Professor Wout van Bommel has received the LIT 2020 Lifetime Achievement prize for his contribution to Lighting Application Research.
Could you tell us a little about yourself? How did you discover your passion for Lighting Application Research?
I discovered the passion for lighting by lucky coincidence. I studied physics at the University of Technology in Eindhoven. In those days we still had a two-year military service but could delay that until after the university study. However, this arrangement had the condition that the study delay could be no more than one year. I had so many other interests apart from my study that my delay was coming close to a year. I then got a message that unless I could guarantee that I would finish my study within one year, I had to break off my study and go into the army first. I still had to start my Master’s, so I looked for what I thought was an easy Masters subject doable in one year. So that’s how I got involved in lighting and why my passion for lighting quickly became an unexpected reality.
You have spent a few years with “Philips Lighting” in different lighting application functions, what is your most unforgettable memory or project?
Regarding the question of my most unforgettable memory or project, I again have to give an unconventional answer. I worked only two years with Philips Lighting, where my main experience was traveling around Europe with a mobile road lighting laboratory (“the Light Van”), when the Association of Public Lighting Engineers (APLE, now ILE) of the United Kingdom organized a special conference to celebrate their golden jubilee. My English Philips colleagues arranged for our Light Van to be driven live on the conference hall’s podium while me giving a one-hour presentation. I then was a young guy without any public speaking experience, and that in a time, that conference speakers usually were older men in black cloth. I had never attended an English language conference before. I was sure that this presentation would become a disaster, and I remember hardly having slept for weeks before that conference. I was even dreaming about asking for my resignation from Philips Lighting. Of course, I did not do that, but instead, I prepared myself very, very thoroughly. After I started my presentation, to my big surprise, quickly my nerves disappeared, and I started realizing “this is so nice to do”. This experience changed my career. Because since that presentation I always look to new, exciting aspects of lighting in terms of: “how can I explain that to others”, or more precisely: “how can I explain difficult things in easy words”. And I love to give presentations.
Can you tell us more about “non-visual biological aspects of lighting influence”?
I was so fortunate to get involved in the subject “non-visual aspects of lighting” right from the moment, second half of the nineteen nineties, that the lighting world started to realize that lighting has not only a visual but also a non-visual biological effect. In the beginning, we had great difficulties convincing “traditional” lighting professionals to convince about the importance of the subject. I learned that that was the same in the medical/biological world. When Russel Foster, a British professor doing tests of bodily synchronization by light in mice, predicted in 1999 the existence of an unknown type of non-rod, non-cone photoreceptor, some professors left the conference room where he made this announcement. Only three years later, Dave Berson (USA) proofed that some retinal ganglion cells that he isolated, indeed are sensitive to light. Before that time, we studied already the non-visual biological effects of lighting and the practical importance for indoor lighting. Studying these effects was possible without understanding the detailed mechanisms behind it.
With Dave Berson’s discovery of the intrinsic photosensitive retinal ganglion cell (ipRGC), accepting the importance of the subject “lighting and health” went very quickly. As the cones and rods got their name from their cone and rod shape I, entirely in line with my pursuit of making difficult things easy, like to refer to the new type of photosensitive cell as tiny “spheres”, also roughly after their shape.
Today, the subject “lighting and health” is often taken into account in indoor lighting. Lighting installations, dynamic in lighting level and colour tint, and fully taking daylight contributions into account, are the result. CIE defined in 2019 a suitable new lighting measure for non-visual biological light: the “melanopic EDI”, in lux. In December 2020, 18 experts published recommended minimum and maximum values for this measure for daytime, evening and night-time conditions. It means that now the lighting world has all the necessary tools. This, even though we still have to learn a lot about the subject lighting and health. Fortunately, many laboratories all over the world are engaged with the subject.
You are the LIT 2020 Lifetime Achievement recipient for your contribution to Lighting Application Research, what does it mean to you?
I feel tremendously honoured, not only for myself but also for the many persons and organizations who stimulated me: my “early” teachers and bosses (to whom I devoted my 2019 Interior Lighting book) but also to the many students all over the world (to whom I dedicated my 2015 Road Lighting book) who helped me, and are still helping me today, through their critical questions and active participation in discussions, in learning how to explain lighting.
What would be your best advice to Emerging talents in Lighting Applications?
My advice to emerging talents in lighting application is “the more you learn, the more you like it”. But also, realize that mistakes are terrible but that it is tough to learn without mistakes. Don’t think that you can plan your future in detail. Grab your chances when they occur, and, they will come! Finally, don’t accept older professionals telling you when you come with an idea: “that does not work, we tried it already twenty years ago”. The circumstances change continuously; an idea that did not work long ago may be fantastic today.
