January 25, 2019
Have you ever thought about how lighting could help in a certain crisis or emergency, or how it could save people’s lives? If so, it’s time to raise your voice. Entries are open for the 2019 CLUE competition.
CLUE, which stands for Community Lighting for the Urban Environment, is an annual competition aimed at young and emerging lighting designers, challenging them to design meaningful projects for communities around the world.
Supported by the Signify Lighting Academy, the competition invites participants to consider pressing societal issues and envision innovative design projects. Last year’s winner, selected from 361 entries from 58 countries, is a fine example. The project ’SOL (Suspended Omnidirectional Light)’ by Santiago Bautista (Denmark), seeks to invoke the light and sound of the Mediterranean and bring it to the darkest regions of the world. It envisages creating an artificial sun in a public square, using a giant illuminated balloon tethered by three steel cables. Its light intensity and color
“There is something magical about the idea of tethering the sun to a public plaza,” said Zachary Suchara, a member of last year’s jury. The entry perfectly matched the chosen theme - ‘Light and the Senses’ - helping city dwellers to reconnect with and enhance their experience of public spaces using their senses.