As the international lighting design community continues to grow, we have over the years seen the emergence of some thriving scenes – regions or nations where the profession is progressing at a rapid rate, producing a strong collection of designers. One such region is in Greece, where the balmy climate and beautiful, classic architecture has inspired many to take up lighting design. However, it wasn’t always this way.

“If you are a pioneer, you scratch your feet, because there is no path. And there was no path in Greece back then for me.”

So says the acclaimed, multi-[d]arc award winning Eleftheria Deko, who led the way in bringing lighting design, as a recognised profession, to Greece, crafting an extensive portfolio of work that spans the stage, artistic installations, and architectural lighting design since the early 90s.

Her introduction to lighting design, as with many designers around the world, was through the theatre. However, in the very early days, she was in front of the lights, rather than behind them.

“My background was in dance, I was dancing from five years old,” she recalls. “I love dance, it’s a unique way of artistic expression. I grew up in the dance world, thinking that I would become a dancer, a choreographer.

“But I was always fascinated by the backstage, and the magic of lighting, even the fixtures themselves, and the “blinding” effect of the light – when you are on stage, you are bathed with light. This feeling helped also my shyness as I was nervous on stage, and with the front spotlights, I couldn’t see the audience directly, which helped my stage anxiety. So, my first reaction to lighting was being the subject of it, and dancing with it.”

This love of dance was combined with a growing interest in photography when, on her 12th birthday, Deko was given a camera by her father.

“It was a new world for me to see things in frame, and very carefully to choose the framing. If I look back at some of these first photographs, it is very interesting to see that I liked to shoot shadows and shades of buildings. As a lighting designer now I like the playful duet of light and shadow. My moto is: music without pauses is unbearable, so is lighting without darkness’.”

The final thing that Deko feels influenced her “on a subconscious level”, was her hometown. “I come from a Cycladic Island, and the light there is very ‘crispy’. I don’t know the word in English, but to me, it is something that you can touch; you can even munch the light. Its reflections, the shadows, the hues of sunlight on Cycladic nature and the traditional architecture, for me, it is magical. As a child, I was playing in the fields of Tinos Island, and I remember the shadow ‘painting’ on the sand and the reflections of the beautiful shiny stone that this island is known for.

“These, together with my love and studies in Art History influenced the way that I see light, and how deeply inside me these things have been absorbed, in a way they come out afterwards. But I never thought of lighting design as a profession.”

And so, after graduating from the school of Philosophy in Athens and having a diploma as a dance professor, Deko packed her bags and left for New York, where she first studied performance – chorography at New York University. But even here, lighting had already begun to take hold.

“On the Master’s programme, there was an elective module on lighting design. This was the first that I took – before dance, before anything, the first module I enrolled in was lighting design. This was because I wanted to do the lighting for my choreographies, I didn’t know then that this first urge meant to bring me to my life’s vocation.”

So impressed was she by lighting, that Deko started a two-year programme on lighting design at Alwin Nikolais school alongside her Master’s degree, and was asked by the course leader to do her thesis on lighting. She adds: “Although I was there for dance, everything was lighting design. If I was asked if I, myself, made the decision to change to lighting design, I would say that life made the decision for me.”

With further encouragement from the university faculty, Deko landed more lighting roles with dance companies in New York, including the Blue Mercury co. from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – an intense experience, as Deko recalls. “Blue Mercury came to give a performance at NYU theater and our professor at the time was getting married and moving to California. The chairman, instead of hiring someone else, trusted me, and asked if I would do the lighting, and without a second thought I said ‘yes, of course, it’s a professional dance company’. I had no money to pay for technical crew, so I had to hang and focus 180 lights all by myself, working from 7am until 4am the next morning for a week, going home to shower, and take a one hour power nap. But I did it, and I did it well.”

The following year, Deko was asked to teach at NYU – a testament to her work lighting the performances – and started doing lighting for other dance companies that were graduating from the university. “I was very good and quick because as a dancer I knew very well how to write the lighting cue notes, and so on.”

