Lighting Design + Application • October 2003 - Illuminating ...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .COMMERCEInnocents AbroadREFERENCES, REPUTATION, NETWORKING, LOCAL ALLIANCES.SOUNDS LIKE THE U.S. METHOD FOR SECURING WORK, BUT THESAME RULES OFTEN APPLY INTERNATIONALLY, ACCORDING TO AGLOBETROTTING GROUP OF LIGHTING DESIGNERSBy Julie LeibowitzILLUSTRATION: SAMUEL FONTANEZCreating a lighting design is a challenge in itself. Thedesigner must conceive a design that his clientlikes, that is appropriate for the setting being consideredand must adhere to a budget which often posesfinancial restrictions. Imagine all of these issues combinedwith working in a foreign country, and you’ve stumbledupon the delicate art of developing and executing a lightingdesign on an international stage.“References and reputation help greatly when securinginternational projects. Networking well makes all kindsof possibilities,” says George Sexton, of George SextonAssociates, a Washington, DC-based firm responsible fora variety of corporate, retail, and museum projectsthroughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, includingLouis Vuitton stores around the world and the HerzJesu Kirche (Heart of Jesus Church) in Munich, Germany,the winner of the European Lighting Design Award inJune 2001 and other U.S. awards. “Our goal is to work onquality projects, and our reputation on works such as theParliament House in Canberra, Australia, has helped ourreputation immensely overseas.” The project required alarge team of designers, and Sexton’s firm was responsiblefor every space in the complex. They relocated thereduring the construction. A major challenge, says Sexton,“is learning to work in a particular country, since eachhas its own way of putting a process together and gettingto the final product. The operational aspects can be differentbased on the locale.”Paul Gregory, founder, president and principal lightingdesigner of New York-based Focus Lighting seconds themotion that reputation and networking are often thedesigner’s entree. “One of the biggest jobs we did, the DanHotel in Eilat, Israel, came from a recommendation byBaldinger Architectural Lighting, which manufactures decorativechandeliers. [The assignment for lighting] TheEntel Tower in Chile was from an artist friend, through an. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.iesna.org . . . . . . . . 69. . LD+A . . . November . . . . . 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .