LIT Design Awards jury member Xiaodong Wang has over two decades of experience in lighting design. Her passion and expertise in creating atmosphere and experience of space through light led to the extensive outcomes of the projects. Her work is wide-ranging in type and scale encompassing lighting for architecture and urban design. She shares with us more about her passion for lighting design.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how did your passion for lighting emerge?
My first master’s degree is in Comparative Literature as I didn’t major in lighting design at the outset. My liberal arts background is a great asset to perceive beauty, art and design from a more sensitive and spiritual perspective, and to gain deeper insights into lighting design beyond light, shadows and technology.
For me, working with light and shadow seemed to be predetermined. I wrote about light worship and fire worship in my thesis for the M.A.. After graduation, I worked in a world-famous German glass enterprise and was lucky to participate in an art project collaboratively launched with Swarovski in Milan International Fair. The project invited artists and architects, including Kengo Kuma, Jasper Morrison, etc., to make art installations from crystal. Later on, I entered in the lighting industry in 2001 by chance and have been working on ever since. During this period, I also gained a Master degree in Lighting Design. As time goes on, I have been increasingly obsessed with light and shadows, and gradually gained my own understanding of lighting design.
Project name: Xu Wei Art Museum, Location: Shaoxing, China
What are your guiding design principles and can you tell us more about your role and responsibilities at Lighting Design & Research Institute of UAD?
“Darken elegantly, and lighten poetically”. This is my basic guiding design principle.
I’m currently the principal of the Lighting Design & Research Institute (LDI) under the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD). Belonging to UAD, LDI is a design & research institute as well as an industry-academia-research platform wholly owned by Zhejiang University.
With a young, diligent and professional team, LDI mainly works on lighting design practices and research. Our design practices cover urban lighting planning, landscape and architectural lighting design and more, and our research is mainly on lighting education, issues and application, and on the compilation of industry specifications and standards.
Are there any specific processes or elements you make sure to include when working on large-scale Lighting project?
Apart from preliminary site investigation, schematic design, design development and drawing design, we also pay great attention to final realization, which normally includes on-site testing, solution debating and final commissioning.
There are plenty of factors that influence the lighting effects of a project. In addition to design scheme optimization, parameters calculations and luminere layouts, it is also vital to study various materials, find proper expressions and accurately control lighting. We attach great importance to each project’s lighting quality, so we put an emphasis on debating, testing and commissioning to ensure a desirable effect.
Project name: Shooting, Archery & Modern Pentathlon Venue for Asian Games 2022, Location: Hangzhou, China
What do you think are the biggest challenges and opportunities in the Lighting Industry in China now?
The biggest challenge faced by China’s lighting industry is rapid urbanization and its impact on human settlements, environment, resources, etc. But challenges are also opportunities. Currently, the lighting sector in China is developing in the direction of being more intelligent and energy-saving, and more concerned about the relationship between human and environment, human and cities, human and ecology.
What are you focused on right now? Is there a new project or collaboration you can share with us?
In the past few years, we have purposely undertaken lots of lighting design projects for urban renewal. As urban regeneration is a long-term, growing sociological topic, it constantly brings new challenges from different aspects including planning, design, operation, management and so on. I think this kind of project is quite meaningful and also valuable.
Besides, our team has also taken on several projects for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, including improving some stadiums and the local urban environment. Those projects are now being carried out and are expected to be completed from the end of this year to next year.
Project name: Lighting for Core Section of Zhoushan New Area, Location: Zhoushan, China
Last, what is the main message you would like to send to young, emerging Lighting designers?
Firstly, never stop learning. Try to visit more, see more and learn more, and be humble as well. A wide range of knowledge is essential to excellence.
Secondly, pay attention to the execution. Every project is unique, which requires us to treat construction drawings and on-site services as prudently as devising design schemes. In addition, attach importance to details and quality. Let the project speak for yourself.
Thirdly, focus on introspection. Review is for improvement, and introspection is for better practice. Accumulate richly and break forth effectively.
Project name: Floodlighting Design for Damiao Temple, Fengqiao, Location: Zhuji City, China
Read more interviews with lighting design professionals here.
Stage and lighting design are essential elements of any theatrical or live event. The lighting production can have a significant impact on the experience and is used to invoke a certain mood or contribute to the overall feel of the performance.
The Lighting Design of the Year Award and Emerging Lighting Design of the Year awarded by the LIT Design Awards recognize the efforts of talented lighting designers who improve and perfect the quality of design and quality of light emitted by their designs. We collected some of the best stage and theater lighting designs recently awarded by the LIT Design Awards below.
