Light Up

On Sunday, July 2nd, an event dedicated to the nationwide student competition for designing a prototype lighting fixture titled “Light Up” took place at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. The competition was announced by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture (H.Ι.Α.) and the postgraduate program “Lighting Design” of the School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design at the Hellenic Open University (H.O.U.). The aim of the competition was to engage students in the creative design process of a familiar industrial object that directly influences how we perceive and understand a space. It encouraged them to explore the use of innovative materials and construction methods, and most importantly, to focus on the way light is emitted through the lighting fixture.

The entries were evaluated by a five-member jury, consisting of Michalis Anastasiadis, Designer,  Konstantinos Grivas, Associate Professor of Architectural Design, Department of Architecture, University of Patras,  Stylianos Zerefos, Professor at the School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design, Hellenic Open University, Katerina Skalkou, Architect, Adjunct Faculty at Hellenic Open University,  and Dionisis Sotovikis, Architect and member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

The competition was deemed successful as students from twelve academic institutions participated, presenting studies that stood out for their originality, aesthetics, functionality, and innovation, collectively shaping a high level of proposals.

The results of the competition are as follows:

1st PRIZE: CymbaLux
IASON – GEORGIOS ABBOTT & GEORGIOS HASIOTIS
University of Thessaly, Department of Architectural Engineering
Advisor Professor: ARISTEIDIS TSANGRASOULIS
University of Thessaly, Department of Architectural Engineering

2nd PRIZE: Luminous Pearl
SPYRIDON GKIOUZELAKIS
Hellenic Open University, School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design

3rd PRIZE: Larvae
DIMITRA ZACHOU & EIRINI CHATZIGEORGIADOU
University of Thessaly, Department of Architectural Engineering

The three distinguished proposals were accompanied by cash prizes totaling 2,000 euros and by services for the photometric certification of the lighting fixtures (certificate and photometric files in .ldt & .ies formats), kindly offered by the company Bright SPECIAL LIGHTING S.A., which operates the only ISO 17025 accredited photometry laboratory in Greece.

Important architects and lighting designers honored the evening with their presence, expressing their thoughts and concerns regarding lighting. Morpho Papanikolaou (Architect, IUAV) and Eleftheria Dekó (Lighting Designer, Assistant Professor at the School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) focused on architectural lighting through the lens of cultural heritage preservation. Konstantinos Moraitis (Emeritus Professor, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens), Lampros Doulos (Associate Professor, School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design, Hellenic Open University) spoke about landscape lighting design, while Stavros Gyftopoulos (Architect, Professor, School of Architecture, NTUA) and Aris Tsangrasoulis (Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Patras) addressed important issues of human-centered lighting. Katerina Skalkou, Stylianos Zerefos, and Konstantinos Grivas moderated engaging discussions that highlighted the particularities of both natural and artificial lighting design.

After the award ceremony, the guests had the opportunity to interact with lighting fixtures placed at various points in the foyer, which had an interactive character through a mobile phone application. The winning proposals, as well as all the competition entries, were exhibited in the atrium of the National Research Foundation and are included in the accompanying catalog available from the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

#lightup