Polski
Dreams Lit Up Łódź, While Science Shows How Uneven Light Can Save Electricity
This week in the lighting industry brought a real clash of scale: on one hand, a large-scale light festival that turned the center of Łódź into an open-air gallery for three days; on the other, a meticulous perception study that could change the way office lighting is designed. Here's what's new at the intersection of art, technology, and the science of light.
01 · Light Art
16th Light Move Festival Lit Up Łódź Under the Theme "Dreams"
From September 25 to 27, Łódź became the capital of light art for the sixteenth time [1]. This year's edition of the Light Move Festival spanned as many as 47 locations across the city center, with "Dreams" as its guiding theme. A true highlight of the event was the debut of the facade of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a screen for large-scale mapping — for the first time in the festival's history, the church served as a canvas for a light projection [1]. At the same time, visitors to the Poznański Palace could see two original productions: "Dream Journeys" and "Mnemora" [1].
The festival, however, was about more than just visuals — organizers ensured a full sensory experience by pairing light installations with music performed on ten stages across the city, while a separate workshop zone was set up for the youngest visitors [1]. For the lighting industry, this is an important testing ground: on a city-wide scale, it's possible to see live how modern mapping, light control, and large-format projections perform outside a lab or a showroom — and how a mass audience responds to them.
02 · Research & Design
Study: Uneven Wall Lighting May Improve the Perception of Interior Brightness
From spectacular public installations, we move to a completely different scale — a single room and how our brain reads the light falling on its walls. A recent study, covered by the industry outlet designinglighting.com and referenced by EdisonReport in its September 22 Today in Lighting roundup, puts forward a thesis that seems counterintuitive at first: less uniform, more varied wall lighting inside a room can increase the subjective sense of brightness and how adequate the lighting feels [2].
In other words — rather than striving for a perfectly even distribution of light across every surface, designers can turn to layered lighting and a deliberately uneven brightness distribution, achieving the impression of a better and more fully lit space in the process [2]. The conclusion has a very concrete practical implication: this approach makes it possible to lower actual lux levels — and, with them, energy consumption — without compromising users' visual comfort [2]. That's a potentially valuable insight for designing offices and commercial interiors, where energy efficiency has long gone hand in hand with rising expectations for light quality.
03
From Spectacle to Laboratory — One Common Thread
Although the two stories this week seem worlds apart, they share one thing: light affects us more powerfully when it isn't uniform. The festival in Łódź proves this on an urban scale — through movement, contrast, and surprise on the facades of historic buildings. The perception study confirms the same phenomenon on the scale of a single office wall. For designers, architects, and luminaire manufacturers, this is a signal that layering and varying light is not just an aesthetic choice but a real design tool — from wow-effect to energy savings.
If these topics have caught your interest, be sure to save the date for Warsaw Home Light – Międzynarodowe Targi Oświetlenia. This is where creators of large-scale light installations, interior designers, and engineers responsible for modern, energy-efficient lighting systems come together — and where exhibitors showcase solutions that, a year from now, may end up on office walls and the facades of future festivals. See you at the show!
Invitation
Fascinated by how light can surprise us — from city facades to office walls? Visit Warsaw Home Light – Międzynarodowe Targi Oświetlenia and see live mapping technologies, layered lighting, and energy-efficient solutions that are shaping the future of spaces. Meet the creators of light installations and experts in commercial lighting design, all under one roof.
Warsaw Home Light – Targi OświetleniaFootnotes
[1] Dziennik Łódzki — https://dzienniklodzki.pl/light-move-festival-2026-w-pigulce-program-atrakcje-koncerty-na-festiwalu-swiatla-w-lodzi-w-dniach-25-27-wrzesnia/ar/c1p2-29382341[2] EdisonReport (Today in Lighting) — https://edisonreport.com/2026/09/22/spec-issue-wall-lighting-uniformity-study-landscape-forms-dma-lighting-september-22-2026/