Prize(s) Winners in Theater Performance Design
Company Antonia Peón-Veiga Iluminación Arquitectónica
Lead Designers Antonia Peón-Veiga
Photo Credits Cristóbal Palma
Award-winning HAMMAM proposes the experience of a collective purge inspired by the traditional practices of sweat or heat baths present in different geographies and cultures throughout history. In an immersive environment, the work explores water vapor and sound as environmental bodies, tactile media, and the bathroom as a social healing practice between the intimate and the public. This project by Antonia Peón-Veiga Iluminación Arquitectónica is a transdisciplinary research and creation project that generates intersections between dance, sound art, performance, and writing, developing pieces in various formats, such as sound capsules, an editorial publication, a dance performance, body practices, and vaporous concerts.
HAMMAM invites us to live a multisensory experience where each element is worked from neuroscience. Vapor, light, and sound were designed on the scientific basis of the effects on the nervous system. The different electromagnetic frequencies of light and their effects on the body were investigated, as well as environmental inspirations around light, steam, sky, clouds and water.
Prize(s) Winners in Stage Lighting
Company EO project / Jésica Elizondo
Client CUATRO X CUATRO
Photo Credits Paulina Cervantes
Other Credits Directed by Shantí Vera
Talented Jésica Elizondo is a stage lighting artist, born in Mexico City. She likes to think of her work as part of an investigation of the processes of transformation and enabling space-time in the living arts. Her work focuses on space conceptualization and light creation and her talents came to the light in the design project she worked on for DISOLVER, an interdisciplinary work by Shantí Vera.
Prize(s) Winners in Interior Architectural Illumination / Theater Performance Design
University California College of The Arts
Lead Designers Congrui Gao
Other Credits Instructors: Margo Majewska
This project focuses on developing a lighting design for the Studio 2 project, that converts an existing theater into a performing space that includes fashion shows. The concept for the project by California College of The Arts student Congrui Gao was inspired by Balenciaga’s 2020 fashion show. Each environment is connected through layers of immersive experience. The interior of the performance space is composed of a single strip-shaped LED screen, and the audience will stand along the edges of the arc to experience a 360-degree immersive experience and the videos on the screen will actively respond to the fashion clothing, creating a sense of mystery, structuralism, and powerful visual impact.
The entire experience of the fashion show is not a static vision, it is an Immersive experience of moving Gestures between the audience and performer. Illuminating public space needs to fulfill a wide range of needs. The design process for this project was structured around 5 layers of light that address these needs and uses these layers as a guide for making lighting design decisions.
Prize(s) Winners in Stage Lighting
Lead Designers Adam Honoré
Project Location Signature Theater, Arlington VA
Signature Theatre continues its tradition of big musicals in intimate spaces with one of the most iconic musicals ever written. Up close in the audition room, feel every heartbeat and heartbreak as hopeful dancers pour out their dreams, memories, loves, and why they dance in a breathtaking display of the tremendous talent it takes to be in a chorus line.
The design of this production reimagined a classic utilizing modern technology while maintaining a period aesthetic. The mastermind behind the lighting design, Adam Honoré is a Harlem-based lighting designer for plays, musicals, and live events. Off-Broadway highlights feature Carmen Jones (Classic Stage), Ain’t No Mo’ (The Public), Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and Faux-bia! (Carnegie Hall). Regional collaborations include Arena Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Huntington Theater Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Signature Theatre among others. International designs feature Haydn’s The Seasons (Austria), The Band’s Visit (Manila), Kinky Boots (Manila), and Fun Home (Int’l Premiere, ft. Lea Salonga).
Prize(s) Winners in Theater Performance Design
Company Honoré Lighting
Lead Designers Adam Honoré
Project Location Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington D.C.
James Baldwin’s ‘The Amen Corner’ tackles the role of the church in the Black community. Set within a storefront church, an apartment, and the streets of Harlem, the design of this play brings an operatic quality to its words of Baldwin. Transcending expectations, the lighting of this production supports the emotion deep within the text which in turn created the world for each of the characters to exist in.
“The production’s lighting designer deserves his own standing ovation. Honoré manages to separate the static set of the combined church and apartment with subtle shading and gives the effect of a long church service with early golden hour light that morphs into a bright, white afternoon”, said a review by Leigh Giangreco, The DCist.
LIT Lighting Design Awards is a partner of the LEDforum.22 held in São Paulo, Brazil, on the 18th and 19th of August.
LEDforum is known nationally and internationally for offering lectures and activities of high technology and knowledge level, conducted by great names in the Brazilian and international lighting universe. It presents an opportunity for launching lighting systems and Lighting products, generating new business and unbeatable networking opportunities.
