Winners of LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards revealed
(South Korea) – In a ceremony held on 21 October in Busan, South Korea, where the 20th anniversary of the LUCI Association was celebrated, the winners of the inaugural LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards winners have been announced.
Designed for cities and local authorities, the LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards was created to recognise urban lighting projects that reflect the multi-disciplinary nature of urban lighting and show a positive impact on economic, social and cultural development. Held every two years, the awards celebrate cities that have driven projects with the ultimate aim to improve sustainability and quality of life.
The jury for the awards included six distinguished urban lighting professionals: Kristin Bredal, Founder, CEO and Chief Designer of Zenisk; Jean-Michel Deleuil, urban planning professor at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA Lyon); Elisa Hillgen, lighting designer and City of Light coordinator for the City of Jyväskylä; Vincent Laganier, founder and editor of Light ZOOM Lumiere; Keonsoo Nam, Director of Public Urban Design Division for the Busan Metropolitan City; and Esther Torelló, founder of Lightecture Magazine.
Together, they analysed 20 entries received by LUCI from 14 countries. LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards Jury President Vincent Laganier said: “At the heart of the energy crisis, the LUCI Cities & Lighting Awards come just at the right time. This new award highlights quality of life and the environmental dimension through urban lighting.
“Designated by the 2022 Jury, our winners represent this ambivalence of light: how to bring life to the city at night, while at the same time taking care of all the usage, from citizens to visitors? Congratulations for this excellent initiative by the international association of cities of lights.”
The third place winner was Seoul Metropolitan Government, South Korea, for the New Gwanghwamun Square Lighting. The jury valued the transformation of the historic New Gwanghwamun Square with a high traffic density into a harmonious and calm nightscape for the use and enjoyment of its citizens.
“The transformation of this place has been executed with care for history, culture, and place. Attention is pulled towards a multi-layered series of experiences and meeting places,” said the judges. “It is a combination of calm, low scale and stylish lighting. The area has a big meaning for the citizens and visitors.”
In second place was the City of Tampere, Finland, for the Tammerkoski Rapids – Industrial Heritage Reimagined project. Here, the jury recognized the way that lighting makes the history of the city visible during nighttime in a project that values the industrial buildings along the rapids, as well as the historical landmarks, creating a fascinating interplay of light and shadow.
The judges continued: “The project shows excellent and precise lighting of the industrial historical place. It is well planned and well executed letting the beautiful buildings present themselves. All with full control systems that enables adjustments in light levels throughout the seasons and the night.”
The winning project was the City of Izmir, Turkey for the Konak-Kemeralti Lighting Masterplan. Started in 2016, the two-phased masterplan aims to integrate social, ecological, and economical aspects of planning into the process of creating a sustainable future for the city. Although converting to LED reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions, the more important objective of the plan was to create a “dialogue” with light.
The jury added: “The jury commented that this lighting master plan integrates social, ecological, and economic aspects. It improves the safety of public spaces while achieving 50% energy savings and reducing the carbon footprint.
“An ambitious approach that combines a global vision of urban spaces and a sensitive consideration of everyday living spaces.
“This project shows how thoughtful lighting is an important part of the social glue that makes us see, meet, experience, and interact. A need that all humans have everywhere.”
Mark Burton-Page, LUCI General Director added: “All these fantastic projects will be highlighted within LUCI’s communication channels and events in the next years. They enrich the long-term collective knowledge sharing process that cities have successfully engaged in at a world level, within LUCI for the past 20 years. We are already looking forward to launching the second edition of the Cities & Lighting Awards, planned for 2024.”
