Lighting Powers of Ten

Office for Visual Interaction, New York

Exhibition: 12 March - 25 April 2010
Opening: 12 March 2010, 6.30pm
Location: Aedes Am Pfefferberg, Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119 Berlin,
                Germany
Opening hours: Di-Fr 11am to 6.30pm, Sa-So 1 to 5pm

The New York Times Building. Exterior facade lighting.
Photo: Frieder Blickle

The exhibition Lighting Powers of Ten showcases the work of New York based Office for Visual Interaction (OVI), a partnership of Jean Sundin and Enrique Peiniger. This will be the first time that a lighting design firm features at the Aedes Architecture Forum. OVI’s unique blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation, and technical excellence places them at the forefront of their field. Approaching light as a seamlessly integrated part of architectural design, Jean Sundin and Enrique Peiniger has collaborated with firms including Zaha Hadid, Enric Mirailles – Benedetta Tagliabue, GRIMSHAW, Morphosis, Pei Cobb Freed, and Renzo Piano.

The United States Air Force Memorial. View of the memorial spires at night.
Photo: Thomas Mayer.

Founded in 1997, Office for Visual Interaction, Inc. (OVI) is an international architectural lighting design firm that has been successfully involved in projects in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its professional expertise spans all styles and scales. Recently, the firm’s LED streetlight for New York City won Architect Magazine’s Research and Development award. Their illumination of the United States Air Force Memorial garnered top prizes in the lighting industry including the GE ‘Edison Award’, Lumen Award of Merit, and IES International Award of Distinction; and lighting for the New York Times building won an IALD International Lighting Design Award of Merit.

The exhibition Lighting Powers of Ten at the Architecture Forum Aedes am Pfefferberg showcases four of OVI’s award-winning projects: the LED streetlight for New York City currently in prototyping, the lighting for the Scottish Parliament Building complex and grounds, an energy-efficient scheme for the New York Times headquarters, and illumination of the United States Air Force Memorial.

The New York Times Building. View of the lobby with garden and auditorium beyond. Photo: Michel Denancè

The exhibition provides a unique view into a sophisticated lighting design practice that works with precision engineering and conceptual clarity at every scale. A mix of photos and working drawings trace the development of each project through a range of scales – from regional considerations spanning hundreds of kilometers (10⁺⁵ m), to nano-scale wavelength manipulations   (10^-7 m).

Projected light model calculations from the Scottish Parliament, custom-designed luminaries from the New York Times headquarters, and prototype components from the New York City LED streetlight will put visitors in direct contact with the materials and processes involved in OVI’s work.

Speakers at the opening will be:
Kristin Feireiss, Aedes Berlin and Nils Fischer, Zaha Hadid Architects, London

About:
Jean Sundin is a founder and principal of Office for Visual Interaction, Inc. She is the Director of Education for the Professional Lighting Designers' Association, a professional member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, a former board member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and a former steering committee member of the Lighting Industry Resource Council. Ms. Sundin is a distinguished faculty member at Parsons School of Design in New York City, and has taught lighting courses for the Illuminating Engineering Society and at design schools worldwide.

Rendering of the new LED Streetlight for New York City.
Photo: OVI

Enrique Peiniger is a founder and principal of Office for Visual Interaction, Inc. Mr. Peiniger is treasurer for the Professional Lighting Designers’ Association, and a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, American Institute of Architects, American Association of Museums and the U.S. Green Building Council. He has taught courses at the Technical University of Berlin and the Parsons School of Design in New York, where he is a distinguished faculty member.

Selected Project List:
Al Hamra Fidrous Tower - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - Kuwait
Ali Al-Sabah Military Academy - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - Kuwait
Bergisel Ski Jump - Zaha Hadid Architects - Austria
Cairo Expo City - Zaha Hadid Architects - Egypt
Canadian Human Rights Museum - Antoine Predock - Canada
Holyrood National Park Extension - Enric Miralles / Benedetta Tagliabue
    - Scotland
King Abdullah Petroleum Studies & Research Center - Zaha Hadid Architects
    - Saudi Arabia
Kuwait University - College of Arts & Education - Perkins + Will - Kuwait
Macao Science Center- Pei Partnership Architects - China
Museum of Nature and Science - Morphosis Architects - USA
National Palace Museum - Antoine Predock - Taiwan
New York City Streetlight - NYC Dept of Design & Construction & Dept of
    Transportation - USA
People’s Conference Hall - Zaha Hadid Architects - Libya
Qatar College of Media & Communications - Antoine Predock - Qatar
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Experimental Media & Performing Arts
    Center - Grimshaw - USA
Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art - Zaha Hadid Architects - USA
The New York Times Building- Renzo Piano Building Workshop - USA
The Scottish Parliament Building- Enric Miralles/ Benedetta Tagliabue -
    Scotland
The Times Center - Renzo Piano Building Workshop - USA
United States Air Force Memorial - Pei Cobb Freed - USA

Further Information:
Aedes Am Pfefferberg
Christinenstraße 18-19
10119 Berlin • Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)30 282 70 15
Fax: +49 (0)30 283 914 66
eMail: aedes@baunetz.de
web: www.aedes-arc.de