Last week, we hosted Light & Life Dialogue at our SEEDDESIGN Taipei Store, welcoming Hai-Ren Shen, founder of Lumiji Lighting Design, and Hsu-Ru Yang, founder of UNDERLiIGHT, to share their insights and experiences in residential lighting design.
When discussing lighting design, many people first think about fixtures, brightness, or placement. Yet throughout the dialogue, one idea emerged repeatedly: meaningful lighting design begins with understanding how people live.
“Every lighting angle has a reason behind it.”
Approaching the topic from the perspective of residential lighting planning, Hai-Ren shared the professional principles and logic behind lighting design.
From reading and dining to everyday activities, each space serves a different purpose. The direction, height, and layering of light all influence how people interact with their surroundings—often in subtle ways that profoundly shape daily life.
“Light brings emotion and sensory experiences into a space, making everyday rituals feel effortless.”
Hsu-Ru, meanwhile, presented a variety of residential case studies, illustrating how lighting responds to different lifestyles and living environments.
From compact apartments designed for solo living to family homes and even spaces thoughtfully planned around pets, every home carries its own needs—and therefore its own language of light.
“Light brings emotion and sensory experiences into a space, making everyday rituals feel effortless.”
Hsu-Ru, meanwhile, presented a variety of residential case studies, illustrating how lighting responds to different lifestyles and living environments.
From compact apartments designed for solo living to family homes and even spaces thoughtfully planned around pets, every home carries its own needs—and therefore its own language of light.
Sometimes it is a gentle light above the dining table, quietly welcoming a family member home late. Sometimes it is a single lamp beside the bathtub, creating a moment of calm that feels almost candlelit. In smaller homes, it may be the thoughtful placement of light that allows one person to read comfortably without disturbing another.
These examples were not simply about lighting layouts; they revealed how light can accompany and enrich everyday moments.
Although the two speakers approached lighting from different perspectives—one focusing on planning and technical logic, the other on human-centered design—they ultimately arrived at the same conclusion:
Great lighting design begins with people.
Every home is different, and every lifestyle brings its own needs and rhythms.
During the Q&A session, participants raised thoughtful questions ranging from lighting arrangements and spatial atmosphere to the realities of daily living. The discussion became an open and engaging exchange of ideas, reflecting the many ways light can shape our experience of home.
Perhaps the direction of light is shaped, first and foremost, by the life it is meant to illuminate.
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