June 19, 2025
Lumen Gala Honors Best of NYC Lighting Design
800 lighting people "Reflect & Refract" in muggy celebration of award-winning projects
The 57th Lumen Gala, hosted by the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York City (IESNYC), departed from tradition in more ways than one. Held on a Wednesday night — timed one day earlier to avoid conflict with the Juneteenth holiday — and featuring a leaner slate of just nine award-winning projects.
Above: Buro Happold accepts the night's top honor, the Award of Excellence
Among the standouts was Buro Happold, which received two honors: the prestigious Award of Excellence for the Al-Mujadilah Center & Mosque for Women in Qatar, and a Citation Award for the HALO installation. The mosque, lit with careful restraint and architectural sensitivity, delivered a serene visual experience aligned with its spiritual intent. HALO, by contrast, was recognized for delivering high social value on a modest budget — a public-facing work with a community lens.
Reflecting, Refracting, and Designing Through Distance
This year’s theme — Reflect & Refract — shaped more than the lighting discourse. Many attendees arrived in mirrored fabrics, glinting accessories and garments that shifted with the room’s light. The motif extended naturally to the work itself: layered, introspective, shaped by unusual pressures.
Many of the honored projects had been initiated or completed during the pandemic. With remote collaboration, construction delays, and improvised mockups, these projects were born not just of design intent, but of constraint. That reality hovered beneath the night’s celebratory mood: the recognition of work forged under strain and finally brought into the light.
A Gala With Grit (and Glitter)
The gala once again took place at Pier Sixty, overlooking the Hudson. About 800 guests filled the reception and dining areas with no shortage of glow. Forecasts had threatened thunderstorms, but Mother Nature held back. Inside, the weather made its mark another way: a malfunctioning HVAC system turned the air warm and muggy, giving some attendees a less-than-perfect hair day.
Above: Al Uszynski, Inside Lighting, with Lumen Gala co-host Asher Schoenberg, runner-up in the evening’s two-person dance-off
Still, the mood held. Co-hosts Asher Schoenberg of SDA Lighting & Controls and Nate Bliss of SLS kept the evening brisk and buoyant. Midway through, the two faced off in a lighthearted dance battle, with Table 29 stepping in as unofficial judges. Bliss, by strong consensus, earned the win.
Passing the Torch, Holding the Light
In a closing tradition now made literal, outgoing IESNYC President Shoshanna Segal passed an actual LED torch — bright, efficient, a touch theatrical — to incoming President Zachary Pearson of Fisher Marantz Stone. Attendees estimate that it glowed at over 1500 lumens and 5000K to 6000K — a symbolic nod, yes, but also a reminder that even the lighting community’s rituals come wired for performance.
