34th Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards

The Radiance Award was given to Beijing United Artists for The Harbin Opera House in Harbin, China.

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The lobby of the Harbin Opera House

Hufton+Crow

The lobby of the Harbin Opera House


The 34th Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards were presented May 10, 2017, during Lightfair in Philadelphia, at an evening program and reception held at the Crystal Tea Room. Twenty-two projects—five Awards of Excellence, 14 Awards of Merit (one of which was also acknowledged for its sustainability features), and three Special Citations—were recognized from a field of international entries. The Radiance Award, the program’s highest honor, went to Beijing United Artists for The Harbin Opera House in Harbin, China.

Projects were reviewed and evaluated by a group of lighting and architectural professionals at the International Association of Lighting Designer’s (IALD) headquarter offices in Chicago in December 2016. The eight jury members were as follows: lighting designer Carlos Fortes, San Paulo; designer Erin Primerano, Syracuse, N.Y.; lighting designer Steven Rosen, Salem, Mass.; lighting designer Mary Rushton Beales, London; lighting designer Eileen Thomas, Irvine, Calif.; architect Jason Van Auker, Irvine, Calif.; and lighting designer Birgit Walter, Barcelona.

The 2017 winning projects are:

Radiance Award (and Award of Excellence)
Project: Harbin Opera House, Harbin, China (image above)
Lighting Design Firm: Beijing United Artists, Beijing

Chris Cooper

Award of Excellence
Project: 599 Lexington Avenue Ground Floor Upgrades
Lighting Design Firm: Tillotson Design Associates, New York

Scott Frances

Award of Excellence
Project: Barneys New York
Lighting Design Firm: Cooley Monato Studio, New York

Xavier Boymond

Award of Excellence
Project: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Lighting Design Firm: L’Acte Lumière, Lyon, France

Bill Adams

Award of Excellence
Project: Hancher Auditorium, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Lighting Design Firm: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, New York

Naomi Castillo Photography

Award of Merit
Project: 225 Park Avenue South, New York
Lighting Design Firm: Anita Jorgensen Lighting Design, New York

Gabe Guilliams

Award of Merit and Sustainability
Project: 888 Boylston, Boston
Lighting Design Firm: Buro Happold, New York

Toshio Kaneko

Award of Merit
Project: Amanemu, Ise-Shima, Japan
Lighting Design Firm: Lighting Planners Associates, Tokyo and Singapore

Kate Joyce

Award of Merit
Project: Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago
Lighting Design Firm: Schuler Shook, Chicago

Pieter Naessens

Award of Merit
Project: Corrs Chambers Westgrath, Perth, Australia
Lighting Design Firm: Electrolight, Melbourne, Australia

Lynn Sammonds, Sammonds Photography

Award of Merit
Project: Debenhams Oxford Street, London
Lighting Design Firm: Light + Design Associates, London

Dallas Nock

Award of Merit
Project: Elements of Byron Central Facilities, Byron Bay, Australia
Lighting Design Firm: Tony Dowthwaite Lighting Design, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Rohan Venn

Award of Merit
Project: The Farm Residence, Gerroa, Australia
Lighting Design Firm: Electrolight, Melbourne, Australia

James Newton

Award of Merit
Project: Gasholder Park, London
Lighting Design Firm: Speirs + Major, London

Julian Salinas, Kunstmuseum Basel

Award of Merit
Project: Kunstmuseum Basel Light Frieze, Basel, Switzerland
Lighting Design Firm: iart, Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland

Lighting Planners Associates

Award of Merit
Project: National Gallery of Singapore
Lighting Design Firm: Lighting Planners Associates, Tokyo and Singapore

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Alan Karchmer / Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Award of Merit
Project: Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture Facade, Washington, D.C.
Lighting Design Firm: Fisher Marantz Stone, New York

Magda Biernat/ OTTO Archive

Award of Merit
Project: United States Air Force Academy Center, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Lighting Design Firm: Brandston Partnership, New York

Tom Harris

Award of Merit
Project: Wintrust Financial Corporation Chicago
Lighting Design Firm: Schuler Shook, Chicago

Ron Blunt/Studio Echelman

Special Citation for Creative and Collaborative Enhancement pf an Ephemeral canvas
Project: 1.8 by Janet Echelman at the Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Lighting Design Firm: Arup, New York

Antoine Guilhem-Ducleon

Special Citation for Transformative Multidisciplinary Chandelier
Project: Chapelle Corneille, Regional Auditorium of Normandy, Rouen, France
Lighting Design Firm: Wonderfulight, Bordeaux, France

Hank Forrest/Fisher Marantz Stone

Special Citation for Inventive and Sensitive Re-imagination of Historic Gas Luminaires
Project: Park Avenue Armory Veterans Room
Lighting Design Firm: Fisher Marantz Stone, New York


The Call for Entries for the 35th Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards will open August 2017 via the IALD’s website—iald.org. Projects must be permanent architectural lighting design solutions for which construction was completed after June 1, 2016.

About the Author

Elizabeth Donoff

Elizabeth Donoff is Editor-at-Large of Architectural Lighting (AL). She served as Editor-in-Chief from 2006 to 2017. She joined the editorial team in 2003 and is a leading voice in the lighting community speaking at industry events such as Lightfair and the International Association of Lighting Designers Annual Enlighten Conference, and has twice served as a judge for the Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section’s (IESNYC) Lumen Award program. In 2009, she received the Brilliance Award from the IESNYC for dedicated service and contribution to the New York City lighting community. Over the past 11 years, under her editorial direction, Architectural Lighting has received a number of prestigious B2B journalism awards. In 2017, Architectural Lighting was a Top Ten Finalist for Magazine of the Year from the American Society of Business Publication Editors' AZBEE Awards. In 2016, Donoff received the Jesse H. Neal Award for her Editor’s Comments in the category of Best Commentary/Blog, and in 2015, AL received a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Media Brand (Overall Editorial Excellence).Prior to her entry into design journalism, Donoff worked in New York City architectural offices including FXFowle where she was part of the project teams for the Reuters Building at Three Times Square and the New York Times Headquarters. She is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Me., and she earned her Master of Architecture degree from the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

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