With a career of over 50 years in Lighting Product Design, Tony Lawrence has been working since April 1969 at Concord Lighting part of the Sylvania Lighting group. He has been designing products that brought accent lighting to the high streets, art galleries, museums, hotels, and more… He has also set design briefs and evaluated projects for degree students of St Martins School of Art London’s students and at the University of Sussex.
Tony was trained as an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer and knew little of lighting. He joined Concord at the age of 21 as he wanted to live in London and was soon taken up with the subject of the combination of Product Design and Lighting Design Technology. He was fortunate enough to join at a time when the emphasis was very much on Design as championed by the artist founder, Bernard Stern, and working in the studio of Professor Robert Heritage of the Royal College of Art. It still gives him satisfaction to see those products he has designed being used to enhance beautiful objects or spaces.
Tony has won numerous prizes with Concord’s innovative range of LED luminaires starting with the Red Dot Award in 1996 for the Torus 100 Low volt spotlight range, followed by the FX Interior Design Awards in 1999 for the Torus 35W CDMT spotlight. In recent years, the Beacon Muse won 4 lighting industry awards mandating a ‘clean sweep’ and expert endorsement for high performance and beautiful products. The Stadium spotlight in 2010 won the prestigious Red Dot award. This was followed in 2013 when Concord Glace won the Best Interior Luminaire at the Lighting Design Awards and been a finalist at the Lux Awards and the FX Awards, whilst 2014 saw industry recognition of Concord’s Officelyte with new intelligent Sylsmart technology.
Tony has been involved in the design of all Lighting products from Concord by Sylvania, being the center of innovation and development; his contribution to the lighting industry is prodigious!
Meet Tony Lawrence
Craig A. Bernecker’s lighting career now spans nearly four decades and during that time he has had the opportunity to play a significant role in the development of two highly regarded lighting education programs, one at Penn State University and one at Parsons School of Design, The New School. Craig’s contribution to Lighting Education is tremendous, as an Educational Facilitator for the LIGHTFAIR International, Professor of Lighting Design and Director at Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York and Founder of The Lighting Education Institute as well as his involvement in professional societies such as the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).
Craig shared with us his involvement in lighting design to understand his career:
Craig A. Bernecker: After leaving college with an undergraduate degree in psychology, I chose to pursue a very different career by entering the Master’s Program in Architectural Engineering at Penn State University. Unknown to me was the fact that the lighting faculty member there, John Flynn, was conducting research on the psychology of light. I got into lighting because my background in psychology led me to serve as his graduate assistant. And my master’s thesis work in lighting, The Potential for Design Applications of Luminance Data, turned out to be awarded transaction status when presented at the 1979 IES Conference and published in the Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society. It also introduced the first computer-generated photorealistic rendering of the lighting effects in a space.
The influence of John Flynn on my career was not over yet, however, as after graduation I took a position with a large architectural engineering firm in Philadelphia, and was asked by Flynn to co-teach graduate architecture students at the University of Pennsylvania. Thus my teaching career began.
After designing lighting systems for all of the A&E firm’s projects for two years, I was hired by a west coast manufacturer, primarily based on the strength of my thesis, to run their applications department and conduct research. Shortly after arriving there, I learned of the illness and ultimately the passing of John Flynn, which began a road to return to Penn State to continue the lighting program there. One of the carryovers from the west coast manufacturer to Penn State was research I conducted on indirect lighting systems and brightness perception. This led to a second major publication, The Effect of Source Luminance on the Perception of Environmental Brightness, and to an effort by a number of manufacturers to convert totally indirect lighting systems to direct-indirect lighting systems.
Penn State Lighting Program
Craig A. Bernecker: While at Penn State, I was able to expand the lighting program in the Department of Architectural Engineering from 2-1/2 courses to eight courses, and created stability by bringing a second lighting faculty position to the program, which led to the hiring of Rick Mistrick, who remains a mainstay of the program. I was also able to garner funding from the Besal Foundation to provide a significant number of lighting scholarships for our students. During my twenty years at Penn State, we placed well over 200 professionals into the lighting industry, with notable graduates like Chip Israel (Lighting Design Alliance), Rick Mistrick (Penn State), Kevin Houser (Oregon State), Clarence Waters (Nebraska), Bob Davis (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Dorene Maniccia (Design Lights Consortium), Jim Baney and Emily Klingensmith (Schuler Shook), Andrea Hartranft (Hartranft Lighting Design), Karen Murphy (HDR), Mary Ann Hay (Syska Hennessy), Ron Kurtz (Dark Light), Dave Pfund and Joe Zaharewicz (The Lighting Quotient), Dave Ranieri (Acuity Brands), and countless others I have missed, who hold significant positions in the lighting industry.
