Hosted again at Chelsea Piers on Manhattan's West Side, the Lumen Awards dinner on June 15 attracted a record 600-person crowd from New York's Design community (and beyond). Sponsored by the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York, the annual awards event-37 years and counting-recognizes superior lighting design. This year, eleven projects were recognized.
The predominantly volunteer organization puts on an impressive show. Sixty tables of ten with a comfortable view of four screens watched, as co-chairs Carrie Knowlton and Shoshanna Segal, both of Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design, delivered the awards, and master of ceremonies Gary Dulanski navigated the evening's events. A different program than previous years, the awards were presented during dinner, with an 'After Glow' party following, which turned an already fun event into one of the lighting industry's highlights.
Two LUMEN AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE were given this year, both to Focus Lighting: the Semiramis Hotel in Athens, Greece, (interiors by Karim Rashid); and Teatro, a bar at the MGM Grand in Los Vegas (interiors by Adam Tihany).
CITATION AWARDS were given to the Icepool in Lapland, Finland, designed by Tillett Lighting Design with architect Lebbeus Woods and artist Kiki Smith; the Staten Island September 11 Memorial, with lighting by Fisher Marantz Stone, architecture by Masayuki Sono and artist Lapshan Fong; the Truelightpod, in Los Angeles, by Johnson Schwinghammer and Glide Design Solutions; and the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, by Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design with architecture firm Polshek Partnership.
AWARDS OF MERIT were given to the FAO Schwartz Flagship Store in Manhattan, also by Focus Lighting; Kirtpatrick and Lockhart law offices in Manhattan, by Susan Brady Lighting Design with architect Lehman-Smith + McLeish; and Pier 1 Imports Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, also by Cline Bettridge Bernstein, with Paine Architects.
An Osram Sylvania ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AWARD was presented to the Bank of America trading floor in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Cosentini Lighting Design and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Judges for this year's competition were: Ted Mather Lighting Design; Clara Powell of Philips; Andres Petruscak of R-Moon Associate Architects; Richard Shaver of Edison Price Lighting; and Ann Schiffers Lighting Design.
