June 16, 2023
Dazzling Night at New York's Lumen Gala
A grand event sees luminaries of the lighting industry gather in style
On Thursday evening, the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York City (IESNYC) hosted the esteemed 55th Lumen Gala, which took place at Pier 60 in Chelsea Piers. This year, a total of 14 lighting design firms were honored with Lumen Awards. The event saw registration from 915 individuals who filled the cocktail reception areas and banquet hall.
The organizers of this year's show encouraged attendees to "Flaunt Your Best Emerald." Consequently, throughout the evening, bejeweled people mingled under enchanting lighting, sipping watermelon margaritas and celebrating amidst a sea of fifty shades of green. Mother Nature pitched in with fantastic weather, allowing revelers to enjoy their cocktails against the backdrop of the Hudson River. The mild breeze mostly preserved perfectly coiffed hairstyles, and the low humidity helped keep brows and wardrobes looking their best.
Lumen Committee Co-Chairs, Clara Powell from Cooledge Lighting and Adrienne Shulman of ERCO Lighting, have worked diligently for several months to ensure a majestic event and fair evaluation of the numerous project submissions, ultimately honoring those most deserving of recognition.
In an effort to make the event more efficient this year, the organizers devised innovative methods to minimize disruptions during the recipients' acceptance speeches. Using the large screens scattered around the ballroom, they played periodic pre-recorded video messages. Lighting agents Asher Schoenberg of SDA Lighting & Controls and Nathaniel Bliss of SLS humorously and playfully reminded attendees to respect the speakers and remain quiet during critical moments.
While attendees at each of the $5900 tables grappled with nearly frozen, rock-solid blueberry pie desserts, some not so successfully, the award-winning design teams used this time to share their insights into the projects that had won them accolades.
Outgoing IESNYC Section President, Megan Carroll of Lighting Services Inc., passed the gavel to incoming President, Shoshanna Segal. As part of the ceremony, Section Awards were handed out to many unsuspecting members for their contributions to the IESNYC:
Special Recognition Awards:
Linda Miller, Linda G. Miller Communications & Marketing
Jordan Cohen, International Lights
Section Service Award: Melissa Goren, MG Engineering
Golden Achievement Award:
Domingo González, Domingo González Associates
Caleb McKenzie, US Lighting Consultants
Brilliance Award: Michael Hennes, Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
The 2023 Lumen Awards Recipients:
Category: Awards of Excellence
- Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates for the Morgan Library & Museum Garden
- One Lux Studio for 320 South Canal
- L'Observatoire International for the Tin Building by Jean-Georges
Category: Merit Awards
- LOOP Lighting for the Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu
- Focus Lighting for Chasing Rabbits
- Lighting Workshop for PENN 1
- Dot Dash for the POST Houston
- Melanie Freundlich Lighting Design for the Trinity Church Wall Street
Category: Citation Awards
- Renfro Design Group for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
- Flux Studio Ltd for the Signal Station North
- BOLD LLC for the Journey to Edge/Peak
- Jen Lewin Studio for the Last Ocean
- Anita Jorgensen Lighting Design for the Silver Vault Gallery, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
- Kugler Ning Lighting for the Willis Tower Repositioning
Following the ceremony, the popular after-party known as After Glow brought high-energy music and vibrant lights to the dance floor. This capped off another extraordinary Lumen Awards Gala, a night where attendees celebrated their accomplishments and enjoyed the festivities.
The Morgan Library & Museum Garden
New York, NY
Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Linnaea Tillett, Janet Garwood, Chadwick Carswell, Jeanne Choi, and Khwanrudee Samranvedhya
ARCHITECTS
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP
Frank J. Prial, Jr. and Jean Campbell
Photo: Courtesy of the Morgan Library & Museum (c) Brett Beyer
New exterior lighting is a key feature of the restoration of J.P. Morgan's library, the historic heart of the Morgan Library & Museum in Midtown Manhattan. The lighting design creates a visual oasis on the teeming street. Inspired by the Greco-Roman notion of “drawing down the moon,” the design weds the magic of "moonlight" with the warm glow of "incandescence."
Moonlight is provided by blue gel and 4000K fixtures cantilevered through the parapet’s balusters. The loggia is lit in 2700K, and features of the new garden are highlighted in 3000K. The Renaissance-inspired garden design includes various blue-toned pavers and pebbled mosaics at the ground plane, and the moonlight effect accentuates these. The design also brings some of the Morgan's antiquities to light for the first time. Key features are highlighted to dramatize their sculptural character, and the interplay of color temperatures creates a visual dialogue.