Last, what makes light magical to you?
Light is magical to me because of its multi-disciplinary, ever-changing, aspects of it.
Lighting hardware aspects
Gas discharge, optical and, today, chip technology combined with lighting controls, and, coming up rapidly, data communication with our lighting as the carrier of the data.Lighting
Application aspects
Visual and health aspects, the latter including both positive and hazardous effects, lighting for growing plants, vegetables and fruit, and, today very important, the possibilities to fight corona with professional UV-C installations.
Aesthetical and architectural aspects
Light to emphasize indoor or outdoor architecture or lighting installations being art itself.
Emotional aspects
Lighting as a means to influence the emotional state of people. As soon as the sun comes out on a cloudy day, it often immediately changes our mood in a positive sense. We must realize that artificial lighting can also influence people’s emotional feelings to a certain extent, positively and negatively.
Women in Lighting (WIL) has received the LIT 2020 Spotlight prize, Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton, the founders of WIL share more about this initiative.
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Light Collective is a company of two and was formed 10 years ago. Our creative portfolio of work houses more than architectural lighting design and has grown to encompass many innovative projects which include marketing campaigns, competitions, curation, lighting awards, branding, trade stands and shows, epic parties, pop up events, guerrilla lighting, community projects, light education and light art installations.
Our clients have ranged from the small scale to the large: designing for a school in Glasgow where the brief was set by the kids themselves to a shopping mall in Kuwait.… We are based in the UK but have worked all over the world; creating light in the snow in Finland or in the heat of Kenya…
We like to describe ourselves as lighting evangelists and light activists. All of our work has a light at the heart of it and always looks to promote light, lighting design and lighting designers to as wide an audience as possible. Many of our projects have been collective and have tried to promote the lighting industry as a whole and have included many other designers as our collective collaborators.
“Women in Lighting” have been launched on International Women’s Day in 2019. Can you share more about the project?
In 2018. we made a film called The Perfect Light which featured interviews with lighting designers. After a showing in New York, we were asked by some female audience members why we had not included many women in the film. We were shocked by the observation as it had never occurred to us and that we had not approached this with balance and had mainly interviewed men. I guess we were suffering from the same unconscious bias that exists in many professions. This inspired us to come up with the idea for the Women in Lighting project.
We looked at all the conferences, award juries, magazine panels, etc that we could think of it and discovered to our surprise that this lack of gender balance was very common. We decided that we would like to redress that imbalance and the project is the result of that.
Women in Lighting is an inspirational digital platform that profiles women working in the field of lighting design. It aims to promote their passion and achievements, narrate their career path and goals, celebrate their work and therefore help elevate their profile in the lighting community.
What are the key roles of the WIL ambassadors?
In order to make the project international, we approached twenty women in twenty countries and asked them to represent the project in their country. This number increased rapidly and the project currently has over 70 women in an ambassador’s role. They are a point of contact for the project and many are very active, running social media groups, events, discussions and more within their local communities.
What is coming next for WIL? Anything you can share with us in terms of activities, expansion of the platform?
We would like to grow the project both locally and support the ambassadors above but also to grow the project across the lighting industry. We would like to involve more women in areas other than design; manufacturing, education, research etc.
We would like the website to be a massive database of women in lighting that can create inspiration or enable people to search for a female mentor, designer or speaker.
We are currently planning an online event for International Women’s Day on March 8th with segments to suit three time zones. It will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions and social networking. We are also about to launch our very own WIL awards in a few weeks. They are specifically to highlight the achievements of the WIL community and its supporters. We want to seek out and celebrate the things this community achieved in 2020.
What are the main challenges faces by women working in the Lighting Industry?
There are a number of issues that come up over and over again in the interviews. These range from confidence and self-belief to balancing motherhood and a career but challenges are different from country to country.
We have been critiqued that the project is unnecessary but it has revealed that there are many areas of the world where lighting design is not well established and the women involved are finding it difficult to work in lighting. It’s easy for us to forget in the UK and US that women struggle in other countries for general equality let alone in the lighting industry.
We believe that the reason that so many women want to be involved is that they feel a need for support and we hope this project will help provide it.
WIL is receiving the first Spotlight prize from the LIT Design Awards, what does it mean to you both?
Firstly, it is incredibly flattering and we are super grateful for your consideration and the award. Importantly though, it also means that the project is working! We set out to raise the profile of Women In Lighting and winning an award for it means that the project is being noticed.
