The yearly “curtain raiser” of Light + Intelligent Building Middle East returned to Dubai this January. arc editor Matt Waring once again made his way to the city to take part in its stacked educational programme.

If your new year’s resolution was to travel more, or to connect with the lighting community, or take part in more engaging, educational and insightful talks programmes, you couldn’t have done much better than visiting Dubai this January for

Light + Intelligent Building Middle East.

Now firmly established as a popular “curtain raiser” in the lighting design calendar, this year marked the 18th edition of the fair, and the theme for the 2025 edition was ‘Building Commonality Through Community, Creativity, and Culture’.

Alongside a busy trade show floor filled with an international array of exhibitors – and the addition of immersive light art installation The Moving Hues 2.0, created by StudioPlus and MYVN Architecture – the show once again hosted a full slate of fascinating presentations and panel discussions across its three stages: the Smart Building Summit, InSpotLight, and ThinkLight.

Expanding on the show’s overarching theme of building commonality, the talks programmes welcomed an international array of speakers, each bringing their own unique perspectives and local approaches to proceedings.

Avid readers will remember that last year was my first trip to Light + Intelligent Building Middle East (and to Dubai in general), and having enjoyed it so much, I was all too eager to return to Dubai’s International Trade Center to get inspired once again, and to connect with this brilliant industry of ours.

Last time out, I essentially camped out at the ThinkLight stage to make the most of its packed out programme, but this time around, I did my best to branch out a little further and try to see a bit more of the show, and some of the talks on its other stages – a difficult task considering the strength of each programme.

And so, it felt akin to attending a music festival (albeit with much nicer toilets) as I pored over the schedule, tackling clashes and deciding how best to divide my time for the next three days.

Opening the show, after a brief introduction from Light Collective’s Martin Lupton, I sat in on a keynote presentation from Nikos Moskofidis and Lee Sweetman, Partners at dpa lighting consultants. In their session, the pair detailed dpa’s history of work in the Middle East, dating back to the Sheraton Hotel Dubai Creek in 1979, before delving into the marriage between light and architecture to form identity, and the idea of ‘less is more’, interpreting darkness through careful thought to create areas of contrast. “It always amazes me how little light you need, and how far it goes,” being one of Sweetman’s comments during the talk.

(This wasn’t to be my only interaction with dpa, as Moskofidis very graciously gave me a tour of the nearby One Za’abeel. You can read more about this amazing project on page 60 of this issue.)

Following this, Kevin Grant of Light Alliance led a session on the ongoing progression of Saudi Arabia as a “Global Epicentre of Innovative Lighting”. Focusing primarily on the “Giga Projects”, and the nation’s “Vision 2030” ambitions, Grant shared some examples of the major works ongoing in Saudi at the moment, from museums and hospitality projects to large scale infrastructure works. From here, Myriam Patricia Lopez, Sergio Padula (iGuzzini), Ziad Fattouh (Delta Lighting Design), and David Gilbey (d-lighting), each shared their own experiences of working in the region, discussing the marriage of scale and creativity, the switch in focus from bright buildings to dark skies, the vast financial backing that a lot of work in the region is getting, but also some of the pitfalls and challenges that come with this. A Q&A session followed, comparing and contrasting the ideas and approaches in Saudi Arabia with those of the UAE, and the Middle East as a whole.

Up next was a session on immersive installations and the role that lighting plays in creating experiential and fully immersive environments. To start with, [d]arc media favourite Frankie Boyle talked about the biological and psychological benefits of light, and the way that experiential installations, such as those that she creates, use light to “cross borders”, connect people to nature, and ultimately provide its viewers with a special kind of nourishment. As she said herself to close out her talk, “light is food, and we need to start seeing it that way”.

Boyle was then joined onstage by Koert Vermeulen (ACTLD), Peter Veale (FPOV), Anna Magritskaya (Theatre of Digital Arts), and Sarvdeep Singh Basur (Lucent Worldwide), for a panel, moderated by IALD President Andrea Hartranft on immersive design approaches and light art as a “commonality builder” – in keeping with the show’s overarching theme.

