The shortlist for the 2013 Lighting Design Awards has been announced, with flying art installations, high-end wine bars, and Hogwart's School of Wizardry picking up nominations for innovation in lighting design.
Pedigree of the Awards
The Lighting Design Awards come with an impressive pedigree: 2013 will be their 11th year, attracting attendees from all sections of the industry from lighting designers to building services and suppliers.Previously, the awards have recognised designers such as architectural lighting designer Dean Skira and heritage brand Sutton Vane.
For those of us not in the running, the awards are fairly representative of where the lighting industry is "at."
Representing the Lighting Industry in 2013
Looking at the shortlist, we can see what the lighting industry sees as important: this year, the categories highlight low-carbon manufacture and large-scale exterior lighting scheme.This can offer the industry a point from which to look further into the future, and for contractors it can be a useful piece of information.
With the proliferation of temporary "pop-up" stores and startups operating out of vehicles, for example, there are some interesting ideas to be taken from the nominees in the Small Retail and Special Projects categories, like the Juicy Couture store on Regent Street.
Speaking with Lighting.co.uk, Mike Jankowski (principal at Ikon design) commented on the quality of the 2013 entries:
Design imagination and LED technology are powerful partners for change in lighting products. (...) This year’s submissions produced examples of imaginative product concepts that herald a change in the way luminaires will be perceived as objects and their influence on the interior and exterior environments.Among all the energy-saving highlights, there's also fun stuff in here, like the nomination for the Harry Potter studio tour in the Lighting for Leisure category.
Mayfair's Hedonism wine bar also gets a nod for the Speirs + Major lighting and Jonathan Coles's wine glass chandelier.
Now the shortlist has been announced, the judges will be walking around the installations themselves to decide whether the photographs and information "do them justice."
The awards take place on the 27th March 2013, and we'll be sure to keep you up-to-date! If you want to take a closer look at the Lighting Design Awards, take a look around their website. Then tell us: what's your favourite to win?
Image: the wine glass chandelier at Hedonism Wine Bar by James Newton.
