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WELCOME to the wrap up of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects' (LSLP) Bridge Lighting Series, The Illuminating World of Bridges. Significant aspects of crossings have been covered in the past 8 months -- contextual approach, physical typologies and ecosystem considerations. Part 1 introduces the exciting practice of bridge illumination. Part 2 explores luminous colors and international trends. Part 3 provides a technical focus. Part 4 investigates ecological concerns. Part 5 is all about community engagement. Did you miss the previous newsletter chapters? You are in luck! All the stories are compiled as an Ebook gift, available in the download below. A groovy 8”x8” format…get your reading 👓 on. In London, Leni collaborated with NightLab late in March 2026. She participated in the intensive five-day executive course on night-time urbanism and strategies. A flagship program of The Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU) at University College London their remit leverages the city as a living laboratory for socially responsive design research. The NightLab students were comprised of professionals, researchers and practitioners working in urban policy, planning and governance with an interest in the 24-hour city. The course explored contemporary approaches to night-time governance: the challenges and opportunities of managing cities after dark. Working with Andreina Seijas (Barcelona) with insights by planning partner, Alistair Turnham (London), Leni devised a strategic NightSeeing walking route. The intent was an experiential ramble through Soho to see and feel the dull, the ordinary and the spectacular. Transitioning from quiet public space → commercial corridor → nightlife district. Students photographed and mapped their sensory responses onto a new handheld experience application by Andreina. Dr Alessio Kolioulis, Associate Professor in Urban Economic Development, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL and Dr. Andreina Seijas, Program Co-Lead, Founder and Principal, Night-Tank; Lecturer, Sciences Po (in Paris) originated and led the program. Hosted by the City of Oulu, the LUCI Summit brought together city representatives, lighting designers, industry leaders, researchers and artists for an intense program of conference sessions and night-time experiences. The official opening welcomed participants to “snowy Oulu”. Walking along the Art of Darkness Light Art Trail combined professional exchange with first-hand experience of Nordic nightscapes. The 2026 edition of the Summit allowed participants to compare policies, discuss standards, and share concrete project experiences: from strategic masterplans and climate-aligned lighting upgrades to experimental artworks and participatory processes in public space. “Luminous colour in public space, who decides? – A Transatlantic Dialogue” included speakers including Dr Ute Besenecker (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Dr Inkyu Choi (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Olli Rantala (City of Oulu), Joseph Mulligan III (City of Providence) and Mark Domino (Spireworks). The interactive panel explored how cities and partners choose, program and validate luminous color in public spaces. The Transatlantic Dialogue contrasted multiple color approaches in cities such as Oulu and Providence with Seoul’s distinctive, annual model of defining a single city color, derived from palettes inspired by local landscapes, sunsets and rivers. Speakers discussed citizen reactions – often positive. A live poll reflected that 70% feel that there is "too little” luminous color in our cities. 90% felt that criteria for luminous color should be developed and that color choices should be primarily guided by professional expertise from architects and urban planners. One of the most interesting exchanges during the Q&A was an audience member’s query whether “more colour” also mean more light (as in too much light)? Dr Besenecker replied with insight that "more colour" did not mean "more light". Counterintuitively, too much brightness often desaturates color.🎨 The Art of Darkness EU-funded research project is gaining steam. Leni would like to build on Darkness with the Art of Luminous Colour next. On the Boards Aloha Stadium, in Honolulu, features Hawaiian cultural concepts accentuated by light Buffalo’s Terminal B, a lattice framing structure venue will be animated with illumination State University of New York’s Albany McCall Hall a landmark with dynamic façade lighting

