Idea:
Fashioned and designed environments require imaginative light solutions, which convey meaning, mood, atmosphere and visual appeal. The Haute Lumière Light Award was established by Paul Pamboukian in 2007 to explore and stimulate discussion on light as a design medium. The purpose of the award is to rethink artificial light as a crucial, primary aspect of design, to create unusual visibility, and promote lighting as an inventive medium. The annual award encourages projects to go beyond the fact that light exists – demonstrating experimentation and thinking about the unknown – pushing the edge – seeking essence – working with perception and deception – as well as an environmental dimension. It celebrates and promotes excellence in the understanding and application of artificial light. The Haute Lumière Light Award gives designers a canvas against which to develop a unique everyday object, installation or space. The way the award is structured:
The competition is held annually and addresses anyone living, studying or working in South Africa, interested in the application of light as a critical design tool. A different theme or subject is set each year. This is manifested in the design of a luminaire, object or installation depending on the brief. The objective is to select 2 or 3, max. 5 promising designs. Their authors are invited to a day workshop on light at Pamboukian lightdesign before constructing a prototype. The 1:1 scale designs are judged and the winner given the chance to attend the renowned annual light workshop ‘Lights in Alingsås’ conducted by professional lighting designers for the town Alingsås, Sweden.