I also got involved in distance learning in its formative stages during my tenure at Penn State, in particular serving on the university steering committee for Penn State’s World Campus and serving as a Faculty Fellow in Distance Education. As a part of my work in this arena, I developed a course that I taught jointly between Penn State and Tennessee State University students using early distance learning technologies. Focusing on creating diversity using these technologies, this led to several publications, An inter-institutional approach to distance learning and diversity, and Distance learning in architectural engineering: An inter-institutional case study.
My research at Penn State included collaboration with Dr. George Brainard, where we published the first study (Biological Effects of Architectural Lighting and Their Associated Energy Utilization) demonstrating that the physiological effects of lighting could be influenced by architectural lighting systems rather than solely through the use of therapeutic devices.
During my time at Penn State, I also authored five chapters in the IES intermediate education course (ED150), as well as many other articles published in a variety of journals.
The Lighting Education Institute
Craig A. Bernecker: Ultimately my work in distance learning and restrictions on the ability to reach a wide range of people led me to leave Penn State and pursue distance learning on my own by forming The Lighting Education Institute (LEI). I continue to deliver professional lighting education through LEI, including offering an annual Lighting Certification (NCQLP) review course with the Illuminating Engineering Society and serving as Educational Facilitator, responsible for planning the conference program at LIGHTFAIR each year. I also annually teach the two-day intermediate lighting course annually at LIGHTFAIR.
Parsons School of Design Lighting Program
Craig A. Bernecker: A few years after starting the Lighting Education Institute, I was asked to travel to Parsons to teach one of their lighting courses. Over a year or so, this quickly morphed to four courses and a full-time position in the lighting program beginning in 2006.
At Parsons, I contributed to revising the curriculum in the two-year MFA Lighting Design program, and, in particular, helped establish a stronger fundamentals base for the lighting design students. We also developed an interdisciplinary emphasis, establishing both a dual degree program to award a Masters of Architecture and MFA Lighting Design simultaneously, and a double major granting an MFA in Lighting and Interior Design, led by my colleague Derek Porter.
An additional curricular initiative relatively early in my tenure was to create an elective course offering, Lighting Technologies in the Developing World, exploring the large part of the world that does not have access to electric lighting either due to poverty or lack of access to electric power. We generated significant interest among our students in exploring the developing world, including design issues, technologies, and implementation. As a result, I was able to deliver twenty-four solar-powered lighting systems, identified through a series of these course offerings, to a remote village in Senegal, and presented both our students’ work and my experience in several venues – IALD Enlighten Americas, PLDC, and IES.
In 2014, I was awarded an educational grant by the Illuminating Engineering Society to seed the development of a one-week intensive lighting design studio, intended to bring practicing professionals back into the design studio to refresh, reinvigorate, and learn new design techniques. The studio has been quite successful, drawing attendees from around the world. One international attendee wrote on Facebook, “to one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had along my journey with light,” and “If it existed… the 10 courses to take before you die, surely this one would be at the top of my list.”
We recently added a Daylighting Intensive Design Studio to pair with the regular intensive, taking advantage of the heliodon and diffuse sky simulator of our Light and Energy Lab. The studios are run back-to-back in consecutive weeks so participants can schedule either one or both together.
In the fourteen plus years since I’ve been at Parsons, we’ve been able to create a unique research program within a design school. Focused on evidence-based design, to get our design students to conduct experimental research as their final thesis projects. Over the last four years, we have presented and published more than a dozen of their projects as technical papers at the IES Annual Conferences. Students learn how to do a good research so they can more critically evaluate cutting-edge information potentially informing their future design decisions.
A significant accomplishment of the research program involves two studies to finally expand the psychology of light work of John Flynn by exploring the influence of color temperature on subjective responses to lighted environments. These two studies, The Influence of Chromaticity on Subjective Impressions in Lighted Environments, and, The Influence of Color Temperature along with Illuminance on Subjective Impressions in Lighting, were presented and published in 2017 and 2019.
Another part of the research program is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Next Generation Lighting Systems program. As a result, there are currently thirteen different connected lighting systems installed on the New School/Parsons campus that serves as a “living laboratory,” where students are engaged in evaluating these systems to better inform their effectiveness. The ongoing work of the assessment of these systems following the stages of the overall building design and construction process from specification to post-occupancy evaluation has been presented in a variety of venues, from LIGHTFAIR to LEDucation to both the IES and IALD conferences.
Our most recent research is focused on the integration of germicidal ultraviolet radiation (GUV) into architectural lighting systems. We are evaluating the potential for GUV to be safely integrated into architectural lighting systems to kill bacteria and deactivate viruses, including SARS-CoV2. We will test both the efficacy of GUV to treat upper room air to keep our environments safe over the long term and develop a protocol for the assessment of such systems as more manufacturers produce products that will require evaluation to ensure they are safe.
