Yesterday saw the lighting industry converge at the Classic Car Club in Shoreditch to attend LoveLight 2011.
Now in its third year,the event brought together a diverse range of speakers to give presentations on topics such as daylight design,art,retail,and the London 2012 Games.
Chaired in the morning by Ben Cronin,editor of lighting,the event opened with a keynote speech from celebrated architect Edward Cullinan who drew most of his presentation slides on the spot as he discussed some of the projects in his substantial body of work.
Second up was Florence Lam of Arup Lighting who looked at daylight and how it is used in galleries.Discussing"the balancing act of maintaining a good view and protecting the work"Florence talked delegates through her design for the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield and went on to describe museum clients as some of the most enlightened."They see the benefits of getting a lighting designer in early,in particular when they have aspirations to include daylight."
In the LoveDrama segment,David Atkinson took the crowd through his influences of art,film and music,and showed how they have shaped his career to date,while Ben Kreukniet of United Visual Artists spoke about the team's use of light and sound in conjunction from projects as diverse as a gallery in Toronto to the main stage at the Coachella festival.
After the coffee break,attention turned to retail when Simon Threadkell,design and formats director at Tesco,took to the stage to discuss the company's design approach to lighting–which accounts for 16 per cent of the company's carbon emissions."We aim to be a zero carbon business by 2050 so lighting for us is a huge consideration,"he said.
Simon was followed by Paul Nulty of newly-founded Paul Nulty Lighting Design who gave an honest assessment of the challenges of lighting for a retail environment and the importance of sustainable design.
Discussing the new Westfield development in Stratford,Stefan Dzisiewski-Smith,an engineer with Jason Bruges Studio,took attendees through the development of the studio's digital fountain at Stratford.Acknowledging the
Potential for people to misunderstand the piece,Stefan said:"There was a danger that people wouldn't understand why there wasn't a real fountain but our consultation really paid off,and to see people meeting there and sitting having their lunch is a really great feeling."
Next to take up the Westfield baton was Rowena Preiss,creative director at Philips,who discussed the complexity of the project and the logistics of working with nine different lighting design practices.
Following lunch,the afternoon session was chaired by Paul Finch,deputy chairman of the Design Council who brought on Michael Grubb of Sutton Vane Associates to discuss Sutton Vane's strategy for lighting the Olympic Park and Public realm.
Sticking with the Olympic theme,Kevin Owens,design principal at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games(LOCOG)did a dual presentation with Mark Major of Speirs and Major.Owens spoke about the lighting overlay for the event while Mark Major took the crowd through the company's work on the athletes'village and its lighting advisory role.He described how they looked at the character of existing parks in east London to influence their design.
LoveLegacy introduced Chris Bannister of Hopkins Architects,and Farhad Rahim and Gustavo Brunelli of BDSP,who gave an overview of the Velodrome and its fundamental role as a legacy venue.Chris Bannister described the design approach taken to the venue as being similar to that of a bicycle:"There is nothing there that doesn't need to be,no excess,no fat."
The LoveInfrastructure segment saw Dan Lister of Arup Lighting discuss the fusion of infrastructure and art for the games and the various bridges serving the Olympic park:"Here we had to balance between design and functionality because above all people need to feel safe using the bridges."
The LoveLondon panel discussion closed the afternoon session and saw Paul Finch interview Mark Major,Kevin Owens,Chris Bannister,Michael Grubb,Kay Hughes and Dan Lister before opening the discussion up to the floor.The discussion ranged from the creation of the'new London'in Stratford to the importance of considering broadcast in the design of the Olympic village and venues.Commenting on the design of Stratford City,Mark Major described the often piecemeal evolution of Lighting in London:"Lighting often develops in this manner but there needs to be a balance between having enough diversity and a knee-jerk design reaction."
After the final break of the day Samuel Wilkinson and Nicolas Roope took to the stage to discuss their more decorative approach to the compact fluorescent in the form of the Plumen Lamp–winner of the 2011 Brit Insurance Design Award.
In LoveArt,Eva Menz of Eva Menz Design told the crowd how she became a chandelier designer and had developed her company over the last six years,moving more towards the world of public art.
The winners of the LoveLight in motion competition,sponsored by the PLDA and Philips,were announced at the end the day.'Lovelight&Motion'(Animated Particles)by Daniel Bagoly was the winner of the popular vote while'Window Treatment'by Glenn Shrum of Flux Studios was selected by the guest judge,Martin Valentine.
After the event,the delegates climbed aboard the ACDC bus in time-honoured fashion for some early evening refreshments.
