top ten undergraduate and graduate architecture schools<\/a>, only one grad program, and zero<\/u> undergrad programs, require a course in lighting design! So, at least in the U.S., we shouldn\u2019t expect interior designers or architects to create more than utilitarian lighting because they\u2019re not educated in the practice of lighting design. \u00a0Yes, many care quite capable of laying out a lighting plan that meets code requirements but we should remember that codes set minimum requirements for safety and energy efficiency. Codes have nothing to say about appropriateness for the application much less anything to do with aesthetics of the space or the interaction between light and materials.<\/p>\nSo what do I tell my students? In the same way that there\u2019s a difference between a decorator and an interior designer, there\u2019s a difference between someone who can \u201cdo lighting\u201d and a lighting designer. The differences are many, actually, and include academic education and training, continuing education, range and depth of experience, and a focus on the practice lighting design as a profession and a livelihood, not as an ancillary service. I tell them that it\u2019s important for them to be able to speak the lighting designer\u2019s language and to understand the interaction between light and materials because lighting can have such a strong effect on their work. I tell them that they may find themselves lighting some of their own projects and I hope my class prepares them for that. In the end I also tell them I\u2019m sure they\u2019ve learned that the best lighting designs are created by a professional lighting designer. If they want the best for their clients and their work, it\u2019s worth the extra fee and worth talking to the client about what a lighting designer can do to support and enhance the project. Everyone needs a lighting designer, they just don\u2019t know it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No I\u2019m not begging for work (although I am available for weddings and bar mitzvahs). At the beginning of every semester I ask my interior design students (especially at Parsons, where the class is an elective) why understanding lighting design is important to them. They tell me that lighting design is important for setting the … Continue reading Who Needs A Lighting Designer?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,21,19],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-education","category-lighting-profession","tag-design-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gZSw-8F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":352,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=352","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":0},"title":"IALD Set To Launch CLD Credential","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"March 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After five years of planning the IALD is set to begin accepting applications for the newly created Certified Lighting Designer (CLD) credential. The CLD credential is similar to the LC (Lighting Certified) credential in that it is meant to demonstrate lighting design competency. Unlike the LC, the CLD credential will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":382,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=382","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":1},"title":"“Celebrating Pratt Authors” Comments","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are my comments from last night's \"Celebrating Pratt Authors\" event. \u00a0 Let me say a few words about my book and than I\u2019ll move on. One of the things that drive me to write \u201cDesigning With Light\u201d is missing content in other lighting design books. I come from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=21"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":586,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=586","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":2},"title":"Who Needs A Lighting Designer? Schools!","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Studio T+L is the theatre consultant on the theatre in a new school here in New York. During an early meeting with the architect I explained that I prefer to have the dimming and control system for the stage lighting also control the house lighting, so I\u2019d like to schedule\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":876,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=876","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":3},"title":"NYT Talks Lighting Design, But Not With Lighting Designers","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"September 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes the New York Times is oblivious and yesterday was one of them. \u00a0In an article titled Lighting a Room, Simplified the author wrote about the importance of lighting in the home. \u00a0In preparing the article, she spoke to and quoted four interior designers, one\u00a0fixture manufacturers and \u00a0one professional lighting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":235,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=235","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":4},"title":"Promoting Lighting Design","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"November 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"By some estimates less then 10 percent of construction and renovation projects include a professional lighting designer on the design team. Why? Who\u2019s looking after the lighting design? What can the lighting design community do about it? The reasons projects go forward without a lighting designer range from the owner\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Design"","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":746,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=746","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":5},"title":"The Myth of the Irrelevant Lighting Designer","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"July 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Kevin Willmorth has a long and interesting article on his blog in which he argues for the recognition of professional lighting designers and what a professional lighting designer is and is not. \u00a0The post echoes Chapter 1 of Designing With Light, and\u00a0many of the things I've written here, including promoting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lighting Profession"","block_context":{"text":"Lighting Profession","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":538,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}