ABOUT
Hi there! I am Cristina. I am passionate about lighting and I feel mesmerised by observing it in my daily life. Lighting design brought me a new way of perceiving my surroundings and I found that the best way to understand the power of lighting is by travelling to diverse cities, exploring their cultures and listening to how light impacts people's lives.
In March 2020, I began Nigth-time Traveller. This initiative looks to inquire about the role of women in the urban night.
HOW DID NIGHT-TIME
TRAVELLER START?
Putting together Night-time Traveller has been a long journey. This journey started with my inner quest to feel safe when traveling and exploring cities at night. I have always needed that feeling of freedom that I get when I walk through cities after dark, away from the hustle and bustle of the day.
Furthermore, after speaking with other women, I realized that this search was collective and that with other women we shared a sense of curiosity
about the night and a need to expand the time and space in which “women are currently allowed” to inhabit the urban night.
With this situation in mind, I am currently compiling information to support, through findings and data, the relevance of having a gender approach when designing public spaces for the night and how this strategy can promote more livable spaces at night.
If you want to know more about the story behind this initiative check out this interview in the arc magazine Issue 119. Published on December 2020
MORE ABOUT
MY CAREER
@silhouetteawards
6 months Mentorship Program
“The Silhouette Awards programme is focused on identifying the rising stars of the lighting industry and subsequently supporting these young professionals beyond as they progress their careers.”
International award 2022
@WomenInLighting
Publication in Women in Lighting’s Blog to spread the word about Night-time Traveller’s research and to encourage women to contribute with their own experience dwelling the night though a survey.
“Night-time Traveller is an initiative which inquires about those specific needs that afflict us as women.”
Blog – Interesting reads 2020
@UrbanNightConference
Participate as part of the speakers at this International Conference on the Urban Night with my master’s thesis “Light as a tool to structure urban planning: a socially-oriented approach”.
An event co-hosted by “Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research”, VUB, Bruselas; Department of Economics of Transport and Energy, UNWE; and Research Centre for Social Studies, Sofia University.
International conference 2018
Academic Background
Colombian architect with an Urban Environmental Emphasis and an MSc in Architectural Lighting Design from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
Experience in public innovation field in city-scale at entities such as the Laboratory of Innovation in Public Services of Bogotá at UAESP, the Laboratory of Public Innovation of the Council of Bogotá DemoLab and currently in the Laboratory of Public Innovation of the Public Space of Bogotá at DADEP.
Updated August 2022
Our cities should tell the story of who its citizens are, and be a collection of their deepest wishes