arc Feb/Mar 2021 – Issue 120

Have your say…
Voting for [d]arc awards 2020 opens on 1st March…

Readers of our last issue may recall a fascinating article where I spoke with Colombian lighting designer Cristina Gil Venagas about her recent research project, The Nighttime Traveller, in which she looks at how lighting designers can improve the nighttime urban environment for women after dark. Following on from this incredibly interesting study, we’ve decided to use this issue to look closer at some recent examples of public space lighting in a special project focus.

Public spaces have become integral to the way that we meet up and interact with each other as life under lockdown continues, so creating the right lit environment is absolutely critical to ensure that these brief moments of interaction are more enjoyable. Throughout the focus, which begins on page 84, you’ll find some great recent projects from the likes of Speirs Major, Zenisk and Verkís.

Elsewhere in this issue, following the news that he has been named as Head of Light Bureau, I was privileged to sit down with Paul Traynor to look back on his career to date, and discuss his ambitions for Light Bureau moving forward. I’m very also happy to welcome the GreenLight Alliance to the magazine. This new association was formed with a mission to create a more sustainable, circular economy in the lighting industry, and inside this issue they share the first of a series of columns explaining how we can do just that.

In other news, I’m sure many of you are eagerly awaiting the 2020 [d]arc awards. The entry window has officially closed now (thank you to everyone who entered – you’re all amazing!), and voting is scheduled to open on 1st March; so be sure to mark those calendars and cast your vote when the time comes! This issue features a plethora of awards entries, but you can check out every submission on the [d]arc awards website.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to tell you about [d]arc media’s newest venture, [d]arc sessions. Officially unveiled at the beginning of the year, [d]arc sessions is a new series of exclusive and intimate gatherings for lighting specifiers and suppliers. The first of which will take place at the Royal Mykonian resort in Mykonos, Greece on 5-8 October 2021. We’re very excited about it, and can’t wait to share more details in the coming months. Watch this space!

Matt Waring
Editor
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