The Morgan Library, designed by Charles Follen McKim and completed 1906, is one of the finest examples of Neoclassical architecture in the US. Landscape designer Todd Longstaffe-Gowan and Linnaea Tillett Lighting Design Associates have opened the library’s grounds for nighttime enjoyment, for the first time in the institution’s history.
320 South Canal
Chicago, IL
One Lux Studio
Stephen Margulies, Yasamin Shahamiri, Taki Taniguchi, and SoHyung Bahng
ARCHITECTS
Goettsch Partners
Photo: Nick Ulivieri
Located directly south of the 1925 Union Station building, 320 South Canal is a new, 50-story landmark office tower that provides a striking addition to the Chicago cityscape, with over 1.5 million sqft of space. Lighting at the lobby serves to emphasize the space’s unique architectural details, such as its featured faceted walls and ceilings.
Clusters of three LED downlights integrate into the faceted ceiling, with sources at each bay illuminating the segmented core wall and glass wall wrapper. The fixtures were pre-aimed during manufacturing to ensure a clean look and minimize aiming time. To balance daylight, One Lux Studio sourced tunable LEDs and advocated for a zero-reflection glass façade, allowing unobstructed views for passersby.
Outside, the tower's 1.5 acre greenspace – the largest privately owned park in the city – is open until midnight. The space is organized around a large, oval lawn and curved path, beautifully illuminated using linear lighting integrated beneath bench seating and bullets uplighting trees. Narrow-beam spotlights, concealed 300 ft up the building’s façade, aim down at the park, lending a moonlighting effect. Other architectural elements, like faceted columns at the façade, are illuminated to create a beautiful backdrop to the park.
Tin Building by Jean-Georges
New York, NY
L'Observatoire International
Hervé Descottes, Carlos Garcia, and Esteban Varas
ARCHITECTS
Roman and Williams
Cass Calder Smith
Photo: Nicole Franzen
In an exciting collaboration with interior designer Roman and Williams and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, L’Observatoire International lighted the entire 64,000 sqft of the historic Tin Building, the original home of the Fulton Fish Market. The 1907 building was disassembled and replicated at Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, creating a bustling destination. A leitmotif of historically flavored luminaires connects us to the past. And the numerous markets, bars, and restaurants contain individualized articulations of a unified lighting design vocabulary.
The core of the first-floor market is activated by integrated lighting in the millwork and tunable-white backlighting of art glass panels. Pockets of design create self-contained experiences, and custom luminaires help define the unique destinations. Highly customized “invader” luminaires might feel familiar but use divergent expressions.
In the upstairs market, linear lighting in every product shelf is supported by track lighting and accented by custom decorative fixtures. The high-end Asian restaurant greets visitors with distinctive, red-tiled shelving exaggerated by red strip lighting at the back and then white front light on products.
Day and night, this waterfront landmark pulses with new life. The lighting ensures that shoppers and diners engage with the venue’s overall identity, easily navigate the enormous floorplan, and delight in unique, multisensory dining experiences.
Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu
Tokyo, Japan
LOOP Lighting
Ryoko Nakamura, Ruben Gonzalez, and Kaori Hiroki
NIHON SEKKEI
Yoshiko Nakayama
ARCHITECTS
NIHON SEKKEI, INC.
TAKENAKA CORPORATION
Photo: ToLoLo Studio
Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu, the largest bus terminal in Japan, has opened in front of Tokyo Station. The overall goal was to elevate terminal spaces in Japan, as most are purely utilitarian in design and lacking in spatial awareness. This careful collaboration between architecture and lighting says, We can do better.
The spatial form of the bus terminal is a one-room space where movement and stillness coexist. Vertical planes of illumination enhance the perception of brightness and welcome in this underground space. Wayfinding is clear and pleasant while preserving visual interest and a sense of exploration. A line of white light on the dark ceiling creates the “racetrack” that pulls you along the route while attenuating the space – a moment of speed.
Curved extrusions of white coves create “Floating Clouds on a Dark Sky”: a threshold moment. A lounge area features cove lighting and downlighting to define a moment of repose. Fast and slow coexist while being distinct spaces. The spatial design goal provides a visual guide for each activity and cues visitors as they transition through the terminal. The juxtaposing volumes of speed and stillness carved through light create a comfortable environment for lingering and waiting.