The event brings together an audience of lighting designers, architects, product designers, urban planners, landscape designers, academics, developers, and providers of lighting solutions, coming from different regions of Brazil and Latin America.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards will be holding an Award Ceremony on Friday 19th of August at 3 pm, introducing its regional winning projects and inviting winners on stage.
More information on the LEDForum website.
The international lighting design community celebrated on May 30th, honoring the winners of the LIT Lighting Design Awards at a distinguished awards ceremony.
Professional and emerging Lighting Designers, whose outstanding work has earned them the prestigious Lighting Award, were celebrated at the renowned LIT Lighting Design Awards on Monday, 30th of May at the prestigious Museum of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
The new Acropolis lighting, realized by “Eleftheria Deko & Associates”, won the “2021 LIT Lighting Design of the year”, and on this special occasion, the LIT Lighting Design Awards had the illustrious privilege of hosting the Award ceremony at the Museum of the Acropolis to honor the LIT Awards Winners and enjoy the magnificent view of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The internationally renowned prize is awarded to companies and designers who challenge norms and push boundaries to bring their lighting vision to reality.
The ceremony and cocktail reception was attended by over 100 guests from 17 countries, representing the very finest in Lighting Design.
The international lighting design community celebrated on May 30th, honoring the winners of the LIT Lighting Design Awards at a distinguished awards ceremony.
Professional and emerging Lighting Designers, whose outstanding work has earned them the prestigious Lighting Award, were celebrated at the renowned LIT Lighting Design Awards on Monday, 30th of May at the prestigious Museum of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
The new Acropolis lighting, realized by “Eleftheria Deko & Associates”, won the “2021 LIT Lighting Design of the year”, and on this special occasion, the LIT Lighting Design Awards had the illustrious privilege of hosting the Award ceremony at the Museum of the Acropolis to honor the LIT Awards Winners and enjoy the magnificent view of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The internationally renowned prize is awarded to companies and designers who challenge norms and push boundaries to bring their lighting vision to reality.
The ceremony and cocktail reception was attended by over 100 guests from 17 countries, representing the very finest in Lighting Design.
The ceremony was officially opened by the Greece Minister of Culture and Sports, Dr Lina Mendoni, speaking about the symbolism of the Acropolis for Western Civilization and the impact of Eleftheria Deko’s work. “The lighting now highlights the entire Sacred Rock, the Walls, the volume, the geometry of each monument, from every possible point of view. The marbles, whiter than ever, reflect the natural material, exalt every aspect, every shape, emphasize the relief of the decoration of every monument.” adding that “The new lighting is gaining international recognition by art and lighting experts worldwide.”
Over the course of the evening, the LIT Awards “Design of the Year”, Lifetime Achievement recipients and Spotlight prizes were awarded.
LIT Lighting Design Awards 2021 Winners:
Eleftheria Deko received the “Lighting Design of the Year” award for the new lighting of the Acropolis of Athens and Monuments, while the California-based designer Charles Prograce was awarded for the “Lighting Product Design of the Year” for the Opteris Chandelier.
The student design projects of Congrui Gao, “Emerging Lighting Designer of the Year” and Jay Burnett, “Emerging Lighting Product Designer of the Year” were presented and well received by the audience.
Craig A. Bernecker, Professor of Lighting Design at Parsons School of Design and Tony Lawrence, Product Designers from Concord Lighting were presented with the “Lifetime Achievement” Awards by Randy Reid, the editor at designing lighting magazine and LIT Awards Jury Member.
LUCI Association, a non-profit organization bringing together over 70 member towns worldwide that use light as a tool for social, cultural and economic development; was honored for its contribution to the Lighting Industry and to our cities with the “Spotlight Prize”.
LIT Lighting Design Awards 2020 Winners:
Niamh Barry was honored with the “Lighting Product Design of the Year” for her lighting creation “Artists Hands”, while Erin Held from Chartersills received the “Lighting Design of the Year” for the Union Station Great Hall Restoration project in Chicago.
The young designers, Swathi Madhi, Samriti Gosain and Neeraj R Jawale received the emerging designers’ prizes.
The work and contribution of the “Lifetime Achievement” recipients of 2020 were celebrated; Sally Storey, Director of John Cullen Lighting and Founder of Lighting Design International company as well as Professor Wout van Bommel for his research on lighting application.
Last, “Women in Lighting” (WIL), an inspirational digital platform that profiles women working in the field of lighting design received the spotlight prize for 2020. Katia Kolovea, the communication specialist of the project shared a few words on the initiative and the development of their network.
