SPARC Lighting Event Q&A with keynote speaker Mark Major
Why are you looking forward to coming to Sydney for the SPARC event?
I am looking forward to coming to Sydney for a number of reasons. Firstly SPARC affords the opportunity to engage with the latest creative and technological trends in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. As this is now a very active market for international lighting designers such as ourselves it is critical that we are there to help improve our understanding of the market. Secondly it is always good to meet up with like-minded professionals, manufacturers, commissioning clients and others that will undoubtedly be at the event. Last, and by no means least, it is always a pleasure to visit Sydney. It’s a great city to visit and one where we are now engaged in increasing amounts of work – and in particular the exciting Barangaroo development with Lend Lease and its architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
What will you be discussing at SPARC?
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I will be discussing the approach to our work on every scale from light master planning, which now forms a considerable part of our work, through to both large and small-scale architectural projects we have recently carried out. These include award winning projects such as the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi to the more modest Stirling Prize winning ‘Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre’. Alongside that I hope to have time to expand on the new and exciting directions our practice has been taking in the world of branding and product development where we have been working for the likes of Armani, Sony and the BBC.
What are you hoping to find/looking forward to finding on the lighting scene in Sydney?
We are aware that there is a lot of debate about lighting in Sydney at the moment from the use (or abuse) of coloured light to how to illuminate heritage sites and concerns about energy use and light pollution. It may also be the time to start discussing ‘standards’ and how the quality of lighting might be improved – not just the quantity.
Is there anything you think can be learned by Australian/Australasian lighting industry achievements?
When I speak to Australian lighting designers there is sometimes the perception that they are behind trends in Europe, the US and Japan. I am not so sure that is true. Australia has an enviable record for environmentally sensitive lighting design and I believe that the rest of the world has a lot to learn from what you have been doing and in particular with respect to green star-rated commercial buildings. I think there is also room for improved debate about lighting the public realm though I have again noted that, reading what is going on and speaking to the Australian designers, there is considerable and growing interest in that area. You have some really interesting young innovators coming through who are working with landscape, light, way-finding and informatics in a very integrated way.
What is one piece of advice you have for designing in public spaces? While hard to generalise perhaps the is a new technique/technology that you’ve started to use more with your clients that offers and creates a new dimension to a space that isn’t widely considered?
My general maxim (to borrow from a well known 20th century architect, Mies Van Der Rohe) is that when it comes to light, less is definitely more. We are in serious danger of over-lighting our world and the best way and quickest way to save energy is to use less light. Let’s face it, over 150 years ago our streets and public spaces were extremely dark but life went on. Of course society has changed since then and our ability to extend the day has completely changed the way we work, rest and play with our major cities very much becoming 24/7. But it does not necessarily follow that to achieve this we have to throw a lot of energy at the problem of using our streets. People need to be safe and secure, buildings celebrated and landscapes enjoyed, but new technologies are providing exciting and innovative ways of approaching the problem of illuminating public space.
What is one piece of advice you have for designing in residential setting?
To be honest it is the one area where we don’t do that much work. Well, only for very special clients – we recently did a scheme for a very well known international rock star and his wife which was fun – but challenging. We are also just completing a substantive private archive and library for a wealthy individual in the UK. The advice I would give pretty much revolves around the need to be patient – especially where designing for a couple. In our experience it is always wrong to assume that everyone has the same cultural view of light – far from it. Some of us like it dim and moody – others bright and efficient. Producing that in a single, shared setting is a real challenge though again new technologies including home automation are helping a great deal. We also believe that like all lighting schemes residential lighting needs very careful crafting. That takes a great deal of time which in turn costs the kind of money that even some of the wealthiest individuals are reluctant to invest.
What is one piece of advice for a large corporate office setting?
My main advice with respect to lighting the workplace is to remember that you are designing for real people. It is quite easy to see a successful corporate lighting solution as one that ticks all the relevant boxes with respect to technical performance and energy saving alone. Well-being in the workplace is a big issue and certainly our clients find, where proper investment is made, it reaps real benefits in terms of a happier workforce.
How do you reflect environmental sustainable ethos in your own work?
We argue that a sustainable environment has to balance environmental considerations such as energy use, impacts on biodiversity and light pollution with other social and economic factors. Many ‘low energy’ lighting schemes are impoverished. There is no point saving energy only to produce a place where no one rightly wants to spend any time. As usual the issue is not as black and white as meeting codes or guidance. A suitable development is one that takes a holistic approach to serving a wide range of needs successfully.
Event details:
Event: SPARC International Lighting Event
When: Monday June 6 – Wednesday 8 June 2011
Where: Doltone House, Jones Bay and Darling Island Wharves, Darling Harbour
Who: Open to architects, lighting designers, industrial designers, engineers, interior designers, landscape designers, building and project managers.
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