Most recently, I have developed a lighting certificate program in cooperation with The New School’s online distance learning initiative. Consisting of three five-week courses and entirely virtual, this certificate program will address a growing need for lighting education outside of full degree programs.
Service to the Lighting Profession
Craig A. Bernecker: A large part of my service to the lighting profession has been through the Illuminating Engineering Society. I have had the opportunity to serve in three major positions, Vice President of Technical and Research Activities, Vice President of Educational Activities, and President, including serving one year as Senior Vice President before serving as President, as well as one year as Immediate Past President, the year following. Within that arc of service, I was able to implement several changes. One was to create a new publication, a Technical Memorandum, to address cutting-edge issues in a timely fashion, another to establish a task force to develop a new classification system for exterior luminaires, and yet another to revamp the annual conference that had been lagging in attendance and quality. I also reorganized several committees and the overall committee structure in each position.
The IES recognized my service with the Distinguished Service Award in 2017, and my overall contributions to the profession by naming me a fellow in 1991.
I have served two terms on the IALD Board of Directors, but also have provided service in a different way, specifically to develop and deliver a series of workshops on solid-state lighting (LED’s), as it was becoming a more accepted technology and helping designers to understand it better.
I have been involved in the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in the past, and again most recently, having been appointed as the United States representative to Division 3: Interior Environment.
Consulting and Other Services
Craig A. Bernecker: I have regularly attempted to stay current with design practice by engaging in design opportunities throughout my career as a lighting educator. My projects have included pro bono design work for a church in my community, to design for a historical township building. I was also called in to re-design a newly installed lighting system in a residence that purportedly contained the largest collection of modern art in the U.S.
A part of my consulting work over the years has been to serve as an expert witness in several cases. Over time these have included automobile accidents, personal injuries due to poor lighting, and even a murder case. My most recent expert witness work was a major multi-billion dollar trademark infringement case where the judge cited my testimony as one of the major factors influencing his decision.
Crossing back over to more of a service role, I was appointed by the U.S. Department of Energy as co-chair of the technical committee that evaluated and ultimately awarded the $10,000,000 prize for the Bright Tomorrow Competition, also known as the L Prize, of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.
I find it important to be involved in these kinds of activities in order to bring an understanding of design practice, as well as cutting-edge information back into the classroom for my students’ benefit. And if I’ve accomplished anything deserving of this award, it is the students who as practicing professionals have contributed to the lighting profession in a myriad of ways, raising the importance of lighting as a critical design element in our built environments.
Los Angeles, CA – The prestigious LIT Lighting Design Awards is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2021 Spotlight prize is “LUCI Association” (Lighting Urban Community International).
The Spotlight Prize has been introduced in 2020 to reward and put the “spotlight” on an organization, association, project, or initiative that carries out remarkable work for its community and has a major contribution to the Lighting Industry.
Created in 2002 at the initiative of the City of Lyon (France), today, LUCI is a non-profit organisation bringing together over 70 member towns and cities worldwide that use light as a tool for social, cultural and economic development. It also includes over 50 associated members from the lighting industry, design agencies and research institutes.
“We are really delighted and honoured to receive the LIT 2021 Spotlight Prize. At LUCI, we strongly believe in city-to-city collaboration, exchange, learning and co-creation to improve urban lighting and quality of life in cities. As LUCI is about to turn 20 years young, this comes at a perfect time to recognize the Association’s contribution to the global urban lighting community!” said Mark Burton-Page, General Director of LUCI.
Through the organisation of international events and conferences, and by piloting lighting projects and research initiatives, LUCI helps cities harness the potential of light to create sustainable and people-focused urban spaces.
AGM Tartu © Annika Hass TAVA – LUCI AGM Tartu © Annika Hass TAVA
What are the core missions of LUCI and how it supports cities :
© L_Oritsland – © City of Rotterdam photo EricFecken
LUCI Association activities, publications and events:
For more information on the LUCI Association please visit the LUCI website and social media accounts: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.Lighting Designer from Teheran, Aidin Ardjomandi, is working in his own design studio as a product and lighting designer. Aidin is also the lecturer and manager of marketing at Istituto Di Moda Burgo in Qatar and the international relations manager of the Azerbaijan Design Awards. Today he shared his experience of being a part of our amazing jury and described his special connection with lighting design.
First of all, what was the best thing for you of being a part of the 2020 LIT jury?
Nothing is as exciting as being surprised. When you expect good works and suddenly you face unique and unbelievable ones. I have had the experience of being on the jury panel of more than 25 awards before and this event has always been one of the most special. Where you are amazed to see every single submission and expect a better one every moment.