In an insightful discussion, the panelists covered the distinctions between “immersive” and “interactive” experiences, as well as the difficulties that come when trying to account for cultural and interpersonal perspectives and responses, particularly when creating such experiences internationally. Alongside this, the talk looked at the approaches to light art and its place within communities, and how the value of such immersive experiences can be quantified.

After catching a chunk of Paul Nulty’s “Conversation in Light” with interior designer Kristina Zanic, Day One closed out with the very entertaining Brilliance Light Quiz, led by Light Collective. Not just focusing on lighting, the quiz had rounds on architecture, product design, light art, cinema, and some general knowledge; and I’m incredibly proud to say that your humble Editor was part of the winning team! Huge shout out to my QuizTeama Aguilera teammates – you know who you are!

Following the show, the festivities continued with a party at Grosvenor House Hotel’s City Social, courtesy of IBL and CLA – a wonderful way to round off a great first day at the show, so thanks to them for their hospitality.

Day Two began in inspiring fashion with a wonderful presentation from Koert Vermuelen, who looked to the future, examining how what we design today will be used in the coming years. With a particular focus on “experience design” and the marriage of architecture and entertainment, he shared some stunning examples from his own portfolio, which varied from more traditional architectural lighting, to large scale live productions. His talk also touched on the role of storytelling, and how this can be broken down into explicit, implicit, and experiential categories.

Up next, Gary Thornton of Nulty kicked off an insightful discussion on the role of lighting on a city-wide scale, with a presentation on light as a medium to create cohesive cities. Here, he discussed the importance of striking a balance between culture and cohesion, and the important role that lighting plays in crafting the identity of a space. With particular reference to the book Restorative Cities by Jenny Roe and Layla McCay, Thornton covered the myriad issues that face urban lighting strategies, such as the balance between light and darkness, the oft-misunderstood conception of more light equating to safer spaces – with particular reference to the over illumination of social housing. He shared the important message that if you “undervalue a space, you undervalue its people”.

Pulling on this thread further, Thornton was joined by Dan Lister (Arup), Stephanie Hreiki (WSP), and Cherine Saroufim (Idepconsult) for a panel discussion on the subject. Here, the speakers talked of the need for lighting to celebrate the people of a city in a cohesive and equitable way.

While Lister explained that there has been a transition in public realm lighting from being a “maintenance burden” to something more engaging and inviting, the panel agreed that more needs to be done to create balanced and context-sensitive environments. Interestingly, the topic also turned to standards for exterior lighting, and whether there needs to be an introduction of maximum light level guidance, as opposed to minimum light levels.

Always good for a thought-provoking session, I caught a talk from Emrah Baki Ulas of Steensen Varming next. He blew my mind with a talk at IALD Enlighten Europe a couple of years ago, and was equally inspiring here with a session on commonality, and why the industry needs to work towards common goals. In his talk, Ulas covered the need for lighting professionals to “strip ourselves of our delusions of significance” and be kinder to each other in order to better work in harmony with the wider building industry. In his typical fashion, he then compared the need for commonality in the industry to thermodynamics and how, in a thermos-equilibrium, multiple systems can only work in harmony together – something that we can all learn from.

My final session for Day Two, before being whisked off to One Za’abeel, was another panel discussion; alongside Ulas, Sophie O’Rourke (AECOM), Maria Dautant (HLB Lighting Design), Giovanni Zambri (Smith Tait), and Mark Lien (IES), continued the conversation on commonality and how best to achieve this. Tackling themes such as individual responsibility, cultural sensitivity, and broader education, the overwhelming outcome of the session was that collaboration across all parties was core to achieving commonality.