She then landed a role as Technical Director and in-house lighting designer at the highly reputed HT Chen and Dancers company. However, a change in personal circumstances meant that in the early 90s, Deko moved back to Greece, where she found herself caught in a strange sense of limbo. “It was very strange for me coming back to Greece, because people didn’t trust me as a lighting designer, but they didn’t approach me as a dancer either, but by then, I was a lighting designer, not a dancer anymore.”

In fact, Deko’s first jobs back on home soil came through connections that she had made in New York, when a US-based company asked her to work on a performance for the Summer Festival of Modern Dance in Crete. This, however, was the spark that lit the flame, with Deko fast building her reputation in the stage lighting world and working steadily throughout the 90s, eventually leading to her establishing her own practice, Eleftheria Deko & Associates, in 2001, just as a major opportunity came calling – the Olympic Games Athens 2004.

“I was approached by the director of the opening ceremony, and he asked me to be a part of the creative team that was realising the scenario that he had in his mind, and he asked me if I would like to do the lighting as well. My first thought was positive, although it was a huge show! At the time, the ceremony’s scenario was broken down into four sections, and I thought of having four lighting designers – one for each section, each with their own style.

“I wanted to bring in Luc Lafortune, lighting designer of Cirque du Soleil, [television lighting designer] Robert Dickinson, Durham Marenghi, and myself. In the end, it came down to myself and Robert Dickinson, as at the time, he had the experience of working on big events like this, he did the Atlanta Olympic Games, and also working with television cameras. This was another important factor to consider – the lighting might have looked good for the eyes in the stadium, but it had to look good for television as well, for the 5 billion TV audience. Especially with the cameras at the time, as they were not digital yet; you had to sacrifice either your warm colour hues of reds, oranges, yellows, or sacrifice the cooler colour hues of blue, turquoise, etc. We gave priority to the blues because of the Aegean Sea and the Greek sky.”

While Deko was working prolifically in theatres across Greece prior to the Olympic Games (by 2002, she had done 350 shows), she had also started to show an interest in the architectural field, visiting trade shows such as Lightfair in the US, Euroluce, and Light+Building, to see how the two worlds were coalescing.

“I always liked interior design, and I was going to these trade shows for inspiration for theatrical lighting, but also to see the architectural lighting evolution. I was very lucky, because it was the period that theatrical stage lighting and architectural lighting were starting to shake hands, LEDs were just appearing and shaping the beam, colour, were making their presence in architectural fixtures.

“I remember looking at a new outdoor fixture of iGuzzini that was shaping the beam, with a strong lens and shutters, and I liked how architecture was starting to borrow elements from the theatre. DMX and smart dimming were also emerging in the architectural world, and these were things that I knew very well, they were my tools in creating scenes in theatre.”

Deko recalls one of her early ventures into architectural lighting, when she was approached by a hotelier in northern Athens to create “something more theatrical” for the hotel lobby – a project that further springboarded her into the architectural sphere.

“When I was asked to do the lobby, I created a nice atmosphere by using lights from outside coming through the windows where we had to customise the fixtures to avoid glare. Everybody was fascinated, and following this, I was asked to do the showroom of a furniture store, then iGuzzini’s distributors in Greece approached me to teach my concept behind lighting design in theatre, in order to give to designers inspiration to think of lighting in a different way. Sharing is so inspiring for both sides and to me, it is very boring to do the same thing repetitively.

“From working in performing arts lighting, I knew the interesting things you could do with shaping, colour, dimming; these elements could give a different atmosphere, a different touch than a beautiful chandelier in the middle of a room.

“I always thought that the power of lighting is not only to make things visible or being comfortable in sight; the power of lighting is more. It can create magic. We knew it very well in stage lighting, so I thought ‘why not in architectural lighting as well?’”