What do you think of the overall quality & diversity of the submitted projects?
Undoubtedly, the level of submitted works was very high and this level is getting better year by year. What I saw during this period made one of my best memories of such events. However, the presence of this significant number of high-quality works increases the responsibility and makes the decision-making process difficult. But being among the best in order to decide for the best is a unique feeling.
Which designs have stood out for you? Can you share a couple and let us know why?
I think all jury members agreed that Niamh Barry’s work, the Artist’s Hand was truly special and unique. It was difficult to find a problem on and it conveys a wonderful feeling to the audience. This good feeling was what I saw in two wonderful products designed by Ren Peng, the Z-Lamp and the Time Machine table lamp. In my opinion, they were wonderful, and the interaction included in the work created more than just a lighting product. It was an added value that made these works unique.
What is the current situation for young designers and lighting in your home country, Iran?
As you may know, due to the existence of many historical buildings in Iran, lighting has always been a significant field for designers and in recent years, with the growth of interior design, lighting has developed as an inseparable part of this very popular field. Today, Iranian designers are strengthening their position by participating in national and international projects, especially in the Middle East design market. And it promises good days for this industry in the near future.
When we are talking about Design it is impossible to separate function and the soul meaning of beauty. Design is a logical art which has considers all aspects of objects so when you call a lamp “a beautiful lamp” it simply means it was a Lamp fundamentally before it was beautiful so beauty, functionality, and even ergonomics together fabricate the Word Aesthetics in the Lighting Design.
It is possible to have functioned without beauty, but the word aesthetics without functions is meaningless.
What are the ongoing trends that you have noticed in the world of lighting design?
Today, lighting design is not considered a luxury field and its impact is much greater than before. Light as a phenomenon that causes vision affects beauty and beauty is not possible without lighting. It seems that with the advancement of technology, the place intended for lighting will soon be upgraded from an art to an inseparable science from all aspects of design and become a part of it.
Is there any advice you would like to give to future Lighting Product & Lighting Designers joining the LIT Awards?
Creativity and light can both lighten the darkness. The combination of these two concepts creates magic, and if this connection comes from inside of the designer, anything would be possible.
Lighting is the principal in enhancing the user experience of the hospitality industry. As illumination is a critical component, careful design is invested in ensuring that space takes full advantage of both natural and artificial lighting. A powerful medium needs a creative mind with expert understanding and team collaboration. You’ll have contractors to lighting designers, all with one goal of creating an immersive experience, unforgettable and awe-inspiring.
The following lighting companies’ amalgamation of lighting elements has successfully showcased the architectural elements they require and, at the same time, contributed to a cohesive whole. These six lighting companies’ masterful use of lighting have earned their works as the winners in the Hotel and Restaurant Lighting for the year 2020 by Lighting Design Awards.
The Grand Plaza Mövenpick boasts magnificent lighting spectacles that offer a euphoric experience from its spectators.
The Swoop – the eye-catching chandelier made of 3,500 hand-blown crystals that act as a spiraling centerpiece – sets a majestic scene upon entering the property’s atrium. Katerina Handlova created the artistic masterpiece, which was inspired by the flight of a bird, a simple concept whose aerodynamic intricacies are perfectly captured.
The lighting needs to complement and enhance how the spaces looked and felt during the day, evening, and night, as well as reinforce the architecture and interior design of a five-star property.
The lighting scheme meets every requirement of the brief, from a dynamic façade lighting scheme that draws attention to the architecture in a competitive location to the automated lighting scenes that run through the interior public spaces, each taking into account the space they illuminate. The restaurants’ feature lighting scenes that complement meal times throughout the day, lobby spaces reveal uplit screens that graze texture and materiality, lift lobbies softly glow through backlit lightboxes with inlaid metalwork, and the rooftop bar comes alive in the evening with edge-lit artworks, sparkling glass displays, and internally glowing onyx counters.
Company: neolight global
Lead Designers A. Mitchell, M. Eizadfar, G. Thornton, L. Columna
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Studies have shown the correlation between light and how we choose and process the meals we eat. Designers of the Odesa Food Market take the dining experience to a whole new level by ensuring optimum comfort, and the right ambiance is achieved any time of the day.
The lighting designers have created different atmospheres with light and enhanced the interior architecture.
Restaurants often have different missions: some are dominated by the function of breakfast or lunch, others are created for the evening pastime. The task was to create the light that would provide comfort for breakfast when you need to cheer up, and for a business lunch in the middle of the day, and for an atmospheric dinner, when you want to move to intimate places and have a drink in a darkened bar closer tonight.
In the morning, the light is cool, flooding, and soft. By lunchtime, it warms up and gradually shows accent spots on the tables. The light becomes more dramatic in the evening, without a flooding effect, with the most contrasting accents and nuanced work with shadows.
