About us

Our Studio

Sighte Studio is an architectural lighting design studio based in Brooklyn, NY. We collaborate with leading architects, landscape architects, and interior designers to design elegant and effective environments.

We craft design narratives through analysis, testing, and drawing in order to translate our intrinsic understanding of lighting phenomenon first to our clients and collaborators, and then into real constructed environments. We are committed to integrating the principles of sustainability into every project.

With backgrounds in the performing arts, psychology, architecture, and business we bring a varied expertise to the studio's work that enables us to respond effectively to diverse project types and client expectations. We find value in every scale of project from entire urban neighborhoods to intimate interiors.

Finally, our profound interest in light extends past our professional practice through participation in outside forums including education, professional affiliations, and research. Our ongoing research practice explores equitable lighting for future cities including participatory design methodologies as well as cataloguing of the night-time urban experience.

Sighte Studio is a woman-owned business and we are certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) in both New York City and New York State.

Our Team

Francesca Bastianini, LC, IES

Founding Partner, Sighte Studio

As a co-founder and principal of Sighte Studio, Francesca is committed to a practice that folds education, research, and community engagement into design. Drawing on her background in theatre and psychology, her design work is attentive to people's interaction with space, considering both an individual's well-being and their aesthetic experience. Her wide-ranging practice covers projects of all scales, from boutique retail spaces to private residential estates, to large scale academic and institutional buildings.

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Francesca moved to the United States to attend Smith College, where she received her BA in Theatre and Psychology. Following her undergraduate work, Francesca earned a Masters degree in psychology from Lesley University and in 2010 graduated from Parsons School of Design with an MFA in Lighting Design. She completed a thesis that focused on creating lighting solutions for underserved populations, for which she received the Richard Kelly Grant. In May, 2016 Francesca was named among the list of 40 Under 40 by Lighting magazine.

Outside of the office Francesca is the board member and Past President of the Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY), a founding member of Equity in Lighting (EIL) and an adjunct faculty member in the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons School of Design.

Robyn Bohn

Lighting Designer, Sighte Studio

Robyn graduated from Parsons in May 2022 with an MFA in Interior and Lighting Design, and a minor in Design Studies. As a designer, she is committed to materials and processes that prioritize human and planetary health. Her interest in inclusive practices in space and lighting design education inspired her thesis work where sound and movement are foregrounded to enhance learning.

Robyn also holds a BFA in Printmaking, with a minor in Nonfiction Writing, from Washington University in St. Louis. Her professional experience includes ten years in organizational development and account direction for a Fortune 500 commercial print company, followed by an industry-leading creative-staffing firm. Passionate about the success of non-profit organizations working to make art and culture accessible, she completed the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania.

At Parsons, she worked as a research assistant for the Design Director at Healthy Materials Lab, as well as faculty in Product, Interior, and Lighting Design. A highlight from this experience was supporting the Lighting Design Studio I as course assistant and tutor in 2020 and 2021.

Madeline Portway

Lighting Design Intern, Sighte Studio

Madeline's interest in lighting design began with looking at precedent studies for projects during her architectural undergrad degree and finding that the architectural lighting really impacted how she felt about a space. That interest in lighting became a natural focus in a lot of her studio projects and academic endeavors. While architecture remains a general interest, lighting design carries a beautiful balance between art and science that both challenges her and allows her to pursue more creative interests.

As an intern at Sighte Studio, Madeline not only hopes to learn more about the lighting industry in New York but also to explore and investigate potential thesis topics surrounding accessibility, psychology, and lighting phenomena.

Madeline graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BDA in Architecture and a minor in Lighting Design. She is currently a student at the Parsons School of Design studying for her MFA in Lighting Design and will graduate in Spring 2027.

In her free time, Madeline likes to watercolor paint, make jewelry, and upcycle and sew clothes as well as go out and explore NYC as much as possible.