We are really grateful for the support of Katia Kolovea of Archifos and also formalighting (especially Sharon Maghnagi) who have been involved with the project from the beginning. There would be no project without them, all the women interviewed the ambassadors and the project supporters. This award is for all of them.
It sounds silly but Women in Lighting isn’t just for women 🙂 The project is about inclusivity and balance and how this is beneficial to the profession as a whole. Achieving gender balance is positive for everybody.
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.
Swathi Madhi is finishing her studies at Politecnico Di Milano in Italy, she won the LIT 2020 Emerging Designer of the year with her lighting project called ” Interior Lighting, Office, Stockholm, Sweden.”
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Exploring new streets and spaces in my neighborhood was my biggest childhood fascination. I enjoyed spending time sketching out what I observed, reinterpreting the locality, buildings, and rooms; this eventually led me to pursue my undergraduate degree in Architecture from Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. I was always inquisitive about all the small details that make a huge impact on design holistically.
How did you discover your passion for Lighting Design? Why did you choose to study Lighting Design?
Upon graduation, I worked on a design-and-build residential project in Chennai, India. I had the opportunity of design supervising and executing the project simultaneously. I was given half a day to design the lighting and electrical points. I realized that I lacked knowledge in this subdomain of the design and that it definitely deserves more time than half a day to be designed. Though we had basic lessons on daylighting, lighting was never a primary subject in my Architecture school. I started realizing that lighting has the power to influence everything, and yet taken for granted. I wanted to know more about Lighting.
My realization helped me focus on what I loved the most and leading me to take the next step towards the career of my dreams. I pursued the Masters’ in Lighting Design and LED Technology program in Politecnico Di Milano, Milan, Italy. This program best suited to serve my interest in the subject; the specialized curriculum with a focused module system and project-based syllabus had a unique and intensive disposition.
Your winning project is Interior Lighting – Office, Stockholm, Sweden. Can you please explain to us, what was your creative journey? Where is your inspiration from?
Process:
Initially while brainstorming, we came to an ideal point of drawing our inspiration from the site itself. In that way, the building would be coherent with the surroundings in terms of design. One of the biggest decisions for this project was that all the lighting in the building would be designed to emit light only from above, mimicking mother nature, as the building would not get natural light throughout the year in Sweden.
Concept and Design:
Taking inspiration from Scandinavian architecture and the natural phenomenon of Northern lights and its curves, the lighting of this project is designed. It adds a sense of direction to the visitors to lead further inside. The Lighting project for the office building in Stockholm, Sweden, aims to define a new lighting experience for the visitor, who will be guided through various zones that are characterized by a different activity. Starting from the territory analysis, the climate and colors are analyzed to influence the project. Natural light is used utmost and is integrated with artificial light to bring the ‘exterior’ inside to the places that do not receive natural light. The lighting design is kept minimal and made sure that the lighting fixtures are customized accordingly, to keep the sinuous lines of the project, which are coherent to sing along with the interiors.
What does being the winner of the LIT 2020 Emerging Lighting Designer of the year title, mean to you?
Being the winner of LIT 2020 Emerging Lighting designer of the year makes me feel encouraged. This means a lot, quite literally, as this is my first big recognition in my most loved field of lighting. The year 2020 has had its own ups and downs. This award makes me believe in myself more firmly than ever, especially after facing all the challenges of the pandemic in 2020. I will cherish this forever.
What are you working on now? Can you share a glimpse of your next Lighting Design project?
I am currently looking for job opportunities.
After my graduation, I worked with Prof. Helena Gentili, Ph.D. (WIL Ambassador of India) in Bangalore, India. I had an opportunity to work on a wide range of projects in various scales of luxury Residential Lighting. I was able to carry design, realization, and control of the lighting installations. I had my hands-on experience of designing lighting for interiors, facades, outdoor areas.
You are just starting your career as a Lighting Designer… what do you want to do next? What are your dreams?
I am excited to start my career and to start making differences with light.
My short-term dream is to find a job opportunity in Europe, where I can contribute, learn and grow at the same time. My long-term dream is to establish a design studio myself, designing lighting for vast cultural heritage in India, especially in the south to bring out enormous beauty. In India, people have started realizing the importance of light. I want to work with government bodies, and light up the rural areas, where lighting is more of a necessity than a luxury, making them more meaningful, safe, and visually friendly.
Last, what makes light magical to you?
Whenever I travel to a place, I visit the place twice. Yes, I visit in the daylight and I visit again in the dusk/night to see how the place transforms itself in both scenarios. I visited the Pantheon, Rome during my Master’s. It was a beautiful sight to behold at both times. When the sunlight entered the Pantheon through the oculus, it felt powerful. In the evening, it was looking magnificent, and dramatic with the contrast of the evening sky and interior lighting. I must say, daylight is dynamic and shows the city in the morning. And the lighting designers show the city in the dusk/night. Light is a wonderful material to work with. It makes me feel empowered to design light for the world to see.