We revived the central element of the tree with light and scaled it to the entire space of the restaurant. With the help of several light sources, one tree was revealed with picturesque shadows over most of the circular vault. We selected the optics and the location of the light sources for the widest possible contrast shading.
Company: Expolight
Lead Designers: Mykola Kabluka
Other Credits: Restaurateur Alex Cooper, Architect Slava Balbek
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Truman’s Social Club in London is housed in a large industrial building divided into three bays: the Brewery, the Events Space, and the Social Club. It was established in response to social distancing to create a space that accommodates a variety of seating areas that not only adhere to guidelines but also provide seclusion from other parties. With this in mind, the lighting design approach added much-needed warmth to deliver a sense of tranquility and community to an intentionally sparsely occupied floor layout, assisting in wayfinding and zoning.
The purposeful reuse of old fixtures saves money while also meeting environmental views on circular economy and ethical growth. Keeping the customer journey in mind, we wanted to create a festival-like atmosphere that echoed throughout the spaces. A striking canopy of suspended pendants marks the entrance and path out into the beer garden. In contrast, indirect lighting secludes large enclosed booths flanking the entrances and smaller ones beyond the bar area. The high-level lighting can be dimmed to focus on the interior design elements, such as the “roundabout” with green foliage and central bar, as well as the branding.
Company: There’s Light Limited
Lead Designers: Fabio A P Cristini, Darran Prior
Other Designer’s names: Hunter’s Daughter (interiors)
Other Credits: Colin Ross (photography)
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The lighting design incorporates technology that allows for a seamless combination of controllable white light and unrivaled rich color combinations. It was decided to create a light show in this barrel vault ceiling in conjunction with the Marina Bay Sands light show, creating spectacular lighting effects and incorporating the dinners into the overall mesmerizing experience.
VUE@OUE Bayfront Bar & Restaurant used to be housed on the 19th Floor rooftop of the OUE Bayfront building and was closed a few years ago. Recently opened, it had recently gone a total makeover to become one of Singapore’s must-go, must-visit dining and bar establishments. The location is an unrivaled and magical draw to the public, with a stunning 270-degree view of the Singapore Skyline, the Marina Bay area, and its iconic Marina Bay Sands building. The interior designers maximized the space and volume to get the most impact and the best views and experience possible, combining a cozy, intimate dining experience with dramatic views of the skyline. In the evenings, Marina Bays Sands also has an hourly light show.
Prize(s) Winners in Interior Architectural Illumination
Company: Klaasen Lighting Design
Lead Designers: Martin Klaasen
Other Designer’s names: Amanda Yap
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Metropol, a stunning restaurant and project from Juskani Alonso Estudio, takes inspiration from Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis. The lighting spectacle was designed by ILWT and was created for Millesime GNP.
Utilizing the layers of lights and shadows, the space, made of 3D prints, represents the materiality and depth of the city. Various elements can be seen throughout the film, including the movie’s buildings on the walls. The flower centerpieces in Garden of Eden pay homage to the film’s expressionism.
Maria, the robot in the film, reinterpreted by ILWT as the “light giver” to the people to make the rebellion against the system, was conceptualized as the light giver for the restaurant as well; these stainless-steel fixtures on the tables were designed specifically for this restaurant, and together with the dimmable LED strips.
Prize(s) Winners in Ambient Lighting
Company: ILWT
Lead Designers: Miguel Vega / Juskani Alonso
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As the name implies, it serves dishes inspired by land, sea, and air animals in Fusion Italian Mediterranean cuisine. It is a famous restaurant in Indonesia with its unlikely and imaginative architecture. This restaurant’s lighting design is critical since guests will be transported to various environments such as the sea, land, forests, caves, and mountains.
The element of the boat at sea becomes the main element in the reception area with sea nuances. The hallway leading from the reception area to the main hall is decorated in a navy blue and forest green color scheme. The concept of sky clouds is created using fluorescent light waves. The cave atmosphere is felt in the VIP room from the cracks in the ceiling with the selection of blue sky, the sun shining on the table by placing the spotlight there.
Warm colors are chosen with spots on each dining table in the main room with nuances of forest land, without forgetting other supporting elements that are also given a softer light. Lighting is used to highlight the shape of decorative hanging elements in outdoor areas. So that there are no other elements on the ceiling, a mini spotlight to the table is integrated into the element.
Prize(s) Winners in Ambient Lighting
Company: MAW desain
Lead Designers: Mario Widagdo
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Light is a technically difficult yet awe-inspiring medium that necessitates mastery of numerous and ever-changing disciplines. A lighting design practice extends far beyond concerns about visibility and horizontal footcandles to include the arts, sciences, and business of illumination design and implementation.
