Industry Transformation Affects Everything - Even Awards!

Industry Transformation Affects Everything - Even Awards!

By James R. Benya, PE, FIES, FIALD

In the history of buildings, lighting design is relatively new. Only 100 years ago, electric illumination was just starting to become commonplace as electrification was limited to only about half of the people in America. Prior to that, there were several important exhibitions of lighting, like the 1892 World’s Fair in Chicago and the lighting of Niagara Falls, and the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, one of the first to employ the external floodlighting of buildings. Designed by Walter D’Arcy Ryan of GE’s Illuminating Engineering Laboratory, the PPIE was among the first large scale projects where buildings themselves glowed against the night sky without the sparkle of exposed lamps on the structure. Images of the Exposition also stand out as among the earliest examples of architectural lighting photography.

Even more recent are lighting design awards. Award programs and ceremonies for lighting design projects first emerged in the early 1970’s with what are known today as the International Illumination Design Awards of the Illuminating Engineering Society. In 1980, the program known today as the Cooper Source Awards was introduced, followed in 1983 by the International Association of Lighting Designers’ International Lighting Design Awards and the GE Edison Awards. While all of these programs were admittedly Americas-centric, international competitors were invited, and lighting designers from all over the world entered and many won awards, including the highest honors.

What made the lighting design awards programs particularly special were the international announcements and publications and the annual awards banquets, which for many years resembled the Academy Awards in pomp and circumstance. Old school extravagance prevailed, an opportunity for dressing up and partying into the night. For over 30 years, LightFair was the home of the GE Edison and IALD Lighting Design Awards, which added an attraction that drew many lighting designers for a gala evening and celebration. One year at LightFair, after a magnificent dinner banquet, the IALD rented San Francisco City Hall for an afterparty that carried on into the wee hours of the morning. To me, the best part was the building of camaraderie among lighting designers, where genuine fellowship reigned over the night, and the winner received a crystal ball.

]Most recently, two things have changed lighting design awards. The first, obviously, is COVID, which may have permanently ended banquets. But also, there is a larger force - the changing of the guard in lighting products, in communications and marketing, in image acquisition and editing, and in how current lighting designers work, market and celebrate. I think that this is because the economics of the industry have shifted so much. For example, GE is now two different companies – GE Lighting, a Savant company, and GE Current, a Daintree company – and neither offer the Edison Awards. Philips Lighting is now Signify, but with its acquisition of Cooper Lighting Solutions, the future of the Source Awards is in doubt. Taking their place are international lighting design award programs like the [d]arc awards, sponsored by [d]arc magazine, and the LIT awards, organized by Farmani Group and 3C Awards, both based on Internet marketing, communications and award celebrations.

25 E Washington, Chicago, IL; Lighting design by Schuler Shook

Recognition: IALD Award of Merit 2021, IES Illumination Design Award of Merit 2020, National Lighting Bureau Tesla Award 2021

To be honest, the demise of the old-school awards programs to me is a bummer. But there is hope! The National Lighting Bureau (NLB) has stepped up and created a lighting design awards program largely focused on the North American lighting market, apparently taking the place of the Source Awards and GE programs. Now in its third annual competition, the Tesla Awards are open to new construction or retrofit lighting projects for all types of indoor and outdoor applications. Anyone may enter a project. I served as a judge for the 2022 competition, with awards set to be presented Tuesday, June 21st at 2:15 p.m. at LightFair. Winners of past programs have included significant North American firms including Schuler Shook, Stantec, Morlights, and Fisher Marantz Stone. The genesis of this competition should be of little surprise, as it owes its creation to Mary Beth Gotti, Chair of the National Lighting Bureau and former Manager of the GE Lighting Institute (sponsor of the Edison Award for Lighting) and to Randy Reid, the editor of this magazine and Executive Director of the NLB.

Image: The Shed. LIT Award 2021, lighting design by Tillotson Design Associates.

Photo Credits: Brett Beyer, Iwan Baan, John Muggenborg

For any lighting designer, winning a lighting design program is an opportunity to build a reputation and get some well-deserved publicity. It looks really good on a resume or CV, too. Early in my career I identified the value of awards in building a practice and one’s “brand”, and I consider it to have made a significant contribution to my career. I recommend pursuing awards to all lighting designers for many reasons, and there are three important skills that I would like to suggest that you learn:

• Identify and employ a good professional photographer. In every competition, most winners are the result of two or more really good “money” images. A professional photographer tends to get everything right from composition to color balance, contrast and exposure. A professional image is typically more than 30-40 megapixels and taken using premium quality lenses. Magazines love these images because they can print them full-page bleed without loss of detail. Architects often hire professional photographers, and you may be able to share the rights to several images for quite a bit smaller investment.

• Learn to become a good photographer yourself. Decades ago I invested in expensive medium format film cameras to achieve similar results, and I studied with my favorite professional photographer, Doug Salin, in San Francisco. Digital cameras are tools of the trade today, and you will be surprised at the challenges of getting the depth of field, color balance, focus and other details right. You might get a useful secondary image from a cell phone but don’t count on it.

• Develop decent photo editing skills, especially if you are the photographer. In today’s market this isn’t cheating. The most common edits are color correction and cropping.

Finally, find a copy editor to help write the narrative. Most awards programs limit copy to a specific number of words, and it is extremely important to use terms correctly and to tell the story in a way in which judges can quickly understand the difficulties of the design and skill of the solution. Because I both competed in and served as a judge in every North American program at least once between 1984 and today (not at the same time, of course!), I feel especially qualified to tell you, this is how to compete and win. And oh, yes, you will need a great lighting design and a photogenic space. Good luck! ■

*Due to the dramatic changes in the lighting industry in the last few years, the GE Edison Awards are now different, honoring new products and new services throughout world, but not lighting design projects as in the past.