March 6, 2024
Light + Building 2024: Goals, Glimpses & Greenwashing
Attendees share insights into trends, goals and observations. Plus, a 90-second rant on greenwashing.
At Light + Building 2024 in Frankfurt, the event showcased a significant recovery in attendance, with estimates ranging from 150,000 to over 200,000 visitors, reflecting a strong resurgence post-pandemic. Day three emerged as notably the busiest, drawing a diverse international crowd keen on exploring the latest in lighting design and technology.
The video above includes attendee feedback from numerous North American lighting people including:
- Andrea Hartranft, Hartranft Lighting Design, LLC
- Elizabeth Williams, Illuminart, A Division of Peter Basso Associates
- Rachael Stoner, EXP
- Peter Juel, Light Build Design
- Jesse Lilly, LMPG
- Fabio Zaniboni, BubblyNet
- Arjan Stevens, Meteor Lighting
- Mert Erdogan, Heper USA
Attendees shared their objectives and insights, emphasizing the importance of global collaboration in lighting design to enhance creativity and meet client needs. Key trends noted include a shift towards modularity, allowing for easy customization of lighting fixtures, and a preference for curved and rounded designs over traditional linear styles. Portable and digitally addressable track lighting also gained attention for their innovation and flexibility.
Finally, Al Uszynski shares constructive feedback on how some booth personnel communicate the sustainability narrative.
It's crucial to clarify that this feedback is not a critique of sustainable practices, which we fully support and encourage. However, we advise against exhibitors proactively dedicating a third of a visitor's time to discussing all the booth features that contribute to its sustainable design and construction. A brief mention, yes. Products and company practices that embody sustainability – yes and yes. Occupying attendees' time with overly verbose, unsolicited messaging about your booth, no thank you.
The event served as an energy-filled platform for networking, inspiration, and understanding market dynamics, highlighting the global nature of the lighting industry and the continuous evolution of technology and design preferences.
