From September 19th to the 22nd, the city of Montreal will host the 2nd International Congress on Ambiances.

« The second International Congress on Ambiances will be held under the aegis of the Ambiances International Network. The congress, which takes place every four years, is one of the network’s main events, an international gathering for researchers, artists and players engaged in analyzing the ambiance-related dimensions of the built environment and in the sensory construction of the contemporary world », can we read on the Website of the event.

Once again, it is exciting to realize that the city of Montreal is considered a place of choice when it comes to design. In a previous blog, I did mention that Montreal was named the UNESCO CITY OF DESIGN And today, when I found out that the 2nd International Congress on Ambiances was to take place in Montreal next September, I could not help being excited at the fact that the concept of design is considered as ambiance.

In our blog, we often write about how the design aspect of our outdoor lighting luminaires plays a crucial role in the atmosphere of urban spaces. And it will also be part of the topics addressed during this second congress. Here are some of the issues that will be discussed:

• Exploring Lighting Cultures. Beyond Light and Emotions;

• Confronting architectural design practices and parametric design potentialities: A discussion for the description of lighting design intentions;

• The Portrait of a Place. Place portrait: The lived and desired environment in the speech of the residents.

Let us mention that during the first edition of this event, Ingrid Vogels, Senior Researcher from Philips Research Europe, offered a fascinating presentation. The title of her speech was « Atmosphere Metrics: a tool to quantify perceived atmosphere ». Her conference talked about a method to quantify the perceived atmosphere of an environment, how atmosphere is defined as the affective evaluation of the environment and also how an atmosphere can change people’s affective state.

And this year’s edition also promises to be fascinating. Without a doubt: an event not to be missed!

To learn more about this congress concerning the outdoor lighting industry and how to register, here is the link to the Website’s event : http://ambiances2012.sciencesconf.org/.