A project owner or even a designer may be unmindful of the benefits that an independent lighting consultant can bring to today’s design and construction processes.
Exterior lighting animates the architectural exterior and outdoor spaces and, whether used for security, landscape, or dramatic effect, can change how you see and understand a building or pathway. While exterior lighting may fall under the purview of a landscape architect, it is critical for all types of architects and designers to understand how outdoor lights can integrate with a building and its larger site. Architects can use contrast and shadows to create inspiring and intriguing spaces by understanding the play of light and dark.
The following are exceptional outdoor design solutions honored in the latest LIT Design Awards by four great lighting design companies.
Neri SpA created the Nebula urban lighting collection in partnership with American architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – SOM. The set includes a pathlight, an illuminating bollard, and a lighting system. The latter has three luminaire head types (Small, Large, and Venezia) and two poles with four different heights (mounting height of highest luminaire head: 15′, 18′, 21′, and 24′).
Accessories for the Nebula lighting system include snoots, banner holders, planters, NEMA sockets, Zhaga Books, motion sensors, and photocells. The three luminaire heads that rotate and tilt around the pole are composed of two light sources controlled simultaneously or separately. A few of the configuration options include symmetric and asymmetric distributions, beam angles ranging from very narrow (10°) to wide (80°), and color temperatures ranging from 2,700K to 4,000K, including Amber and RGBW. A specialized ring system is used to attach accessories and luminaires to the pole.
Neri SpA is an Emilia-Romagna-based manufacturer of urban lighting and furniture (Italy). Domenico Neri founded the company in 1962, and the third generation of the family now leads it. The company is best known for its urban décor culture and unrivaled product archive, which can be found in cities worldwide, from Venice to Paris and New York to Dubai.
Prize(s) Winners in Street Lighting
Company Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Lead Designers Carlos Madrid III
The new Cyborg Outdoor lamp’s unique shape is composed of three legs, and the internal positioning of the indirect-light LED light source produces dramatic effects of light and shadow on lawns. Made of fiber-reinforced concrete with selected aggregates, it blends perfectly with both your impervious and landscaped areas.
The Cybor Outdoor lamp was actually first conceived as an indoor lamp. Karim Rashid, the lead designer, defines the unique lamp, characterized by “sensual minimalism,” as having the peculiarity of being minimalist but also soft, interactive, and fascinating, before transitioning to its outdoor version with a sustainable, durable, and resistant vocation.
The Cyborg outdoor is a larger version of Karim’s original Cyborg Lamp, which he created in 2015 for Martinelli Luce. Outdoor lamp with an electric cable and plug that can be set on the ground or secured with pickets. High-strength concrete structure with a water-proofing agent. It comes in two shades: concrete gray and yellow ochre.
Prize(s) Winners in Outdoor Spotlights
Company Martinelli Luce spa
Lead Designers Karim Rashid
Designed for a landscape lighting project “Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha” in Seki, Gifu, Japan. There are about 400 people who work in this factory, which designs, manufactures, and sells machine elements and components for motion control technology. This plaza, with its staircases, serves as a connection point for employees from the workplace to the parking lots. The plaza can serve as a meeting place for workers because the building next to it has a rest area and a fitness center.
The plaza becomes dark in the evening due to a lack of lighting and the surrounding forest. For the most part, only cold-colored lighting is provided for roads.
The factory interior is created to have a relaxed and calming atmosphere with warm lighting so that workers can communicate with one another. Warm orange-colored lighting with a three-dimensional curving bench invites you to the factory’s space as a special lighting color. By combining lighting with table lighting and a pole, depth and impressive space for nighttime activities are created.
Prize(s) Winners in Landscape Lighting
Company Sfg Landscape Architects Inc.
Lead Designers Akihiko Ono
Lighting plays an important role in today’s green building and sustainability movements. It’s one thing to design a stunning lighting layout; it’s quite another to design a stunning lighting layout that is also incredibly energy efficient. This energy utilization can be accomplished by ensuring that the majority of the light reaches its intended destination and that there is less wasted light. The building will be more efficient if the amount of wasted light is reduced. Installing LEDs instead of fluorescent lighting is a simple way to accomplish this. Because of the technology, LEDs waste less light than fluorescents due to their directional nature.
On the other hand, SPL’s innovative lighting system is designed to precisely direct all generated light onto the sports field from within the housing, eliminating the need for shielding. As a result, light is precisely directed where it is needed, with no light spilling in undesirable directions or even above the horizon. As a result, SPL can provide high-quality lighting for sports venues and other surfaces while lowering nighttime light levels for residents, animals, and nature. Because of SPL, floodlight systems can be truly environmentally friendly, in harmony with neighbors, and in compliance with statutory requirements. Long-term and cost-effective solution.