After all, aren’t we all truly attracted to light since birth? When I see newborn babies amused to light, I feel I haven’t lost the amusement yet and I cannot lose it. Light inspires me. Light amuses me in ways that nothing has. Light is dynamic and so we are. I feel light.
The prestigious LIT Lighting Design Awards is pleased to reveal the LIT 2020 Winners in professionals’ and students’ categories.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards was created to recognize the efforts of talented international lighting product designers and lighting implementers. The organization believes lighting is both an art and a science, and that it is one of the most important elements of design. LIT was envisioned to celebrate creativity and innovation in the fields of lighting products and applications.
LIT Jury board members evaluated all submissions from 43 countries, based not only on the highest of current lighting design standards and trends but also seeking out truly visionary designers showcasing creativity and innovation.
“As we struggle this year with an unprecedented challenge. The lighting product designers and lighting designer actions global kept with their excellence in designing. With more than 350 designs submitted this year, you will find some incredible designs by both professional designers and students. This collection of winning works will set new standards in the best of best in lighting design.” Said Mr Hossein Farmani – Founder.
A full list of LIT Design Awards winners can be view here.
LIGHTING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Category: Interior Architectural Illumination
UNION STATION GREAT HALL RESTORATION
Company: CharterSills
Lead Designer: Erin Held
Designers: Goettsch Partners (Architect)
Location: Chicago, USA
LIGHTING PRODUCT DESIGN OF THE YEAR
Category: Designer and Custom Lighting
ARTIST’S HAND
Company: Niamh Barry Studio
Lead Designer: Niamh Barry
Location: Dublin, Ireland
EMERGING LIGHTING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Category: Interior Architectural Illumination
INTERIOR LIGHTING – OFFICE, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Lead Designer: Swathi Madhi
Designers: Luca Gregorini, Micaela Malusa
University: Politecnico Di Milano, Italy
Location: Milan, Italy
EMERGING LIGHTING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Category: Mood Lighting
HUE – YOUR EVERYDAY LIGHT
Lead Designer: Neeraj R Jawale
Designers: Samriti Gosain
School: National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India
Location: Gandhinagar, India
About LIT Lighting Design Awards
LIT Design Awards was assembled by the Farmani Group as the sister initiative of the IDA International Design Awards, which has been recognizing and celebrating smart and sustainable multidisciplinary design since 2007.
The Farmani Group, established in 1985, is responsible for many successful awards around the globe. Farmani Group organizes the International Design Awards (IDA), Architecture Masterprize, DNA Paris Design Awards, London International Creative Awards, Prix de la Photographie in Paris, and the Annual Lucie Awards for Photography, which has emerged as one of the world’s most prestigious awards.
Contact Information:
Los Angeles, CA – The prestigious LIT Lighting Design Awards is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2020 Spotlight prize – Women in Lighting.
The LIT Lighting Design Awards was created to recognize the efforts of talented international lighting product designers and lighting implementers. The organization believes lighting is both an art and a science, and that it is one of the most important elements of design. LIT was envisioned to celebrate creativity and innovation in the fields of lighting products and applications.
In the organization’s most recent news, LIT Lighting Design Awards is thrilled to announce its 2020 Spotlight prize – Women in Lighting (WIL). WIL is an inspirational digital platform that profiles women working in the field of lighting design. The community platform promotes each women’s achievements, narrates their career path and goals, celebrates their work, and elevates their profile in the lighting community.
“Spotlight is a special prize that rewards an organization or project which carries out remarkable work for its community, and for being a major contributor in the lighting industry,” says the founder of LIT Lighting Design Awards, Mr. Hossein Farmani. “Women in Lighting exemplifies our expectations for Spotlight, as the project supports the important work of women in the industry by creating an inclusive environment in the profession. We couldn’t be prouder of this initiative and look forward to seeing their continued work into the future.”
Women in Lighting has been founded by Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton, the team now consists of 70 ambassadors from 70 different countries around the world who aim to create a supportive and inspirational environment for women in the lighting industry.
When being informed of the Spotlight prize, Sharon Stammers shared “The WIL team are proud to accept this special award on behalf of all people who have participated in the project, the entire global WIL network and its supporters. It’s great to have the project recognized in this way as one of the main reasons for starting it were to raise the profile of women in lighting and to inspire others. We feel that this is working…”
Women in Lighting Founders: Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton
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.
