Q&A with our workshop heads. Up first: Miguel Angel Vázquez Calanchini

Lights in Alingsås take pride in having a great set of brilliant workshop heads for this years event.
In a series of Q&A articles we would like to present them a bit closer - and let everyone have a chance to get to know them before they visit us in the autumn.

First up is Miguel Angel Vázques Calanchini from Mexico.

1. Describe yourself and your background in a couple of sentences!

I consider myself to be a curious, resourceful, flexible designer with a large apetite of learning and experimenting, enthusiastic and willing to share experiences, I enjoy taking new challenges and getting to meet new people.

I came across my first lighting design project while working as an interior architect for several large names in retail. I knew that lighting certainly had an important role on retail then I discovered light was an experience as its own.

I have been working as an architectural lighting designer since 2000 and 13 years independently in my own practice. I enjoy working outside specially landscape projects and facades and try to approach every new idea trying to expand and broaden the knowledge on an ever-changing and dynamic field as is lighting

2. What is your previous experience of Lights in Alingsås?

I have been following Lights in Alingsås through the years, on one point I considered participating as an attendee to the workshop on the early days of my career because of two things, first I considered it to be one of the most important practical formation required for any lighting enthusiast, and secondly Lights in Alingsas serves as a worldwide reference to the industry.

Not having the opportunity to attend due to increasing duties that never gave me the chance to spare time and travel yet I attended other workshops, but my expectations are high since Lights in Alingsas has set a name and a tradition.

I got even more interested on recent years after several colleagues I admire have participated actively on this extraordinary experience, the organisation clearly shows years of experience worth experiencing as a Workshop head, as an attendee or as a visitor. I am glad my time has come.

3. Hearing about this years theme , Emotions, how did you react?

Excitement! (One of the primary emotions) Yet emotions can be represented on a very subjective manner, there are a lot of cultural references starting from the visual representation of emotions with the use of color. it is not going to be an easy task. Still all the emotions that come are positive.

4. Do you consider the theme a easy or an hard task for you as a workshop-leader to manage?

Feelings are subjective and humans have a vast array of combined emotions depending on the situation they are facing, specially the point of view or perspective. A diferente perspective from the same situation can elicit different and even opposite emotions. It will be interesting to work forwards on how to express emotions through the use of light as a media since the interpretation of the result can evoke different emotions to different people.

5. What´s your own favourite emotions?

All emotions are healthy if expressed properly, you have the right to feel sad or angry and even scared on any given situation, so I don’t think these emotions carry a inherent negative value against happiness, excitement or being tender, the way you react to your emotions is what counts, the way you convey emotions for others to know how you feel. One very important aspect of reaction to feelings is recognition of wether what you are feeling is pleasant or unpleasant hence the subjective aspect of emotions. Particularly I like a balance between excitement and tender, I find happiness when I get to process the excitement of any situation moving into a more tender or calm emotion.

6. How much of the magic you will bring to Alingsås in october is already settled in your mind right now?

Well, light is magic on it own merit, yet excitement builds up day by day, I can go replaying ideas in my mind around the concept, and discover new ways to represent new ideas built on top of the ones before, iteration is a natural process in design thinking, you go back and forth asking questions that come with different approaches depending on the input making newer ideas. So even as I have already envisioned something there are still a lot of things that can change during the execution process and that is magical.

Follow Miguel on twitter : @LaChinaINC, @1_DIA