While it reduces light pollution, this system has several other advantages. Namely, it uses up to 40% less electrical power than alternative conventional LED luminaires. It is very low-maintenance, easy to monitor, and can be fully recycled when its service life is up. SPL believes that “what is good now will be good for our grandchildren.” Furthermore, because the system is completely modular, it can be customized to meet (potentially changing) site-specific requirements and use conditions.
The Swiss Precision Lighting AG (SPL), based in Murten, is a global innovator. Their precise lighting system reduces light pollution in all areas that are not meant to be lit. When compared to traditional lighting systems, this also significantly reduces power consumption.
Enjoy a good night: floodlighting without spill
Prize(s) Winners in Energy Saving Lighting
Company Swiss Precision Lighting Ag
Lead Designers Ralf Stucki
LEDforum.21 will be held online November 5, 2021 and is guaranteed to be met with the same success as 2020!
The 12th LEDforum, Latin America’s premiere lighting design conference, ushers in some new additions. This year, the program and speaker line-up have been drawn up in partnership with the unstoppable lighting designers behind the Light Drops Project, Diana Joels and Paula Carnelós. Together with Thiago Gaya, LEDforum’s creator, the three are preparing an unforgettable theme-based event complete with lectures and content that mesh, converge and complement each other and that culminate in a harmonious round-table dialogue at the forum’s closing.
The feature article “In Praise of Design,” published in the March edition of the L+D Magazine, is both the starting point and the common thread of the LEDforum.21 publication. The event’s four themes were drawn from the article in which Diana shares her thoughts on design and its particularities as a complex, integral and human discipline: REPERTOIR, VOCABULARY, APPROACH, and HOLISTIC DESIGN.
And the speakers who will be addressing the selected themes are: Manaus-based Belgian architect Laurent Troost (REPERTOIR); New York-based lighting designer, phototect and photectural critic Nathalie Rozot (VOCABULARY); Catalan architect Josep Ferrando (APPROACH); and Middle East-based Tanzanian lighting designer Sakina Dugawalla-Moeller (HOLISTIC DESIGN). And to round off this journey of knowledge and exchange, Jan Ejhed, professor emeritus and founder of the Lighting Laboratory at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, will lead a panel discussion with our guest speakers.
True to its stellar reputation, LEDforum is once again proud to present a vibrant, intense and inspiring program: LEDforum.21 digital | In Praise of Design
Registration is already open, and 50% of the net ticket sales be donated to the Junta Solidária Project. Ticket prices have been set at a token amount, but all sales will be of enormous value for this magnificent organization that distributes meals made by refugees to the homeless.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards is joining the Women in Lighting (WIL) initiative as a supporting program having a 50/50 gender balance when selecting our jury members.
Women in Lighting received the 2020 SPOTLIGHT prize at the LIT Design Award 2020, dedicated to rewarding an organization or project which carries out remarkable work for its community, and for being a major contributor in the lighting industry.
About Women in Lighting
International lighting designers and light activists, Light Collective launched the project, Women in Lighting on International Women’s day in 2019. It is a celebratory project that set out to create an inspirational digital platform for women working in the architectural lighting industry to promote their passion and achievements, narrate their career path and goals, celebrate their work and elevate their profile in the lighting community.
Women in Lighting consists primarily of a website – www.womeninlighting.com – with a database of interviews with women from around the world. Starting with lighting designers, the scope has expanded to include women in all aspects of lighting – education, journalism, manufacturing, art and research. The project has already gathered support from individual female designers in over 70 different countries. These “ambassadors” are a point of contact in each location for other women seeking to find out more about the project. Initially started as it was evident that female participation in conferences, committees, juries and panels were underrepresented, the main aim was that as there are approximately 50% of female lighting designers, they get 50% visibility.
Women in Lighting is not about gender inequality but about inclusivity and how this is beneficial to the profession as a whole. The project is supported by formalighting and archifos.
For more information about Women in Lighting, please visit https://womeninlighting.com.
Nima Bavardi from Nima Bavardi Lighting Design was born in Tabriz, Iran. He received a master of industrial design from the central Tehran branch of IA University and now is a lecturer and the head of the lighting design group at Villasufia concept store. By now, he has recorded up to eight awards in lighting design categories in his outstanding design awards such as European Product Design Awards, A’Design Awards, and IDIRAN Awards throughout his professional career up to now. He shared with us a few words about his work, inspiration, and gave a couple of encouraging words to young designers.
How did your love for design and lighting begin?
I can never imagine a dark and black world without colors, contrasts, and variety of shapes, and so on. Light and brightness are the cause of seeing the beauties of the world. Because of everyday conflicts, people often forget or ignore this. I love the source of revelation of love and beauty, and this is what draws me to lighting design to make people aware of it.