Opening Day Three, I was finally able to tear myself away from the ThinkLight stage to see some talks on the InSpotLight stage instead. Typically focused on some of the more technical aspects of lighting design, the day opened with a session from Dr. Riad Saraji, Professor and Dean at the College of Architecture, Art, and Design at Ajman University, UAE. Taking us on a whistlestop tour through time, his session, titled “From the Big Bang to Bright Spaces”, offered a scientific take on natural light, how it impacts us, and how we perceive it – from refraction, glare and contrast to the non-visual effects of light and things like Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Following this, Nadine Baalbaki, Founder of Light The Detail, gave a stirring session on the issue of light poverty. Titled “Not All Skies Are Happy Skies”, the session gave a contrasting perspective on the much talked about push for dark skies. Coming from Lebanon, Baalbaki shared her experiences of living in a country with severe power cuts and wars, where dark skies are associated with fear and the threat of bombing, where candlelight was used but the warm light wasn’t perceived in the typical, romantic way, and where an abundance and availability of light equated to increased safety.

With a programme in which many speakers talked of the importance of context and of local, cultural values, Baalbaki’s session was a startling reminder of that very fact, and that what may be the case in one country, may not be so in another.

After this moving talk, I sought a change of pace back on the ThinkLight stage, where Konstantin Klaas of Licht Kunst Licht talked about “Tailored Designs for Iconic Spaces”, sharing examples of some beautiful projects where bespoke lighting solutions were needed, and the various challenges that came with this. In many cases, these bespoke solutions would then get rolled out and become available to all, so Klaas called for further collaboration between designers and manufacturers – such as in the automotive industry – to revitalise product design.

Keeping the beautiful projects flowing, Klaas was followed by the incredible Eleftheria Deko, who delivered a talk titled “Illuminating Iconic Buildings” – something that she is very experienced in. In a session filled with stunning examples of lighting design, Deko talked of the duty that comes with “honouring monuments” with light, stating that these “enduring symbols of civilisation” represent culture and history, so lighting designers need to tell the story of the era in which they were created. Deko is such an inspirational figure that it is always a pleasure to hear her talk about the power of light (as I discovered all too well during our interview in arc #142), and here was no exception. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak, don’t hesitate to do so.

With the event now at its festival-clashing peak, after Deko’s talk I quickly dashed back to the InSpotLight stage for one more panel discussion, this time moderated by the always-delightful Linus Lopez, on aligned solutions for global challenges. Here, Andrea Hartranft, Maria Dautant, Nadine Baalbaki, and Amardeep M. Dugar each offered their own perspectives on the topic, from educational opportunities and approaches to sustainability, to the need for more “Salutogenic Design” – the combination of architecture, neuroscience and psychology to create genuinely healthy environments.

If navigating the talks programme felt akin to a festival line-up, then I guess that makes me Elton John, as after Brienne Willcock and Dan Lister gave an overview of the work of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) respectively, yours truly closed out the InSpotlight stage, moderating a panel on Building Commonality on Global Lighting Best Practices. Joining me on stage, alongside Willcock and Lister, were Riad Saraji, Mark Lien, Regina Santos (Light Fusion), and Jelena Lazarevic (Foundry). The talk delved into the collaboration that exists between the IES and SLL, and the work that each are doing to create more consistency and cohesion in their lighting standards and guidelines – which can, at times, contradict each other. We also examined the approaches of those working in the MEA region, where contextual and cultural differences may mean that standards from the US-based IES and UK-based SLL may not be feasible. As the last talk of the event, we were also able to look back on some key points raised in other sessions, particularly those in which the panelists had also participated. It was an enthralling discussion, which may have raised more questions than answers, and was an excellent way to close out three fascinating days of talks.

The show’s overarching theme of building commonality was present across the whole slate of talks, on each stage, but it was refreshing that, in a three-day event, each speaker presented their own unique take on the topic – proof if ever it was needed that, while we all strive for a more unified and connected industry, there isn’t one clear, defined route to do so.

Avid readers among you may also remember that, this time last year, my trip to Dubai did not extent to the show’s final day, and as such I missed the closing Light Middle East Awards Gala Dinner. So overwhelming was the FOMO as I flew out of the city that I made sure not to make the same mistake this year. So, glad rags well and truly donned, myself and my arc colleagues did our best James Bond impressions as we made our way to the Ritz Carlton for a beautiful night of festivities and celebration. The mood was suitably high during the dinner (and the after party), and it was a perfect way to close out an excellent week in Dubai.

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