For over 30 years, Sally Storey has been guiding John Cullen Lighting and founded Lighting Design International company, gathered a talented team of designers from a variety of backgrounds: architecture, theatre design, fine art, product design and engineering.
Sally has been pushing the boundaries of technology and design to create outstanding spaces and memorable experiences. She has written three well-received books on lighting and often contributes to the national and international press. Sally Storey’s contribution to the Lighting Industry is tremendous!
Project: Kimpton Fitzroy, London
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Gavriil Papadiotis
Project: ESPA Life at Corinthia
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Richard Powers
Project: Duplex Penthouse, London
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Andrew Beasley
Project: Duplex Penthouse, London
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Andrew Beasley
Sally Storey studied architecture at Bristol University and in her second year was awarded the scholarship of the year. She was fascinated with how natural light and artificial light transformed a building and chose this as her thesis and never looked back.
Sally Storey, Design Director of Lighting Design International and John Cullen Lighting, is one of the UK’s leading lighting experts. Her extensive knowledge and experience has led to her travelling all over the world designing lighting schemes for esteemed brands, individuals and corporate clients.
Sally has written three well-received successful books on residential lighting and often contributes to the national and international press. She is a regular speaker at interior design and architectural events and conferences. Sally is a judge on many interior and lighting panels, and currently a judge for the Super Yacht Design & Innovation Awards.
Recent projects include the Kimpton Fitzroy London, Hotel Café Royal, L’Oscar, the multi-award-winning Fera at Claridge’s Hotel, The Lanesborough Hotel Spa, The Connaught Hotel, Ham Yard Hotel, The Savoy, Temple Church, Grocer’s Hall, Grand Hotel Cap-Ferrat, Emirates Palace Hotel Dubai, Crosby Street Hotel New York, St Regis Venice and Four Seasons Hotels including the spa at the Four Seasons George V.
Sally has also been involved in Private Residences and Palaces worldwide as well as numerous Super Yachts including the award-winning Topaz (J8), Northern Star, MY& SY Twizzle, JOY, Faith, Hasna, Lady S and most recently Archelon.
Project: Heckfield Place, Hampshire
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Sprately & Partners
Sally has brought her residential lighting experience to create outstanding lighting schemes that make the stunning spectacular. Sally has been a key advocate in promoting residential lighting a vital element of interior design.
No matter the budget lighting can transform and make simple materials look elegant. Sally’s passion and enthusiasm for lighting never fade and still comes through when lecturing today. She is currently working on her fourth book on residential lighting which aims to help one understand new technology and how best to use it. This is aimed at interior designers, architects and the homeowner. Making people aware of their environment will hopefully influence push the standards of lighting in work and leisure.
Sally Storey’s Publications:
Lighting: Recipes and Ideas London: Quadrille, 2000
Lighting by Design London: Pavilion, 2002
Perfect Lighting London: Jacqui Small, 2008
Sally is currently working on a new book on residential lighting for RIBA called: “Inspired by Light: A design guide to transforming the home.”
Project: The Lanesborough Club & Spa
Company: Lighting Design International
Photographer: Oetker Collection
Project: Private House
Company: John Cullen Lighting
Photographer: Luke White
Founded in 1981 in London, John Cullen Lighting has positioned itself as a global leader in luxury residential lighting design and supply. For almost 40 years, the Company has been responsible for delivering some of the World’s very best luxury residential and hospitality lighting schemes.
Operating from offices in London, Paris, Dubai and Mumbai, John Cullen Lighting is well placed to provide the very highest standards of design and engineering excellence to any scale of the project. Internationally-acclaimed, discreet light fittings provide the tools to deliver outstanding lighting for both interiors and landscape. All are designed in-house and proudly manufactured in the UK. A bespoke award-winning design service is offered to ensure that products are used to optimum effect to create stunning lighting effects.
In 1986 on the death of John Cullen, Sally was left to run and drive the design side of John Cullen Lighting which specialised in residential lighting. At the same time, Sally set up Lighting Design International to cope with requests of lighting commercial projects such as JP Morgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs and large hotels.
Lighting Design International is one of the most established independent lighting consultancies in the world, we have been creating adventures in lighting for over 35 years under the direction of Sally Storey, We bridge the gap between architecture and engineering, utilising artistry hand in hand with cutting edge lighting technology to render space and material, evoking emotion and creating inviting and dramatic spaces.