What inspired you to share your knowledge through teaching and become a university professor?
Perhaps one of the main reasons is that when I was a university student, I noticed the frustration and lack of motivation of many of my classmates due to poor education. After graduating from university and achieving many successes, I returned to the educational environment to prevent such things from happening as a teacher. Because the university is the bedrock for the flourishing of talents and should not be suppressed.
View winning entry for Nima Bavardi’s students.
You believe design “should be easy to interact with and easy to understand”; what makes a ‘good design”?
Yes, that’s right. The products we design stimulate the emotions and feelings of users. They may be fascinated and happy with them or hate them. So they have souls. The user must be able to establish a friendly and good relationship with the product so that he can enter it into his living environment and enjoy seeing and using it. This is exactly the mission that a designer must accomplish.
When do you personally feel most creative?
Sometimes when I’m sitting in a crowded cafe and sometimes when I turn off my cell phone and stare at nature and drink my coffee with light music. In my opinion, creativity does not lead to a specific time or place, and situation.
Project Name: Strawberry Chandelier / Designers: Nima Bavardi, Siavash Sufinejad
Brand/Company/Studio: Villasufia/ Year: 2020
Project Name: Brocco Chandelier / Designers: Nima Bavardi, Siavash Sufinejad
Brand/Company/Studio: Villasufia / Year: 2019
Project Name: The Newmoon Lamp / Designer: Nima Bavardi
Brand/Company/Studio: Nima Bavardi/ Year: 2017
What skills do you believe, a good designer should have?
All scales are interconnected and inseparable, and these together lead to a successful design. As well as a good script, professional actors, great sound and music, good stage and lighting make a successful and best-selling film.
Do you have any pieces of advice for young lighting designers, something they should be aware of on their path to success?
I see a lot of students who see good designs or copy or modify them a little bit without understanding the philosophy of the design and the line thought of the designer. The result is a design with a fake identity.
Try to be themselves and follow their line of thought. The design created will be the result of their creative thinking. Try to be familiar with the latest technologies, materials, manufacturing methods, etc. Because it will enable them to have a flawless design. Monitor the needs and expectations of communities and human beings because our plans will affect the quality of human life.
Project Name: Lumoss Chandelier / Designers: Nima Bavardi, Siavash Sufinejad
Brand/Company/Studio: Villasufia / Year: 2020
How to help new talents with motivation, inspiration, and strength to move forward, even when all lights seem to go out?
The worst thing a creative designer can do is go around or deviate from a path they think is a dead end. Stay. Either remove the obstacle or change it. Never be afraid of failure. These failures are like serious and strict teachers who try to teach us for progress and excellence.
Project Name: Lunipse Pendant Lamp / Designers: Nima Bavardi, Soroush Vahidian
Brand/Company/Studio: Nima Bavardi/ Year: 2017
Project Name: Queen of Acorns Chandelier / Designers: Nima Bavardi, Siavash Sufinejad
Brand/Company/Studio: Villasufia/ Year: 2020
LIT Design Awards 2021 is now open for submissions!
Do you think you should sit amongst the best Lighting Designers and Lighting Product Designer of your generation? LIT Design Awards is the fastest growing Lighting Designers community, join the 5th Edition and make your mark in the industry!
The Farmani Group and 3C Awards are launching the 5th Edition of the LIT Lighting Design Awards, a powerful cross-disciplinary platform celebrating the highest quality of Lighting Design and Lighting Product Design since 2017. With 78 categories represented, the LIT Awards is today one of the most comprehensive lighting design competitions, uniting creativity, and innovation.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards honors every year; the LIT Lighting Designer of the Year and the LIT Lighting Product Design of the Year; both given to professionals and students. LIT Design Awards is encouraging students and young designers to apply, winners of the “Emerging” prizes will receive a cash prize of US$1,000 to support their next project in lighting design.
The Lifetime Achievement prize has been introduced in 2018 to recognize Lighting Designers, Lighting Product Designers and other professionals in the Lighting Industry, whose contributions over their entire career to the industry are tremendous. Nominated and dedicated to professionals, the prize is today the highest honor awarded in the lighting design field.
The Spotlight Prize has been introduced last year to put the “spotlight” on an organization, project, or initiative that carries out remarkable work for its community and having a major contribution to the Lighting Industry. Nominated, this prize was received by the “Women in Lighting (WIL)” in 2020.
Selected by our esteemed jury of designers and leaders in the lighting, interior design, and architectural fields, the annual winners will receive the LIT trophy, extensive publicity showcasing their designs and products to an international audience, and more.
The LIT Design Awards 2021 will close on the 17th of October 2021. Receive a 10% discount on the submission fees by applying before the 30th of June 2021!
