letting us be the first one not going towards old fashioned preconcepti-ons.
Fala-nos um bocadinho sobre o projeto “Woman in Lighting”.
Women in Lighting is an international project that has exactly this idea of sharing and co-sharing as basis. It starts in UK from the duo Light Collective (Sharon Stam-mers and Martin Lupton) after noticing that it’s easier to approach and get in touch with men LD (lighting designers). Their commitment resulted into a net of hundreds of women talking to each other and having a sort of megaphone to speak outside their office too.
I am an active member as content creator for the R.A.W. series blog and has “wing girl” to the ambassador Paula Rainha in Portugal.
Qual o melhor momento para um Lighting Designer entrar em ação no projeto?
Depending on the project a lighting designer should be always in the earliest stage possible (in theory). In case of a brand new architecture, for instance, a lighting designer specialised in Daylighting as well, could be with shaping the building itself, not just illuminating it. Most of the times it does happen that we enter in a project close to the end, especially in case of budget restrictions. An appropriate lighting is still considered a luxury, sometimes.
Quais as principais tendências a ter em consideração?
There is no tendency that I believe worth to be followed when we are speaking about technical lighting. While it makes sense, in case of both private and public spaces, to follow some trends on decorations, lighting has the duties of making eve-rything visible and to let the end user feel comfortable and safe in the space.
Como é o teu processo para o desenvolvimento de projetos?
As architectural lighting designer is good practise to follow and reveal the architec-ture, but depending case by case there are some ground rules that the concept has to follow.
Que fatores tens em consideração e o que não pode faltar?
The end user of the space (seja público ou privado) has the right to orientate at ease, to have a comfort of vision according to the spaces and the actions is up to and to respect the natural body rhythm.
Consideras que há pontos em comum entre a iluminação de cenário – uma vertente mais artística - e a iluminação corporativa ou residencial?
Lighting, both natural and artificial, is an attention catcher. Both on a stage and in the house, by highlighting an object – or a person – or an architectural feature is always leading the user to look at it. This is the beauty of it: light is off cultures, genders, races.
Preferes contar uma história através da luz, ou fazer sentir algo? Ou achas que os dois conceitos estão sempre ligados?
It is impossible not to let a person not to feel anything while being exposed to a (light) stimuli.
Por fim, luz artificial ou luz natural?
No escuro. Darkness is fundamental to light.
Obrigada, Martina! Imagens de Herve Hette.
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