As one of the world’s foremost lighting design consultancies, we don’t just work with light, we understand it – the role it plays in affecting our mood and sense of wellbeing; how it combines with surface and form to create a single dramatic effect and how it can bring an otherwise unremarkable space to life. Our highly trained long-established creative team come from diverse design backgrounds, allowing us to deliver practical expertise and luxurious bespoke detailing through our uniquely creative approach to suit any project brief.
Lighting Design International’s portfolio boasts projects of every scope and scale, from boutique chic to classic opulence. But while our clients may be diverse, they have one thing in common – they demand the best; when considering lighting they understand the distinction between the exceptional and what is merely functional. Hotel projects include the award-winning Kimpton Fitzroy London, The Dixon, Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva, Four Seasons Astir Palace Athens and Hotel Grand Bretagne Athens. Retail projects include multiple areas in Harrods – Technology, Men’s Shoes, Superbrands, Fine Dining and Food Halls. Our experience also covers high-end residential estates around the world such as the UK, Paris, South of France, USA, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait and the Caribbean. Lighting Design International is also involved in the ultimate luxury, superyachts.
With over 50 years in Lighting Research and Application, Prof. Wout Van Bommel has carried out researches into various lighting subjects; some of the concepts he proposed, are now used in international and national standards for lighting.
Prof. Wout Van Bommel has published more than 150 papers in national and international lighting journals in various languages and wrote well-regarded books.
Member and Chairman of various Lighting Societies and Commissions, Prof. Wout Van Bommel is also a University Professor and speaker. He is passionate about non-visual biological aspects of lighting influencing health and wellbeing, studying and lecturing about “balancing the positive effects of lighting on living beings with the negative impact of that lighting on the environment.
Prof. Wout Van Bommel – CIE President in 2007
Prof. Wout Van Bommel obtained his academic degree (MSc) in physics, at the University of Technology in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1970. His specialization was in applied lighting under the guidance of Prof. J.B. de Boer and Dr-Ing. H.J. Schmidt-Clausen. This resulted in a detailed insight in, and publications about, the potential possibilities of the use of polarized light for vehicle lighting and ship lighting.
Prof. Wout Van Bommel has over 50 years of experience in Lighting research, of which he spent 37 years with “Philips Lighting” in different lighting application functions such as road lighting, sports lighting, and indoor lighting.
He has carried out research into many different lighting subjects; some of the concepts he proposed, on the basis of his research, are now used in international and national standards for lighting. He was responsible for Philips’ International Lighting Design and Application Centre (LiDAC).
After his retirement from Philips Lighting and with his vast international experience in lighting application, Prof. Wout Van Bommel is now an independent Lighting Consultant to lighting designers, researchers, companies’ municipalities, and governmental bodies. He assesses the quality of specifications of lighting installations (certification).
For 20 years, He is also specialized in non-visual biological aspects of lighting influencing in turn our health and wellbeing. He was responsible for the first two international lighting expert symposia (Vienna 2004, Ottawa 2006) where medical, biological, and lighting experts set the way for putting the new knowledge into practical use. Prof. Wout Van Bommel gives basic and advanced lectures about lighting, health, and wellbeing for both professional and laymen groups of people.
Prof. Wout Van Bommel has been a member and President of CIE – “International Lighting Commission”, the chairman and now an honorary member of the Dutch “Light and Health Research Foundation” and has been involved with many other commissions and associations throughout his career (see list below).
In 2004, He was appointed Consulting Professor at the Fudan University of Shanghai and in 2008 External Examiner of the Master Course “Light and Lighting” at the University College of London (UCL‐ Bartlett Institute).
Prof. Wout Van Bommel has published more than 150 papers in national and international lighting journals in various languages as well as books. As a young lighting professional, He wrote, together with Prof. de Boer, in 1980 the book “Road Lighting”, then 35 years later, in 2015, “Road Lighting, fundamentals, technology and application” and in 2019, “Interior Lighting, fundamentals, technology and application”. These books became “standards” in their fields.
All over the world and throughout his career, Prof. Wout Van Bommel has presented papers, taught, given invited lectures at different conferences, and participated in workshops.
Professor Wout Van Bommel – Philips Lab Van
Open-air Road lighting Laboratory
Professor Wout Van Bommel – Philips Road Reflectometer in 1970s
Commissions & Associations
From 1988 to 2008, Prof. Wout van Bommel was the Dutch representative of the European Lighting Normalization Committee CEN TC 169.
From 2003 to 2007, Prof. Wout van Bommel has been President of the International Lighting Commission, CIE. During his presidency, he visited nearly 40 different National CIE Committees all over the world to learn about their needs and to support them in their local activities.
From 2008 to 2011, Prof. Wout van Bommel was a Board member of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).