As more architectural lighting projects came to Deko, so did more teaching opportunities. After her work on the Olympic Games, she was approached by the theatre department at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki’s School of Fine Arts. As a faculty member she taught stage lighting for 14 years (2005-2019), and considers her time teaching the next generation here as “one of my greatest achievements”.

“I also taught lighting in the architectural department of the Open University for two years. I hope I have influenced the new generation of lighting designers to go beyond what they already know, to go beyond what is given to them and create the need for new lighting fixtures, new ways of control, but more, the new philosophy, new thinking of lighting and its impact.”

One of the core facets of her teaching was what she calls the “Seven Notes of Lighting”, seven qualities that are the same across stage and architectural lighting. These include: intensity, direction, diffusion, colour, rhythm and movement, shaping, and light objects. “Like in music, with seven notes, you can create endless music and songs, so too with the combination of these seven elements, you can create endless lighting cues for architecture or for stage.”

Indeed, these seven tenets form a key part of Deko’s design approach, however before even considering these, she takes a broader view, tries to empty her preconceptions, her mind, and look anew at every project and how lighting can “create a dialogue” with the space or building.

“I believe that the architecture is the protagonist, and lighting should accommodate, highlight it. Lighting should not impose, it should respect architecture and highlight its elements. It’s the same in theatre. A lighting designer should not show off and add more than necessary just for the image, they should always decide with respect to the architecture or to the play, and with measure.

“What I start from is the play, if it is stage lighting, or the building itself in architecture. I let the building or scenography speak; some are more photogenic, some are not – and these make the work of a lighting designer more difficult – but I think respect, observation, simplicity, and a less-is-more approach is best to start with. Together with the team, we brainstorm on ideas until we come up with something that is fulfilling to our minds, then we apply the seven elements, right position for direction, intensity, colour temperature, diffusion etc. and we develop the design. This way, projects do not look like each other, and the lighting is created specifically for each project, not ‘to our style’. When the lighting of a building has such mentality behind it, it breathes beautifully at night.”

However, by taking a more “restrained” approach and focusing only on what is needed, rather than adding more than necessary, Deko adds that she can sometimes get into conflicts with clients, leading to some difficult decisions.

“If there is something that the client wants, and if it is in contrast with our philosophy, what I call our ‘ethics of aesthetics’, if it is fighting with our principles, I just ask the client to consider again if they want our studio to do the design. I’m very polite and honest, and I respect the desire of the clients, but if it’s opposite to our principles, we don’t want to continue on undertaking that collaboration.”

Difficult conversations to have with clients, but this is something that Deko is no stranger to, having had to fight for a seat at the table when she first started out in lighting design.

She discusses the battles that came with being the only woman in a male-dominated field: “When I came back to Greece in 1992, there were only male electricians and directors of photography. I had to behave in a certain way, dress in a certain way, and in the beginning, I wasn’t respected as a lighting designer, they were saying ‘this young girl will not tell us what to do’. There was a moment when the electricians told to the artistic director of the national theatre, ‘if you bring her here to do the lighting, we will go on strike’.

“Another time they came to me and said, ‘I cannot pay you as a lighting designer, but if you pretend to be the assistant of the set designer, I could’. I had to say ‘I’m sorry, I am a lighting designer. I can help the set designer and the director, with no payment, but I will not sign as a different person than I am’.

“There were many difficult moments – I often got called a male name, not my name – but what brought me through is my humour. I would walk into the theatre and say to the guys, ‘good morning, ladies!’ And soon the ice broke.’

“I never stopped, nothing put me down. I said, ‘it’s their problem not mine’. My passion is my work. I do my best, and I always treat everybody with respect and a smile, in the theatre, on the construction site, I have the same respect for the owner, the architect, the electrician, the person who cleans the floor. For me, this is a very important.

Very soon I gained respect from all, both men and women in both fields. Today there are more women lighting designers in Greece than men. This is a kind of revenge.”

