Outstandingly staged: the German Lighting Design Award.

Design with light has become enormously complex and diverse due to LEDs and digital technologies. The increasing importance of lighting design in architecture is drawn to the attention of the German Lighting Design Award, the 9th edition of which was celebrated in Wuppertal on May 16. Eleven projects from categories such as hotel, cultural buildings, office or education were honored in addition to the awarding of various special prizes.

The Munich delicatessen house Dallmayr, for example, received recognition in the "Shops" category: Here the office Lichtkompetenz from Zurich had succeeded in designing the lighting sensitively and in harmony with the historic building. In the "Museums" category, the Futurium in Berlin was honored. The new building, which opened this year and combines a museum, laboratory and forum, only comes to life thanks to the elaborate lighting design by the studio realities:united. In the field of light art, the five-day moving image projection Dona nobis pacem on the south facade of Cologne Cathedral was honored. In 2018, the artists Detlef Hartung and Georg Trenz transformed the cathedral into a beacon of peace and a memorial against hatred and hatemongering - in front of a total of 150,000 spectators.

In general, a particularly large number of churches and church institutions were nominated for the award this year. Markus Helle, initiator of the German Lighting Design Award, explains why awareness of good lighting design has increased here: "Energy consumption can be optimized considerably through the use of LEDs. In addition, church congregations have recognized that a beautiful lighting atmosphere can improve the quality of stay. This also counteracts the lack of visitors."

The Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award went to Johannes Dinnebier, one of the pioneers of lighting design in Germany. Lighting designers of the year were Corinna Arens and Dorette Faulhaber from Cologne. With these two honors, the German Lighting Design Award also aims to strengthen the establishment of the profession of "lighting designer" and support the training of future lighting designers.

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