(Global) – 2020 [d]arc awards prove massive success with 1400 attendees registered to watch the online winners’ ceremony.

On the evening of Thursday 29 April 2021, the design community once again came out in force to support the only peer-to-peer lighting design awards in the world and find out which studios had won in this year’s prestigious [d]arc awards.

Sponsored by Applelec; Kingfisher Lighting; LEDFlex, Lumascape; Seoul Semiconductor; TLS; and Tryka, a massive 14,000 votes were received in total while 297 project entries and 108 product entries were submitted. The 2020 entries came from all over the world, with 40 countries represented this year.

Awarded the coveted [d]arc awards ‘Best of the Best’ for 2020, was Acropolis of Athens and Monuments by Eleftheria Deko & Associates Lighting Design, which won the Structures – High Budget category. This award is given to the project that received the most amount of votes out of all the project category winners.

The Acropolis of Athens is one of the most important monuments of world culture. A living symbol that has stood the test of time, and one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world.

Eleftheria Deko and Associates observed the characteristics of this unique place, its history, the forms and materials, the visibility from different places of the city and the significance of this important landmark. The team’s philosophy was applied to the lighting of the Sacred Rock, the fortification walls, and the 17 monuments; including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion, the Ancient Theatre of Dionysus, the Stoa of Eumenes, the Shrine of Dionysus, and Aphrodite’s Cave – some of them illuminated for the first time.

The design approach was to distinguish for the first time the sacred rock from the walls and the monuments through lighting, by the use of different colour temperature and intensity differentiations. Moreover, the team wanted to accentuate the three-dimensionality of the sculptures and columns to highlight all the details of the monuments and create depth of field to make the different volumes distinct from far away. Each bears the symbolism of its time and purpose and that inspired the designers to create those lighting layers.

Lighting suppliers specified for this stunning project included: Erco, Linea Light Group, and Griven.

Acropolis Lights – the  Audiovisual Launch Event by Eleftheria Deko & Associates Lighting Design also won this year’s [d]arc awards Event category, making it a triple win for Eleftheria Deko & Associates.

Speaking with [d]arc media Managing Director Paul James, during the online awards ceremony, Lighting Designer Eleftheria Deko said of the win: “Oh wow! Thank you so much, I have to thank the voters and dedicate this award to my country and the Ancient Greeks. I need to thank my team, they are such great people and of course thank you to the Greek Ministry of Culture that trusted us and made it all possible. This is very moving, thank you!”

While the global pandemic saw the 2020 [d]arc awards move to an online stage for the first time, this didn’t stop the team making it a showstopper event. In the run up to the awards ceremony, registered attendees were given the added bonus of engaging once more with four days’ worth of online content from the 2020 [d]arc room: live stream on the Swapcard platform that took place in September.

[d]arc media Managing Director, Paul James couldn’t be happier with how this year’s event has gone, saying: “While it was very sad that we couldn’t have a [d]arc awards party, we were blown away by the response to the online awards. It was amazing to see so many people tuning in from the international design community and to see people connecting on the platform from all over the world. Fingers crossed we can all get together to celebrate the winners and see the partner installations at the [d]arc night party in September.”

For the first time in its five-year history, the 2020 [d]arc awards ceremony had to move away from [d]arc night, which has become the ‘must-attend’ party for the design community. A night full of entertainment, complementary food and drink, and light-art installations, as well as the awards presentation itself, [d]arc media has big plans for its return later in the year.

Covid restrictions permitting, [d]arc night will take place on 23 September 2021 at Magazine in London, as part of the Design London event – an opportunity to celebrate the amazing achievements of the lighting design community, complete with light installations and more. The installations will be displayed from 22-25 September 2021.

[d]arc awards 2020 winners

[d]arc awards ‘Best of the Best’: Acropolis of Athens and Monuments, Greece by Eleftheria Deko & Associates Lighting Design

Places – High Budget: Norwich Cathedral, UK by Speirs Major

Places – Low Budget: The Copenhagen Panorama, Denmark by fortheloveoflight

Spaces – High: Magical Shores at Siloso, Singapore by Lighting Planners Associates

Spaces – Low: Santa Marina Hotel Welcoming Tunnel, Greece by ASlight

Structures – High: Acropolis of Athens and Monuments, Greece by Eleftheria Deko & Associates Lighting Design

Structures – Low: The Iron Bridge, UK by LPA Lighting

Art – High: Grow, Netherlands by Studio Roosegaarde

Art – Low: Search of the Glow, Taiwan by Ling-Li, Serendipity Studio

Art – Bespoke: Carousel of Light, Italy by Preciosa Lighting

Event: Acropolis Lights – Audiovisual Launch Event by Eleftheria Deko & Associates Lighting Design

Kit – Architectural Interior: Nano Tini by DGA

Kit – Architectural Exterior: minimumMAXIMUM by LAM32 Experience designed by Francesco Lannone and Serena Tellini

Kit – Decorative: Coordinates by Flos designed by Michael Anastassiades

Kit – Technology: DALI Gateway by Casambi

www.darcawards.com