Indeed, the level of work that Deko has consistently produced throughout her career, including not just the Olympic Games opening ceremony, but the incredible lighting of one of Greece’s most important landmarks, the Acropolis, has seen her gain worldwide recognition, especially from the design community – she has four [d]arc awards to her name, including three in one year for the Acropolis project. It is this recognition, that she feels holds most weight.

“With the Olympic Games and the Acropolis, I feel very blessed, and very lucky, to have two of these globally recognised projects in one lifetime – I can retire now.

“If you are the first who did something, you have nobody to share what you have gone through. You stay with it, keep it inside and you move on to the next day. To have this recognition from colleagues, it is very moving. It is like an embrace from your artistic family, your professional family. It is important to get recognition from your clients, of course, but the recognition of people who know the work is really beautiful and uplifting.”

Across her many accolades though, Deko has always remained humble, treating each award as recognition for her home country. “The first international award that my team and I received was the Emmy for the Opening Ceremony of 2004 Olympics. I was honoured to give the acceptance speech, and for me, this award was a moment that was for all of Greece. It was not me holding it, it was all Greeks. It was also elevating the level of Greek lighting design.

“Every achievement, if it’s an award, praise, recognition anything, it’s not for the individual, otherwise it becomes egoistic. It is for the team. I am who I am because of my team. I got here because of my parents, my teachers, my colleagues, my path, so these trophies award everybody’s efforts.”

As for the “next day”, Deko is showing no signs of slowing down. Although she admits that she feels very “fulfilled”, there is still a “flame and a passion about good lighting” that burns bright inside her.

As a studio, Eleftheria Deko & Associates has a broad array of projects currently in the works – many of which following a similar theme to her award-winning work on the Acropolis, which taps into her ongoing fascination with Ancient Greek history and culture. “The inauguration of the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion took place in September. We are also working on the Temple of the Goddess Aphaia in Aegina. These temples, along with the Acropolis, if you place their precise location on a map, create a perfect isosceles triangle – the Ancient Greek metaphysics is amazing to me, I wonder how they managed to choose these locations 2,500 years ago.

“One of my great passions for lighting is heritage, museums and ancient monuments. With these projects I go back to school again.”

“In school I liked ancient Greek history and philosophy very much. My godfather was one the most famous archaeologists in Greece, and because of our close relation, everybody thought that I would become a scientist, an archaeologist just like him. But I was more artistic as a person, although he still inspired me with his wisdom. “Hopefully another two monuments will have been completed by the end of 2025 – one is the Dikteon Cave in Crete, which in mythology was the birthplace of Zeus, and the other is the fortress of Acrocorinth at the ancient city of Corinth, as well as the new archaeological museum of Cyprus.”

And Deko is hopeful that she can continue to be an inspiration for the younger generation of designers emerging in the industry. While she may have left her former teaching roles, she has other plans in mind that she hopes will inspire.

“Not that I feel old, but when we grow older, we have to give space to new people, younger people to express themselves – I’m trying to give more opportunities to the younger people on my team.

“I also feel the time has come to write. I would like to write a book, not about my technique on lighting, but about my philosophy and approach, as if it might inspire someone. By writing it down, I can take the big message and focus it down on pages.”

As for the future of lighting design, Deko has high expectations for where the profession will go, and how it will be perceived by the wider design sphere.

“I think that lighting design is becoming a very, very attractive profession. Lighting designers have the tools and the power to create magic, and I think we are entering the great era of lighting design. Obviously working together with architects and interior designers, but I think lighting design will be recognised for the impact it has independently. Lighting is evolving very fast in a fascinating way!

“In Greece we have an expression, ‘Pan Metron Ariston’, which means ‘everything in measure is perfect’. So, I think in this new era of lighting, with all this speedy evolution in technology,  we should let the Greek proverb about measure be our guide.”

www.edeko.gr

An in-depth report on Deko’s work on the Acropolis can be found in arc 119, or you can read the full article here.