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PALME Lighting Schemes Set High Standards
One of the judges of this year’s MELDA lighting design awards has stressed the importance and significance of the initiative.
MELDA is organised by IIR Entertainment & Installation Technology Group and forms an integral part of PALME Middle East. The event is run in association with international architectural lighting journal Mondo*arc, whose editor Paul James, says: “The Middle East is an important region for the magazine, and we regularly cover exciting projects from the area. As such, I’m particularly excited about being on the judging panel.”
He adds that with the amount of development currently taking place in the Middle East, it is important to showcase the best of lighting design in “order to separate the wheat from the chaff”.
James explains: “There is a general feeling in the design community that lighting, particularly in Dubai, is becoming increasingly ‘Las Vegas’ in style … in order for public buildings to get noticed in the crowd. Having looked at the entries to this year’s awards I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of quality schemes throughout the region.”
Having helped organise the hugely-popular Switched On London lighting festival this February Paul James is well-qualified to comment. He says he is conscious of the temptation to use ‘point and shoot’ colour changing techniques.
“This was something we were keen to avoid, instead opting for intelligent schemes with clever solutions. I’m glad to say that this is the case for most of the entries I have seen so far. You can tell that the lighting designers have really thought about their surroundings when implementing their schemes.
“Light levels in the Middle East tend to be higher than in Europe due to local expectations but I was pleased to see that energy efficiency was at the forefront of many of the designs I have seen. This is important and must be encouraged.
“The Middle East Lighting Design Awards can only help develop more energy conscious schemes.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Speirs (of Speirs and Major Associates) has been commissioned to design the lighting for the ballroom at Dubai’s Al Murooj Rotana, where the Gala Awards dinner will be held on May 21st – but he is keeping details of the design firmly under wraps.
The designer will also underpin the Awards by presenting 'Made of Light – the Art of Light and Architecture' in PALME Middle East's Architectural Lighting and Interior Illumination zone.
MELDA forms part of this year’s PALME Middle East expo, which takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from May 20-22, 2007.
5th April 2007
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