There’s the “mayor”—the duly elected official responsible for municipal services. And then there’s the mayor. He’s the person everyone recognizes at the block party…and the one who probably organized it. She’s the one glad-handing parents at the school play and getting patted on the back in turn. Consider the “Unofficial Mayor of Green Bay” who…

Tranquil. Urban. London. Three words seemingly in conflict. In truth, they blend seamlessly at Exchange Square, a new city park set above the tracks of the Liverpool Street Station. In crafting the after-dark experience, lighting design studio Speirs Major relied on a blend of light and darkness that reveals the multi-level topography and curved landscape…

"Everybody should be able to go outside and spend time together,” says Joshua Spitzig, lighting designer with Atelier Ten. “On any given night at Gene Leahy Mall you see people of all ages—families, groups of friends, crowds of kids, couples on dates—just enjoying the world.” The 14.8-acre Gene Leahy Mall (GLM) in Nebraska was reimagined…

Have you ever been in a crowded room and felt alone? Have you ever tried to speak, only to have the naysayers minimize the value of what you’re saying? If you’ve had the experience or had your engineering critique questioned, you just may know what it’s like to be a compliance or test engineer. The…

Commercial lighting specifiers have a tough job. The task of delivering light that satisfies users has become ever more demanding, particularly as energy codes increasingly require controls to maximize energy savings. In substantial ways, this hard work is to the benefit of buildings and their owners and users. By ensuring light is used only where,…

Quiet Time • Controls Awards • New Prez A sculpture dedicated to quiet reflection makes a powerful statement on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, NJ. Standing approximately 80-ft tall, 41-ft long and 28-ft wide, “Water’s Soul” is visible at night from both the New York and New Jersey sides of the river. Developers…

To the Brink: Is the march to AI leading us down a dangerous path? AI is fascinating. Never has a technology emerged this frantically with significant new information and opinions being revealed daily. Recently I attended MIT’s signature AI conference, EmTech Digital. This triggered many thoughts about this technology and further deepened my interest. I…

HALLGRÍMSKIRKJA INTERIOR LIGHTING Reykjavik, Iceland Designers: Örn Erlendsson, Guðjón L. Sigurðsson, Katerina Blahutova — Liska ehf. Owner: Hallgrímskirkja Photos: Örn Erlendsson The colorful exterior of well-known landmark Hallgrímskirkja Church was not the only part of the building to get a recent revival. The inside of the cultural hub was updated in just one month’s time…

The combination of LED sources, circadian tuning and smart lighting systems have opened new avenues for lighting professionals. But without the data at your fingertips, the choices can be overwhelming. Lighting color temperature and brightness are two crucial factors that influence our circadian rhythms and, in turn, influence productivity, mood and health. We can take…

Since the inception of the IES Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Respect (DEIR) Committee, it has morphed from a committee whose very formation was questioned to a recognized entity within and outside of the Society. The members of the committee have worked hard to ensure that its charter has been met and that we thoroughly research…

Each year—in addition to its celebration of world class architecture, technical achievement and aesthetic brilliance—the IES Illumination Awards program makes the case for professional lighting design… emphasis on professional. To put it another way, the IA demonstrates skilled craftspeople showing what their years of training can produce. This idea of professionalism came to mind as…

On the 20th anniversary of this retrospective first published in LD+A August 2003, we celebrate the life and times of Howard Brandston The headline above might look familiar. Long-time readers of LD+A will recognize it from the “Letters to the Editor” section in the 1970s. Those newer to the magazine and the Society will understand…

Designed by architect Tonkin Liu, the Tower of Light is a 40-meter tall tower enclosing a new low-carbon energy center in Manchester. Minimal energy is used to light the tower. During the day, polished reflectors inside the tower shift in the wind, reflecting sunlight into the tower’s chambers and filling the structure with moving light.…

Immersive experiences create a sense of place at Vancouver International Airport Land, sea and sky aren’t necessarily unusual themes for air travel. Think about it—travelers begin on the ground and continue into the sky, perhaps journeying over open waters, before arriving at their final destination. However, land, sea and sky are unusual themes inside airports,…

To complement the new architecture and nearby forestry, designers implemented delicate, matching columns and bollards from Luminis. Though the Watersound Origins community in Inlet Beach, FL, has been evolving for several years, the new Watersound Town Center  project along the pine-treed Emerald Coast, introduced 20,000 sq ft of leasable space and an 8,000-sq ft covered…