Lighting design is about story telling. I remember one of my first encounters with CY Lee, the famed architect from the Taipei 101 Tower. I was working on a project with his team in China and he sat in when I did a trial run of my concept presentation. When I was finished with my presentation he said I love your lighting design but what is your story? He made me realise that lighting design is creating a story, an experience, not just the light up of an interior or building structure. He questioned the why and how and in the end we created the “story” that needed to be told to support my design. Today all our lighting designs are based on a “story”. It can be as simple as a cultural or historical story that relates to the lighting experience. 

I mentioned the possible demise of fireworks and rise of the drones in my last blog, specially the drones now only work with a storyline. No drone show will be as enthralling without a proper (and relevant) storyline with whom you can identify when you look at the lighting and lighting effects.   

With the progress of lighting technology and now also the availability to draw on AI to create and enhance stories, lighting becomes one of the prime tools to deliver these experiences. The shadow play from John Moon at the GMAP centre in Korea is a great example of a simple and enjoyable experience enhanced by AI. It is likely that this will see further applications even in day to day architectural lighting design…

What is your story?