“The winning project is a shining example of how expert lighting design can transform even the most mundane public spaces into beautiful and inviting environments. In this case, the innovative use of clean lines of light in a busy bus terminal has created a space that is not only tolerable, but pleasant to be in. The lighting design effectively combats the dirt and fumes typically associated with bus terminals, creating a bright and clean atmosphere that is truly transformative.” Al Uszynski, 2023 Lumen Awards Jury
Chasing Rabbits
Vail, CO
Focus Lighting
Valentina Doro, Juan Pablo Lira, Erin Ryan, Zoe Neijna, Kenny Schutz, and David Bull
ARCHITECTS
Davis Partnership
Rockwell Group
Photo: Juan Pablo Lira
Immersed in a 10,000 sqft clubhouse, guests travel on a fantastic journey, “chasing rabbits” from room to room. The lighting design celebrates playfulness and relaxed sophistication.
At the entry, Edison bulbs suspended above a raspberry, transmissive ceiling dazzle, while backlit etched mirror panels add to the balanced infinity effect. In another corridor, etched graphics within reflective panels are backlit with cool LED panels. The colorful sculpture at the end is modeled by both track accents and discreet uplights.
In contrast, interior spaces are bathed in multilayered warm lighting. In the restaurant, light grazes up and down along the perimeter, creating a soft glow behind the dark framing treatment. Custom snoots ensure dramatic, super-tight accents on the tables. In the library, each shelf has a linear frontlight and a softer glow behind, so the entire room exudes inviting warmth. Decorative fixtures reinforce the human scale, while the neon art piece sizzles. The speakeasy feels mysterious with delicate layers of lighting bringing beautiful patterns and finishes to life.
In the arcade, the cinema-inspired bar is backlit, while gaming areas create excitement. This juxtaposition of classic and eccentric encapsulates the concept of this project: a refined lighting design injected with surprising, entertaining moments.
PENN 1
New York, NY
Lighting Workshop
Doug Russell, Megan Casey, and Kim Dai
ARCHITECTS
Architecture + Information (A+I)
Photo: Magda Biernat
Located above bustling Penn Station within the revitalized Penn District, this 150,000 sqft building amenity hub gives us a glimpse into the future of workplace design. The three-floor project creates an ecosystem of spaces for work, wellness, and socialization. Lighting serves the programmatic and design needs of each space, emphasizing rich textures and their transitions.
The dramatic, double-height lobby pairs concealed linear wall-grazers on textured, hewn stone walls with soft ambient coves and discreet recessed downlighting onto the highly reflective floor. Interactive digital-screen risers invite visitors to climb the grand stair, which contrasts large video screens against the dark finish palette.
At the conference center, a large, luminous ceiling of LED panels above stretched fabric and acoustic baffles produces a glowing effect that is both diffuse and textured. Dramatic contrasts center the experience center. Tightly focused track lighting accents the cityscape model, while toe-kick lighting defines seating.
In several spaces, mirrored ceilings and wall panels play with angles or sparkle with reflections from warm decorative fixtures and artwork. The bar features a strong, linear chandelier suspended below an uplit gold ceiling.
The fitness center’s staircase features shimmering art walls. Quiet, multicell downlights tucked between panels avoid unwanted reflections.
POST Houston
Houston, TX
Dot Dash
Christopher Cheap, Marcelline Lacombe, Chen Chen, Marta Casarin, and Isabel Sanchez Sevillano
ARCHITECTS
OMA
Jason Long and Salome Nikuradze
Photo: Marco Cappelletti
POST Houston is an adaptive reuse of a long-abandoned Postal Service headquarters into a dynamic, mixed-use complex. The lighting design is integrated within the architectural interventions and intentionally independent from the original building.
Atriums were created within the cavernous space, each featuring a unique, monumental staircase with integral lighting components. A double-helix stair is the sculptural focal point of the “O” Atrium, with lighting incorporated into the mesh guardrail. Market Hall canopies delineate each kiosk and provide soft, intimate light for diners.