Participation is a two-way street (with links to Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4) Welcome to the final edition of Leni Schwendinger Light Projects' (LSLP) Bridge Lighting Series, The Illuminating World of Bridges. Aspects of physical crossings have been covered in the past 8 months -- contextual approach, physical typologies and ecosystem considerations. Here, in our final edition, LSLP suggests methodologies to collect local community and stakeholder input to create welcoming and welcomed luminous rooms. ⭐️Links to Parts 1 through 4 are provided at the end of this page. We are the professionals: designers, artists and engineers. Why enable input for communities and stakeholders? The design team is enriched with local knowledge, which is folded into light and color approach, prospective dynamic patterns, programming for special local dates Community pride and investment is developed: ✅ “I worked on that” Design is ensured to be site specific and unique radiating identity Push back and complaints are reduced or circumvented Evanston, Illinois' Luminous Crossings project  is used as a case study for this LSLP Bridge Lighting issue addressing community engagement. Intent:  An art lighting activation for multiple train line viaducts which run the length of the city Site contexts:  Commercial corridors Underpasses create visual barriers for pedestrians, often cutting through the center of neighborhoods and retail districts. The negative experience of traversing beneath them is detrimental to feelings of connection, safety, and community enjoyment, particularly after dark. The goal is to design lighting strategies to activate and beautify these underpasses, transforming eyesores into assets for the community and local businesses. An existing conditions survey launched the project. Photography, measurements, traffic patterns, under-carriage and sidewalk conditions are documented along with contextual atmospheres. This collection provides material data to ascertain design limitations, manage expectations, possibilities and challenges. The next phase of the design process is direct engagement with stakeholders representing each of subject districts. Read on to be inspired by the NightSeeing™ methodology mentioned in purple by Evanston's Economic Development Coordinator, Katie Boden. The client, stakeholders or an local outreach firm conducts outreach to encourage program attendance. The program consists of several events: in the evening LightTalk + NightWalk (here with an experiential lighting demonstration), followed by the Envisioning Workshop usually convened the next morning. 1 NIGHTTALK The NightTalk, Leni's creative lighting presentation opens eyes to fresh vantage points to be considered for the future of the site. Additionally, early feedback is debated. Then designers introduce creative precedents to prepare minds to imagine outside the status quo. 2 NIGHTWALK Lighting designers and key stakeholders travel to each viaduct to discuss conditions and aspirations. These are intimate group experiences where points of view can be easily shared. On foot, on site, any conflicting, strongly held opinions are reduced. Minds are receptive to options. 3 DEMONSTRATION Stakeholders are invited to experience public light using a collection of battery-powered, color-changing light fixtures. Participants experiment with light and color applications to various parts of the bridge structure: the walls, sidewalk, underdeck, columns, and murals. The group also experiences immersive light to simulate sidewalk down lighting. 4 ENVISIONING WORKSHOP Stakeholder and community participants are introduced to a educational segment to draw on bridge lighting typologies and methods. Outcome: the attendees develop a common vocabulary to discuss their current experiences and aspirations for the underpasses. Friends and colleagues, did you miss the previous four chapters of 'The Illuminating World of Bridges' ? They are evergreen, so get your reading glasses on. ⭐️ Part 1   introduces the exciting practice of bridge illumination. Part 2  explores luminous colors and international trends. Part 3  provides a technical focus. Part 4  investigates ecological concerns.

The possibilities beyond streetlighting Image based on a drawing by Stephen Fan and Myles Zhang, used with permission.

Light Projects by Leni Schwendinger is the #1 US based professional lighting studio serving global clients. For over 20 years Light Projects has been designing innovative lighting concepts and providing full-service lighting designs that optimize city, urban, and public spaces. Experts in both day and nighttime light experiences, resulting in spectacular creative visions with light offering safety, beauty, and sustainability. Landscape + Parks < Previous Next > Photos: Mark Johnson / Civitas NORTH EMBARCADERO VISION PROJECT (NEVP) Location San Diego, CA Client Port of San Diego Team Project Design Consultants, Civitas, Spurlock Poirier For the San Diego Esplanade, Leni Schwendinger Light Projects’ team designed illumination for the waterfront, gardens, and the Broadway approach. A multi-year project, the Embarcadero’s asphalt surfaces, sad kiosks, and lack of trees set against the magnificent San Diego Bay waters provided bones for revitalization. The project envisioned a gateway to San Diego’s downtown creating a regenerated destination. The consultant team worked with multiple clients, including the business improvement district, Civic San Diego, Port of San Diego, and the City of San Diego. A welcoming urban park interwoven with a working waterfront was the result of the redeveloped masterplan. Following a highly collaborative, public engagement process, Phase 1 of NEVP reclaimed a 1,000-foot long vehicular-oriented throughway and returns the Bay’s water’s edge to thousands of visitors enjoying the many cultural activities found along the water’s edge. The Light Projects’ team collaborated closely with two landscape architects, urban designer, engineers, and public artist. Amid the lush landscape of trees, paths, and plazas, visitors encounter architecturally bold ticket kiosks, artist-designed shade pavilions, and a café. The lighting, graphics, and furnishings recall the craft and heft of the maritime industries. A series of formal garden rooms are defined by the redesigned landscape with seating areas and a complement of custom light poles. An 8-foot-wide water quality band provides visible conveyance and treatment of stormwater to the harbor’s edge. Parallel to the walkway a runnel creates an incised, illuminated line at night. A grand hallway along West Broadway is created by Medjool Date Palm trees planted along the median and sidewalks. The tall, linear palms alternate with Schwendinger’s spiral light-poles, which are 30-feet high and perform both street lighting and up-light the palm tree canopies. At the end of Broadway, the Port Pavilion features Schwendinger’s Tidal Radiance a dynamic, exterior glass, metals, and public-art light wall. All elements of the project, including plant materials, ground surfaces, and furnishing designs, were based on the appropriate scale and durability for the coastal environment.