“The LIT Lighting Design Awards ceremony was an unforgettable event, possibly one of the most significant celebrations of the Lighting industry this year.” Said Astrid Hébert – Director of the LIT Awards, adding that “Gathering over 100 of the most creative lighting designers from around the world, in the Western birthplace of Art, in front of the Acropolis of Athens, has been extraordinary”.
The ceremony was also attended by Mr Papadimitriou, President of the Onassis Foundation, Mr Didaskalou, the Secretary-General of Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and LIT Awards Jury Members.
Registration for the LIT Lighting Design Awards 2020 is already open and will close on October 22nd, 2022.
View all impressions from the Award Ceremony.
To celebrate the 5 years of the LIT Lighting Design Awards, a curated photo exhibition of the LIT Awards winning designs took place at the “House of Lucie” Athens Gallery on Sunday, 29th of May, 2022.
It was a unique opportunity to see some of the most incredible Lighting Designs and Lighting projects of the last years, network with award-winning Lighting Designers and Lighting Product Designers, as well as meet the LIT organizers and jury members.
We will be celebrating the winners of the LIT Lighting Design Awards 2019, 2020, and 2021 at the prestigious “Museum of the Acropolis” in Athens on Monday 30th of May, 2022.
The new Acropolis lighting, realized by “Eleftheria Deko & Associates”, won the “2021 LIT Lighting Design of the year” – so on this special occasion, we have the illustrious privilege of hosting the LIT Awards event at the “Museum of the Acropolis” to celebrate the LIT Awards Winners and enjoy a magnificent view of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
Over the course of the evening, the LIT Awards “Design of the Year” winners’ work will be projected in the auditorium, and the special prize recipients of the last three years will be introduced and will receive their trophies.
Attendees will have the chance to meet the LIT Awards winners, jury members, press representatives, and members of the LIT Lighting Design Awards organizing team at the Awards Ceremony, followed by a cocktail reception.
Zurich, Switzerland – The Three C Group (3C Group) has recently joined the World Design Organization (WDO)®, becoming a member of the globally recognized non-governmental organization that aims to promote and advance the discipline of industrial design and its power to enhance economic, social, cultural and environmental quality of life.
Founded in 1957, WDO services over 185 member organizations around the world, engaging thousands of individual designers through our innovative programming and initiatives that champion ‘design for a better world’.
The 3C Awards represent today’s diversity and innovation in lighting design, furniture design, sports design, interior design, and architecture. Each brand is a symbol of design excellence around the world, showcasing the work of professional and emerging designers to more than 100 expert jury members.
The company has three programs dedicated to industrial design:
“The 3C Group programs aims to celebrate Innovative Design, People, and their passion for the industry, through our rigorous judging process, we recognize those that have gone above and beyond.” Said Astrid Hébert, co-founder of the Three C Group GmbH, “becoming a member of the World Design Organization (WDO) is corroborating our company vision and mission to promote the appreciation of design excellence through education, outreach, and grants.”
More information on www.3Cawards.com
The LIT Design Awards catalog showcases the best of 2021 Lighting Designs and Lighting Product Designs! The brochure features exclusive interviews of Eleftheria Deko of Eleftheria Deko & Associates, winner of the “Lighting Design of the Year” for the “Acropolis of Athens and Monuments” and Charles Prograce with the “Opteris Chandelier”, winner of the “Lighting Product Design of the Year.”
Jay Burnett, a student of the Georgia Institute of Technology, won the “Emerging Lighting Product Designer of the Year” title with “Trinity”, speaks with us about his love for design and inspirations for his career debut. While Congrui Gao, a student at the California College of The Arts in San Francisco and winner of the “Emerging Lighting Designer of the Year” prize, shares his enthusiasm and future professional aspirations.
The annual catalog includes an introduction of the recipients of the 2021 “Lifetime Achievement” Award, Craig A. Bernecker, professor of Lighting Design at Parsons School of Design and Tony Lawrence, Lighting Product Designer at Concord Lighting. Last, discover LUCI Association, the international network of cities on urban lighting and winner of the “Spotlight” prize.
The catalog is available to purchase on Amazon and can be downloaded on the LIT Awards website.
Tuesday 15th of February 2022 – Hosted by John Bullock (The Light Review Online) and presented by Sally Storey (John Cullen Lighting & Lifetime Achievement recipient in 2020), the LIT Lifetime Achievement Trophy was presented to Tony Lawrence at Concord Lighting Head Office in Newhaven, United Kingdom.
Celebrating over 50 years in Lighting Product Design, Tony Lawrence has been working since April 1969 at Concord Lighting part of the Sylvania Lighting group. Tony has been designing products that brought accent lighting to the high streets, art galleries, museums, hotels, and more.