Prof. Wout van Bommel was the chairman and is now an honorary member of the Dutch “Light and Health Research Foundation”.
Prof. Wout van Bommel was for eight years the Chairman of the Lighting Commission of the Standardization Institute of the Netherlands (NEN).
Prof. Wout van Bommel is a member of the Lighting Society of the Netherlands and the Lighting Society of North America (IESNA).
Prof. Wout van Bommel was Chairman of the “Tunnel Lighting” and “Glare for Outdoor Areas” Committees of the CIE. For slightly more than eight years, He was Director of CIE’s Division 5 (Outdoor lighting and other applications).
Recognition & Award
Prof. Wout van Bommel was the first recipient of the “NSVV Wout van Bommel Award”, named after him. The Dutch Lighting Society, NSVV who created this award, will award it annually to a person who has as a volunteer contributed exceptionally to the work and mission of the Dutch Lighting Society.
Most Relevant Publications:
Van Bommel, Wout
Discomfort glare and LEDs: an empirical and a fundamental approach
Israel Lighting Journal,82/8, 2020
Van Bommel, Wout
Topics important for the up-to-date interior lighting professional
Light & Engineering, Vol. 28, No 1, 4-22, 2020
Svetotekhnika #2, 2020
Van Bommel, Wout
Interior Lighting, fundamentals, technology and application
Springer Publishers, 2019
Van Bommel, Wout
Street Lighting Innovation: Sensor Sensibility
Lighting Journal (ILE), February 2017
Van Bommel, Wout
Een uitdaging tot innovatie, optimaliseren van Ledspectrum voor de kleur van objecten en ruimteoppervlakken.
Ruimte en Licht, 3, 2016
Van Bommel, Wout
In: Luo MR (ed) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology, Springer Science + Business Media, New York, 2016
Van Bommel, Wout
Age, light perception, and street lighting
Dekra Road safety Report, 2016
Arshia Architects, a Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio has designed the LIT Lighting Design Awards Trophy … Arshia Architects team is looking back at the original Trophy idea and creative process.
Can you please share more about your company and work?
Founded in 2006, Arshia Architects is a Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio. Arshia Architects’ studio is dedicated to the exploration of space and the built environment. We are committed to new ways of thinking in space that provide unique solutions to the complex challenges and parameters that affect architecture.
The practice has been recognized with citations and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Los Angeles Architecture Award, the International Interior Design Association, and the Japan Architect Award. This body of work has been published internationally and was selected by ACADIA and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) as one of the participants in the first retrospective exhibition on Contemporary Architecture in Southern California – focused on the top 35 radical practices to emerge within the past twenty-five years.
What does the LIT trophy represent? What did you want to achieve?
In 1704 Isaac Newton in his book Optiks, concluded through experiments with prisms that colors must already be present in white light and that the effect of prism dispersion was qualitative. “In them, there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color.” Newton’s assessment became the seed of a fundamental transformation in metaphysics leading to John Locke’s assessment of primary vs secondary quality distinction concerning the nature of reality itself.
To Locke, the reality was made of two characteristics, the primary quality which are qualities that are independent of the observer such as solidity, extension, motion, number and figure; and secondary qualities, which are those properties that produce sensations in observers, such as color, taste, smell, and sound.
Using light as the denominator of this distinguished award, we centered our thought on the query of light itself as an elusive object. Our principal objective was to extract the primary quality of light and provide it with a corporeal form. The question leading us to the final product was the “how”. Although light can certainly be categorized by its dense secondary qualities, it still bears a primary quality as a physical object that behaves in wave and particle duality. We were interested to capture this quality in the most basic form.
What was the creative process behind designing LIT Awards Trophy?
We started with the logo base of the award, which we thought was a very well designed and appropriate object. The logo represented spectral characteristics of light beautifully in a minimal design. We extruded this object in three dimensions and looked at ways of incorporating this into a design. Our main objective was to capture the fleeting quality of light, so the resulting object could not be anything solid or weighted. We thought crystals aptly represent such quality through their purity of material that allows light to trespass without a tax. Laser engraving technology allowed us to enhance the lightness of the concept by floating the resulting extruded shape inside the crystal object.
To remove the obvious characteristics of the crystal form, we used the dichroic film by 3M, which was applied to the surface of the crystal body in order to shape-shift the resulting product in response to ambient light factors. Dichroic films are a multi-layer optical film technology that reflects colors different than the colors in transmission, thus dissecting the general white light into the spectral range. The dichroic film achieves this quality, on a flat surface, without the need for a prismatic extrusion.
This quality allowed us to eliminate the need for an embedded artificial light source inside the object and utilize the natural ambient light to create the lighting effect.
