Developments in lighting design discussed at the Middle East Lighting Design Summit

MONDAY APRIL 29, 2019

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The eighth edition of the Middle East Lighting Design Summit, held with the support of Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council as the Official Supporting Partner and Etihad ESCO as the Official Government Partner and organized by Expotrade Global kick started today.

Luke Lowings, Owner, Carpenter | Lowings Architecture & Design opened the summit with a presentation on the topic Lighting as a Design, an Art and an Emotion. His session was followed by a presentation on Missed Opportunities within the Public Realm by Martin Valentine, Global Design Director, LIGMAN, platinum sponsor of the conference.

While explaining about his choice of topic, Martin Valentine opined, “Upon travelling around many countries I have seen a similar pattern in the way everywhere has strict recognized street lighting standards, but when considering the rest of public realm there is often very little in place. On both the standard side and the design process, if feels like lighting is treated more as a commodity on a spread-sheet Bill of Quantities, rather than something that should be looked at to maximize the human qualitative or sustainability credentials. This presentation highlights the missed opportunities for public lighting and how clients and design teams can readdress the current practices to the benefit of all concerned.”

Regina Santos, Associate, Head - Lighting Design, Godwin Austen Johnson presented on why color temperatures stands out as an important factor for lighting designers.

The panel discussion on human centric lighting saw six panelists representing different areas of expertise come together to discuss its impact and the acceptance of this concept amongst organizations. Fernando Monje, Sales Director - South East Asia, Nordeon Group moderated the panel, and he was joined by Ahmed Saliem, Projects Director, Nulty+, Ira Naeem, Clinical Psychologist, Pulse Therapy and Learning Center, Jeferson Beltrami, Senior Lighting Designer, Studio Lite FZE, Luke Lowings, Praveen Thampi, Creative Director, The Ministry Of Light and Uday Kumar Alaham, General Manager – Middle East, Hosmac.

Andrés Sánchez Alonso, Senior Associate, Lichtvision Design GmbH – Germany and Zeki Kadirbeyoglu, Principal, ZKLD Light Design Studio presented on the topics light plays a crucial role in holistic wellbeing and contemporary role of lighting designers.

David Andrew Dunn, Lighting Expert, Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities, UAE moderated the panel discussion on the importance of efficient public lighting. Bill Johnson, Director, CD+M Lighting Design Group, Dr. Simon Miller, Product Conformity Specialist, Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, Gerald Strickland, Director, Middle East Lighting Association, Steven Velegrinis, Head of Masterplanning, AECOM and Wajih Smadi, Senior Lighting Designer, UMAYA Lighting Design, joined him on stage.

More than 200 senior stakeholders integral to the lighting design industry in the region attended the first day of the event. At the conference, over 20 leading lighting manufacturers such as, LIGMAN, WebNMS, 3S Lighting, Lumenova, and LUG Lighting amongst many others showcased their innovative lighting products and solutions to over 350 senior attendees from the region.

Day 2 will be opened by Alex Beim, Creative Director, Tangible Interaction Design – Canada. Through the day, the program agenda will feature 9 sessions, including three panel discussions.  The conference will end with the Delegate Choice Awards, wherein the delegates will nominated for the products and brands under the categories Most Innovative Product Award and the Best Design Award.

Source: Zawya