As part of a four weeks student project at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, masters students in design Ann-Kristin Eriksen, Chia Han Hsiao, Ørjan Laxaa and Clementine Rusten designed and executed a light intervention in Oslo in collaboration with Nabolagshager and Oslo Living Lab. This intervention was part of the innovation project “PlaceCity, placemaking for sustainable, thriving cities”, which in Oslo aims to empower youth to improve public spaces around their local high school. The students from the design program were highly motivated to work and create something together with the youth, even as they considered this user group quite challenging. The main goal of their intervention was to enable the youth to take ownership of their own schoolyard and shape it into a space in which they would like to hang out after school hours. Based on user research conducted previously at the school by Oslo Living Lab, youth proposed more lights and colours as a light, quick and cheap transformation to improve their school and make it more attractive and safe. That is why the design students decided to work on how youth could design and create simple light installations and projections by themselves at their own school, using just a projector and different materials and surfaces. 

The co-creation approach used by the design students was very successful in terms of involving youth in every step of the process, and also enabled interactive discussions and knowledge-exchange. They organised two co-creation workshops at the university, where they discussed the project with the youth and experimented with different materials for the installation and digital tools. In addition, design students made a projection trolley to make it easier to transport the equipment, and created a handbook on how to make light installations with a projector and simple materials. Both the projection trolley and the handbook will help youth to continue exploring the field of light installations and motivate them to design and execute by themselves future light interventions at the school. At the end of the project, design students and youth set up the light installation at Hersleb’s schoolyard, creating a unique and fully-customised space for high school students, teachers and passers-by.

If you would like to organise a light intervention in your own community, you can find the free manual here with everything you need to know!!

Photo credits: Ann-Kristin Eriksen and Ørjan Laxaa