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In 1994, William Rees Morrish was hailed by The New York Times’ architecture critic Herbert Muschamp as “the most valuable thinker in urbanism today.” Morrish, a nationally recognized urban designer, architect and author, was recently appointed dean of the School of Constructed Environments and associate dean for Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.
Morrish has specialized in uniting artists and public works engineers in the transformation of city utilities into a citywide cultural setting and a new public realm. He refers to his urban design approach to infrastructure as building “a cultural landscape.”
 Morrish’s work includes the Phoenix Arts Public Art and Design Master Plan, operating since 1986 and producing many public spaces. The parks, lighted trails and other civic realm additions incorporate public lighting for safety and amenity. For example, in 1988, Phoenix’s Public Works Department used public artists and designers to turn its new solid waste transfer center, or garbage dump, into an educational center on recycling and the study of urban desert environments. The building complex is illuminated and designed with materials and forms that transform the “dump” into a cultural landmark and create an aesthetic addition to the surrounding desert terrain. It attracts visitors and tourists and adds value to the neighborhood.
A former resident of New Orleans, Morrish is also devoted to the issue of affordable housing, and
has collaborated with local and national design firms and not-for-profit agencies on the effort to rebuild
the city after Hurricane Katrina.
Morrish describes himself as an “urban designer.” “I like to say I’m still an architect but I like to work upriver from the problem. I’m interested in how the process starts, how cities get developed and how we think about cities and their infrastructure. Infrastructure is one of my big topics. That and affordable housing. I’m concerned with how people make decisions when creating buildings and what happens next. As a result I’ve been called an ‘urban designer.’ I’m an architect upriver.”
In his new position as dean of the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons, Morrish hopes to act locally—by upgrading the school’s lab facilities—and globally—by encouraging students to think in terms of sustainable solutions for urban areas worldwide.
LD+A asked Morrish about his vision for the lighting program and its role within the school’s larger construction education program.
LD+A: Your official title is dean of the School of Constructed Environments. What in your background makes you a good fit for this position?
Morrish: Throughout my career, I have been interested in how the professional disciplines of de- Lighting Research & Education November 2009 sign, politics, social sciences and ecology overlap and intersect in their quest to make equitable and sustainable cities.
For example, the history of American urban lighting was tied heavily to the rise of commercial shopping and the automobile through street lighting. Today, in the American west, high electrical rates in cities subsidize the cost of cheap irrigation water to agribusiness. The future of alternative solar or wind turbine urban lighting and electrification will be controlled by agribusiness seeking to keep their water rates low. Meanwhile the rising interest in local food production and bio-fuel production might offset agribusiness change in subsidies towards new markets and products.
The school’s program, put together about two years ago, comprises programs in architecture, lighting, interiors and product development. To me, it represents the built environment where we live and work every day. What exists inside the box and how does it add up to become a city? We also cover the products that relate to lighting. With the energy issue now, urban safety and urban environments, lighting has become very, very critical, including the issue of affordability for families. I work a lot on affordable housing. For instance, in the last seven years designers and builders have recognized that a ceiling higher than the standard 8-ft dimensions, offers more benefits, such as the greater use of natural daylighting, natural ventilation flows and reduced heating loads for mechanical systems. Making 10-ft-high ceilings in a room changes all of the lighting by creating more depth, impacting energy savings and eliminating the need for ceiling fixtures.
It’s kind of nice to be in the disciplines now, with sustainability and a new understanding—or should I say appreciation—of technology, and the ability to measure with computer programs. Traditionally the lighting designer has been seen as a sub-consultant, an expert who is brought in after a building or environment concept has been developed by the lead architect or urban designer. Today the lighting issue is a broader topic involving saving energy, the use of local climate and seasonal environments, and social living and work patterns.
LD+A: What’s new with the Lighting Design program? How will it change?
Morrish: Under the leadership of assistant professor Derek Porter, the existing program is rooted upon a solid foundation with key connections to the graduate architecture program as well as the lighting professional locally and globally.
I am interested in adding new sustainable lighting strategies and technology to the program, as well as ideas that can serve the millions of inhabitants locked in the dark at night in the growing mega-urban slums of the world.
I was recently alerted that David Leven, the director of the graduate architecture program, and Derek Porter, the director of the MFA program in lighting design, are collaborating on a design studio where the lighting design and the building will be thought of as one illuminant, from inside to outside, which is the way you should be thinking about buildings. In many regards, this idea represents the whole ethic of the two programs. When you start thinking that buildings are basically a luminaire, then when you start lighting the city, you see the buildings as the luminaires.
That’s a core concept for both disciplines, and that’s why we have an increased interest in joint degrees.
LD+A: Are there specific things that you’re looking to change in the curriculum as far as lighting is concerned?
Morrish: I’m here to reinforce the direction the program is going in: the notion of buildings as luminaires, especially in the area of affordability for people of lower income. We are beginning to work with the international community to start building linkages around the world. It’s very important for us to reach out to projects outside New York and to reach into communities around the country and around the world.
The other goal is to help build up the lighting lab. Since this is one of the few lighting labs in the country, we really want to focus on the construction environment. The design industries are so close right now—teaching, creating new products and new ideas with products coming out very fast—that the lab can be a place where industry comes and explores ideas and concepts with students and faculty.
LD+A: What is your message to IES members who may be considering a Masters of Fine Arts in Lighting Design?
Morrish: I think that they will find that the issue of lighting is a growing concern to many in the community, both public and private. It ranges from questions of product design, energy management, community safety and habitat impacts. For lighting designers, there are many more partners in the marketplace than before. Partners might include energy companies, working to reduce energy demands by domestic users, or health workers creating living spaces to keep up with the needs of the fastest growing population, the 25 percent of the nation’s Baby Boomers who are 65 and over. They will be living longer and will require a greater range of assistance in order to remain healthy and active citizens. And there are urban residents concerned with the negative effects of urban lighting upon the natural environment.
LD+A: What is the ideal time in one’s career for pursuing the MFA? Should a candidate have some work experience first?
Morrish: I believe that a graduate candidate needs to have had some professional work experience. It could be community work as an undergraduate or taking a year out between undergraduate and graduate education. In either case, it is important to experience the give-and-take of working on the ground and with multiple interests.
LD+A: Talk about the cultural implications of lighting.
Morrish: There is a design thesis within the lighting program where students are doing both individual work in design and research to expand the field. Engineering issues are critical, but so many of these things are also cultural and social, involving how people see light, how people use light, how people receive light and the impact of colors. So what’s nice is that our program enriches what the IES preaches. It adds that dimension to what engineering is doing, so we can serve a wider population.
For instance, I was in Nairobi and the main street lighting there was based on fluorescent backlit signs, where the plastic had been taken off the Coca-Cola sign. There was no point in taking the fluorescent lamp, because they had no electricity. What was left was the fluorescent part of the sign, so the city just lapped them up and turned them into their street lighting. The Coca-Cola sign was used to build a house and the city got their road lighting. The question this experience raises is, what lengths will the urban slum populations of cities such as Nairobi go to provide themselves with basic lighting and safety? I know it’s a huge topic but that’s also part of Parsons and The New School, worrying about the lighting and the built environment for the other half of the world. It’s a big agenda. One day it will become stronger and that’s one of the mandates of Parsons.
November 09
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