The “X” stair can transform into a stage using DMX-controlled theatrical framing projectors mounted to roof beams. At the Live Nation venue’s Lobby Bar, the lighting design is inspired by concert blinder lights. To create dramatic portals to accessory spaces, lighting glows within a translucent polycarbonate wall. At the stair, striplighting reveals the movement of guests. Once inside, dimmable blue grazers between open-cell guardrails highlight the balcony geometry.
Accessed by these monumental stairs, a 5 acre rooftop park includes distinctive landscape and lighting environments, punctuated by the soft glow of ring lights within the 40 walkable skylights. Overall, the lighting design preserves the existing building while celebrating new additions, creating a hub for culture, dining, work, art, and recreation.
Trinity Church Wall Street
New York, NY
Melanie Freundlich Lighting Design
Melanie Freundlich and Michael Peace
ARCHITECTS
MBB Architects
Jeff Murphy and Zach Poole
Photo: Colin Winterbottom
The layered lighting design of the landmarked Trinity Church Wall Street highlights the beauty of the materials and interior architecture, and provides state-of-the-art lighting technology, seamlessly integrated into the 1848 interior. This multi-phase rejuvenation and restoration included a complete redesign of the architectural lighting for every interior and exterior space. Aimed primarily at enhancing both live and virtual worship experiences, challenges included resolving long-standing light level and glare issues for both attendees and clergy.
The sequential experience of arrival begins with the dramatic vestibules and narthex, where bronze sconces and concealed accent lights graze the original carved wood paneling and uplight the gilt ceiling. Entering the nave, the view opens to reveal the restored vaulted ceiling. A family of historically appropriate custom lanterns was fitted with multiple up and down sources to uplight the ceiling and provide soft wall illumination. Larger pendants align with the columns in the nave, and a scaled-down version illuminates the side aisle pews and ceiling, which were previously unlit. Concealed linear and curved lighting accentuate architectural features throughout the nave and chancel. They are mounted to the clerestory sills and concealed behind the historic Astor Reredos to dramatically illuminate statuary, tracery, and gold-leaf detailing.
CITATION for Integration of Daylight and Electric Light
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
La Jolla, CA
Renfro Design Group
Richard Renfro, Sarah Randall, Silvia Mazzarri, and Fabio Tuchiya
ARCHITECTS
Selldorf Architects
Annabelle Selldorf, Sara Lopergolo, Ryoji Karube, and Wanda Willmore
Photo: studio MAHA
Originally an oceanfront residence completed a century ago, this West Coast museum sits atop a steep bluff overlooking the ocean. To find inspiration, the design team looked no farther than the breathtaking views and abundant sunshine.
The project scope added 46,000 sqft of new gallery and event spaces and renovated 28,000 sqft of existing galleries. Unifying old and new, the design team created a cohesive lit environment that harmoniously blends controlled natural daylight with state-of-the-art electric light for a holistic, energy-efficient art lighting solution.
A new glass entrance and playful bookstore welcome visitors. Inside the soaring gallery spaces, daylight apertures were expertly sculpted to harness sunlight in a controlled manner respectful of the art and curatorial requirements. Baffles diffuse direct sunlight for a full-spectrum light source that changes subtly without distracting hot spots.
At the central gallery, translucent ceiling panels backlit by color-tunable sources help balance the room, while the integrated track system highlights artwork. As the building opens at the back, shaded windows frame phenomenal ocean views towards the northwest. Simulations for various sky conditions informed both the daylighting design and supplemental electric lighting; producing a serene museum environment that retains a physical sense of surrounding sea and sky.
CITATION for Community Lighting Initiative: Signal Station North
Baltimore, MD
Flux Studio Ltd
Glenn Shrum, Laura Dillon, and Paloma Sherman
ARCHITECTS
PI.KL Studio
Kuo-Pao Lian and Brian Baksa
Photo: Karl Connolly
To address current and historical inequities in urban lighting, we need to move beyond layouts and fixture selections toward more holistic and dynamic solutions. This public space lighting initiative questions those typical lighting design processes and outcomes, exploring how the lighting in an urban district could better support its residents.
The interdisciplinary team organized multiple social events and information-gathering sessions to improve our understanding of what the community valued in urban lighting. Informed by research, Flux Studio assembled resources, including a Lighting Plan that analyzed existing conditions, focusing on the pedestrian experience. The plan also outlined an open framework with a range of lighting interventions. This gave the community agency to identify solutions that maintain cohesion across the district.
