In this chapter, Marco Pelle interviews lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker, whose work spans prestigious ballet companies, Broadway stages, and iconic museums. Through their conversation, Baker explores the nuanced relationship between architectural space, light, and darkness, emphasizing how each space “breathes” and informs his design approach. Baker reflects on the power of storytelling, asserting that a performance begins with the audience’s first encounter with a space’s unique history and design. His approach to lighting varies with each setting, from creating intimacy in Broadway’s St. James Theater to achieving epic scale at the Park Avenue Armory. His work also extends to unconventional venues like the Guggenheim Museum’s Rotunda and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, where the crafts ambiance uses reflected light and shadowless illumination. Baker’s designs pay homage to each space’s character, merging architectural form with the emotional journey of performance.