Learn more about Arshia Architects projects, design and achievements: https://www.arshia.net/
Arshia Architects Logo
LIT Design Awards Trophy Designed by Arshia Architects
LIT Awards is proud to present a new LIT Lighting Design Awards winner certificates for 2020!
All winners & honorable mentions will receive a certificate of Achievement and LIT Winner Seal as well as be featured on the LIT winner online directory and benefit from the all-year-round media coverage.
LIT Design Awards gives also 5 winning titles per year:
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.
A new generation of lighting designers is coming into light. From living spaces to performing stages, lighting designs for the future are more organic, interactive, and tapped on innovative technologies available today. Discover the following four fascinating lighting creations among our LIT Emerging winners from 2018 to 2019.
Prizes: Winner in Interior Architectural Illumination 2017
Lead Designer: ZIH-JING JHANG-JIAN
As idyllic green spaces are emerging, so as new designers who conceive innovative approaches to be created into real built environments.
The Meditate Rainwater is an embodiment of this concept of integrating natural resources into living spaces, and one of the most critical elements for the functionality of green spaces is lighting. The play of natural and man-made lighting enhances the oasis, especially with the bathroom area where a live tree is beautifully anchored and surrounded by equally enchanting illuminated spaces.
The encapsulated organic space welcomes natural light with its ceiling-high windows. The cascading windows allow daylighting to cast interesting angles of illumination into the loft interior. This perfect surreal touch shifts as the day pass through the flowing plan seeping through dramatically into the unpretentious surfaces.
Designers Zih-Jing and Jhang-Jian compare the home to a fallen leaf on a pond of water, where the interior elements mirror this natural process of life. The building represents the leaf, and the pond is the pool of water. Just as raindrops bring new life, the home is a representation of nature’s continuous cycle of life.
Link: https://litawards.com/winners/winner.php?id=2492&mode=win
Prizes: Winner in Light Art Project
Lead Designer: Massimiliano Moro
Utilizing light’s entrancing spectrum is the winning light art project Monstera Deliciosa. Backdropped in Palazzo di Napoli the autochthone plant lights and shadows are projected onto the surrounding ruins rejuvenating the historical space.
To attempt to define the display will depend on one’s perception of the beguiling showcase of lights and shadows making the visual experience more esoteric. Massimiliano Moro provided a space for the past and present to converge, a mingling of the inside and out, and a blur on truth and imagined.
The projected showcase of varying lights and shadows is a site-specific project made for Palazzo di Napoli. Plants cast a variety of imaginative forms and hues. Are you wondering about the name? Monstera Deliciosa interpreted as Delicious Monster is actually one of the plant displays. Also known as the Swiss cheese plant it sounds like the designer’s inspiration.
Link: https://litawards.com/winners/winner.php?id=2495&mode=win
Prizes: Winner in Interactive Lighting Projects
Lead Designer: Josephine Wang
A peek into the future of sound interpretation via illumination the SPECTRUM is a multimedia installation where a 15’ x 8’ curved wall consisting of 800 LEDs is animated by sound. A microphone at the center is used for sound input. The sound frequency is then transformed into a light wavelength based on a set of algorithms. This means everyone will have a different lighting display, and musicians can see their creations from a visual perspective.
Designed by Josephine Wang, the SPECTRUM is a part of an experiment where its goal is to develop advanced lighting consoles and discover innovative applications of light and sound combination.
The project aims to develop an application beyond existing lighting consoles, to explore the potential characteristics of luminous and sonic environments, to experiment with the possibilities of human perception affected by light and sound.
Link: https://litawards.com/winners/winner.php?id=2675&mode=win
Prizes: Winner in Interactive Lighting Products / LED Lighting Products and Fixtures
Lead Designer: Idan Herbet
Another novel application of the light and sound convergence is the E Drum is an interactive kinetic Electronic Drum set with a 330 cm diameter stage and 60 cm height. The E Drum has 3 metal rings where an outer ring is equipped with the latest ROBE lighting beam, 150 moving lights, and light blinders to add a punch to the already visually exhilarating experience. Each drum is highlighted with RGBW neon flex – dynamic pixel control (via DMX ).
Pounding in performance the drummer is amidst the three interlocking rings and under the stage are added effects such as cold fire pyro, smoke gazers, and Par LED that set the stage to illuminate. For a successful synced performance, a time code and MIDI notes are programmed. The whole setup of connecting light and sound created a stage to truly climax the drummer’s performance that is an immersive experience.
Link: https://litawards.com/winners/winner.php?id=2804&mode=win