A Lighting Guidebook provided accessible educational material with basic technical knowledge about light. And the Community Lighting Guide contained infographics on how to report outages and navigate the bureaucracy that governs the city’s lighting infrastructure.
This open-source information is intended to empower members of the Station North community to advocate for their interests on lighting-related issues from a more informed perspective. These resources can also assist those who understand what good lighting can offer, in efforts to share that understanding and power.
CITATION for Environmental Awareness Through Light
The Last Ocean
Brooklyn, NY
Jen Lewin Studio
Jen Lewin and Mikael Flores-Amper
Photo: Nadir Ali
Jen Lewin's interactive art installation, The Last Ocean, sheds light on the crisis of plastic pollution in our oceans, the warming planet, dwindling natural resources, and the need for systemic change.
Built by hand in the artist’s Brooklyn studio, the installation features expansive interactive platforms illuminated by community engagement and made from reclaimed ocean plastic. The geometric tessellations form the glacial body of Antarctica, creating a luminescent ice field full of wonder and awe.
Iterations of The Last Ocean installation have transformed public spaces from Sydney to Detroit. Three hundred interactive platforms, at 8000 sqft, comprise hundreds of thousands of LEDs controlled by the artist’s proprietary mesh network technology. As the installation takes shape, it offers a dynamic and evolving experience for those who engage with it.
During the day, the platforms display the transformation of the reclaimed ocean plastic with swirls of blue and white particulates. At night, the installation comes alive with vibrant oscillations that react to the movement of the participants as they splash and dance in the waves of light. The Last Ocean offers a powerful display of the beauty and magnificence of our oceans and reminds us of the need to actively protect them.
The Silver Vault Gallery, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Hartford, CT
Anita Jorgensen Lighting Design
Anita Jorgensen, Joe Ballweg, and Katherine Lindsay
ARCHITECTS
Steven W. Spandle Architect LLC
Steven W. Spandle
Photo: Pieter Estersohn / Art Department
The hands-on design process for this sparkling gallery began with an initial testing and mockup phase. Starting above the display cases, concealed linear LED luminaires brush softly across the vaulted ceiling. The carefully balanced, reflected light provides gentle ambient illumination for visitors.
Continuous linear luminaires concealed within the display cases highlight the silver objects with velvety lines of light at 3000K and 97+ CRI. Special optical lenses produce gentle ribbons of light along the contours of the silver objects. Shadows in the hollow forms fill with cool light reflected off the royal blue interior finish of the casework. This subtle shift from clean, neutral white highlights to cool fill light enhances the perception of form for each unique object.
Just a touch of light brings the silver objects to life, while also providing sufficient horizontal illumination for the interactive, pull-out drawer displays. Each case module, as well as each indirect ceiling component, is individually controlled. This allows for subtle fine-tuning of the lighting levels to create a stunning, yet comfortable, unified whole.
The success of this seemingly effortless installation is largely due to the collaborative nature of the project’s design process: from concept to mock-up to final balancing.
Willis Tower Repositioning
Chicago, IL
Kugler Ning Lighting
Ashley Moench, Burr Rutledge, Jerry Kugler, Meryl Sell, Eric Benne, and Jackson Ning II
ARCHITECTS
Gensler
Photo: Tom Harris
Designed in the 1970s and once world-famous as the Sears Tower, the Willis Tower entrances were imposing and unwelcoming for today’s active urban streetscapes. The entire base of the skyscraper was reimagined to emphasize visibility, transparency, and comfort.
Uplighting a 75 ft–wide terracotta portal frames the new “jewel-box” entrance at Wacker Avenue. In-grade uplighting of the striated terra cotta walls extends into the skylit lobby. Uplighting the white ceiling of the crossing bridge helps ease contrast with the bright outdoor views, and brightens the space on cloudy and rainy days.
Dramatically backlit stair risers ascend through the tower’s exposed structure. Mirror-like reflections from the glass guardrails magnify the visual impact.
The tower’s columns and beams are silhouetted by grazing the original lobby’s travertine core wall, which also creates a dramatic backdrop for a new hanging sculpture. Working closely with local artist Jacob Hashimoto, spotlights are aimed to enhance the depth and texture of thousands of paper-and-resin discs.
The layered lighting design improves visual connections from the streetscape and welcomes tenants and visitors to gather and socialize. All while celebrating the tower’s original glass and metal aesthetic, an iconic feature of Chicago’s industrial heritage.