Light Projects by Leni Schwendinger is the #1 US based professional lighting studio serving global clients. For over 20 years Light Projects has been designing innovative lighting concepts and providing full-service lighting designs that optimize city, urban, and public spaces. Experts in both day and nighttime light experiences, resulting in spectacular creative visions with light offering safety, beauty, and sustainability. Public Art < Previous Next > Photo: AJ Epstein Photos: Eduard Hueber / Arch Photo Dreaming in Color Location Marion O. McCaw Hall, Seattle, Washington Client The City of Seattle, Seattle Center Team LMN Architects, GGN. Ron Fogel Associates Dreaming in Color, a three-dimensional color field was commissioned by two public art agencies and the Seattle Center. The artwork at the Seattle Center is constructed of nine large-scale metal-mesh scrims framing the Kreielsheimer Promenade at the Marion O. McCaw Hall Theater. The passageway is 450- feet long. The rectangular scrims stand 30-feet vertically and range from 40 to 70 feet wide. Geometrically extending the theater lobby outward -- and echoed by the hardscape patterning below-- the progression of scrims simultaneously defines and echoes the architecture of what was once a negligible interstitial space. Each mesh plane is dynamically illuminated including the ground plane. Dreaming in Color further transforms the landscape at night-- intensifying the welcome that awaits Seattle Center visitors. Perspective viewing of the accumulated, illuminated surfaces magnifies the potential for animated color mixing as the scrims are virtually transparent. Through calculated aiming angles an orchestrated set of "melodies for the eyes" are heightened by horizontal bands of secondary shades that feather into the wider fields of color. Dreaming in Color seeks to build upon and extend the Color Field explorations begun by painters in the 1950’s and continuing up until present day. Chromatic abstraction defined the work of Color Field pioneers including Mark Rothko, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Jules Olitski – all of whom flooded large canvases with pure pigments varied in saturation and contrast. These early Color Field artists were interested in creating “atmospheres” in which color was the subject, and when viewed close-up, became environments in and of themselves. The vision that drove Dreaming in Color from its conception to its actualization was offering a theatrical experience to all Seattle Center and McCaw Hall visitors, whether ticket holders or not, transporting the building’s meaning from inside to outside for all to experience. In 2018, the lighting fixtures were upgraded to LED and new dynamic sequences were designed by Schwendinger. Additionally, professional designers are currently also invited to experiment with the color field installation.

Light Projects by Leni Schwendinger is the #1 US based professional lighting studio serving global clients. For over 20 years Light Projects has been designing innovative lighting concepts and providing full-service lighting designs that optimize city, urban, and public spaces. Experts in both day and nighttime light experiences, resulting in spectacular creative visions with light offering safety, beauty, and sustainability. Landscape + Parks < Previous Next > Photos: Hanns Joosten Photos: Hanns Joosten The Park Location Las Vegas, Nevada Client MGM Resorts International Team !MELK, Marnell Architecture, Cooper Robertson & Partners, Arup “The Park”, is the first open green space on the Las Vegas Strip. Schwendinger, with Arup, created illumination concepts for the 55 to 75-foot tall, individually unique, shade structures. Built in a shipyard in Rotterdam, Leni was allowed two working nights to demonstrate the winning color-changing schemes. The typological light angles were documented in-situ. Once shipped and installed into The Park, Arup’s lighting design team supervised light fixture placements on specialty mounting plates inside the structures. Lighting technicians were required to wear climbing gear to scale the steep metal side walls while attaching and cabling the LED color changing units. Light is primarily emitted from inside out. The inner perforated surfaces of the tulip-shaped structures are painted white as a slender canvas for boldly reflected hues of the rigorously planned color palette. Illumination cast onto the dark exterior surfaces is restricted to surprise moments to give the sense of opening up or blooming. Computer program sequences were conducted over several nights. It was important to calibrate the brightness and dynamics in relation to the surrounding Strip with its highly colored blinking light-signs. The sixteen monumental shade structures transform mesmerically throughout the evening and, on the quarter-hour, depict colors of cactus blossoms.