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ike Pinocchio, lighting education is not yet fully formed, but it is evolving. Today it is driven by an ever-maturing lighting industry in need of an infusion of qualified young professionals, and a plethora of promising lighting research and technologies that are reshaping the industry. Today’s lighting students must absorb a considerable body of knowledge in order to become relevant and contributing lighting professionals. Three recent events offer hope for surmounting these challenges and transforming lighting education into a living, breathing, established field of study that is nurtured by our industry.
In my last article I mentioned two of these events: the IES Teachers of Lighting Workshop (TOLW) held at the Litecontrol facilities in Plymouth, MA, and the Lighting Educators Summit in Milan, Italy, hosted by the Professional Lighting Designers Association (PLDA). I was also inspired by the industry effort to reach out to lighting students at LIGHTFAIR in Philadelphia through the Student Outreach Program and Student Design Competition. In total, these events represent a global effort by the industry to aggressively address the challenges that confront lighting education and acknowledge its critical role in the evolution of the lighting profession.
MEETING IN MILAN
 This spring’s PLDA Lighting Educator and Researcher Summit in Milan was an energizing reset for academic-based lighting education. Lighting educators and researchers from all over the world met to discuss the state of lighting education and to help develop tools to advance academic lighting education worldwide. More than 50 key educator delegates were in attendance, representing 17 countries and associations including IES, IALD, PLDA, APIL, CIBSE, LET/UK and others. This effort was led by Jean Sundin, a principal at Office for Visual Interaction, Inc. (OVI), and director of education for PLDA.
The goals for this two-day conference were ambitious—to draft bachelor’s and master’s level lighting design syllabi through working groups and to discuss the current state of the lighting research landscape. The syllabi would be based on the Architectural Lighting Fundamentals (ALF) as mentioned in my previous article (“Taming the Beast,” March 2011).
There were some spirited discussions, yet at the conclusion of the conference there was a consensus around a framework for developing lighting syllabi that addressed core competences at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, a developed presentation was made for a universal, and independent, lighting research database that would unite lighting design and lighting research communities. But more importantly, a dialogue between lighting educators was started that will be strengthened through workgroups and future conferences.
One extraordinarily useful tool that was introduced at this summit was the Lighting Education Wiki (https://pldaeducation.wikispaces.com/). Like any Wiki, this site will serve as an information cooperative that is editable, expandable and serves as a valuable resource for lighting educators worldwide. Finally, there’s an Internet-based tool that allows the lighting education community to share its knowledge and resources. I guess next we will have an app for that.
ON TO MASSACHUSETTS
This year’s IES Teachers of Lighting Workshop was a big success. It had 21 participants who were taught by nine lighting educators and industry professionals (mentioned in my last article) and included two guest instructors, Keith Yancey of Lam Partners and myself. The camaraderie and commitment demonstrated by these participants was evident in the superb final projects they produced.
This year’s participants represented an assortment of college design programs from across the U.S. and around the world. These attendees are not the tenured research professors nestled in established lighting programs, but are usually practitioner/part-time instructors who teach a class or two within an indifferent department. They are the most passionate advocates for lighting at many of these institutions and in their communities. Their commitment to a week-long training is a testament to their desire to improve their lighting knowledge. I attended just one day of the week-long workshop, yet I was impressed by the focus and drive that these participants, along with their instructors, brought to this workshop.
The host for this year’s TOLW was Litecontrol, who provided a well-equipped learning facility, outstanding meals and the gracious time and knowledge of Bob Davis, a former academic and now director of product innovation & marketing at Litecontrol. The next IES Teachers of Lighting Workshop will take place in two years, so if you are a teacher who wants to strengthen your knowledge of lighting fundamentals while working with like-minded lighting educators please contact the new committee chair Rebecca Hadley (rhadley@cooperlighting.com).
DOWN TO PHILADELPHIA
The last event that gave me hope that lighting education is being supported by our industry was at this year’s LIGHTFAIR in Philadelphia. Over the last several years LIGHTFAIR has committed to hosting lighting education and student events. Elly McCloud, LIGHTFAIR executive director, marketing conference & attendee relations, states that LFI “understands the importance of further educating these students and offering them access to the best in lighting, design and education. This is why we have established the LFI Student Outreach program—to groom and partner with tomorrow’s lighting future.”
This year, LIGHTFAIR sponsored the Student Outreach Program and a lighting fixture design competition. By partnering with the Philadelphia Sections of the IES and the IALD, LFI has created a competition that was open to all undergraduate and graduate students majoring in lighting and illumination design, architecture, engineering and interior design. In addition to the design competition, the LFI Student Outreach Program offered a variety of other educational and volunteer opportunities on the trade show floor and at the conference.
The story of Pinocchio is about his journey to grow from a pine marionette crafted by Geppetto into a living, breathing boy who meets many challenges and hardships along the way, but overcomes them with the help of friends. Lighting has grown up as an outcome of the electrification of our nation into a multi-billion dollar industry. Lighting design started as a modernist craft to enhance architecture, and has grown into a multifaceted essential building system. But it is at the nexus of art and science, engineering and craft that lighting education can grow our industry into an established profession. The Lighting Educator Summit, the Teachers of Lighting Workshop and the LIGHTFAIR Student Outreach program are heartening signs that this industry is growing up, and willing to take decisive steps to cultivate the next generation of lighting professionals.
“Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.”
— Pinocchio (Walt Disney Studios, 1940)
Edward Bartholomew, IALD, LC, LEED AP, is a lighting designer and research assistant professor, Department of Architecture, College of Built Environments, University of Washington.
September 2011 |
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