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Public Spaces + Streets < Previous Next > Photo: Sam Oberter Photography Photo: Leni Schwendinger Queens Plaza Streetscape & Park Location New York City, NY Client NYC Economic Development Corp Team Margie Ruddick, Wallace Roberts &Todd (WRT), Marpillero Pollak Architects, Michael Singer ​ ​ The Queens Plaza project spans 1.3 miles in the Long Island City Business District. The project revitalizes JFK Park and connects it to the dramatic water’s edge below the Queensboro Bridge. The installation opened in Spring 2012 and has transformed this primary entry point into Long Island City and Queens into a dynamic and appealing gateway. Results included improved traffic flow and enhanced the pedestrian environment with new sidewalks, curbs, plantings, landscaped traffic medians, bikeways, and enhanced lighting. A former parking lot was transformed into the inviting 1.5-acre Dutch Kills Green park with an array of benches, plantings, and landmark trees that are illuminated. The public space features non-invasive, drought-tolerant native plantings and artist-designed interlocking, permeable pavers that direct storm-water to the plantings. Schwendinger’s Light Projects designed the roadway, bikeway, and amenity lighting.

PUBLIC SPEAKING Play Video Play Video 03:51 Shades of Night | Cities of Light with Leni Schwendinger Hear from Leni Schwendinger, Creative Director at NightseeingTM to discover how light creates joy, safety and legibility after dark. Discover why planners need to place night time design at the centre of their night time economy strategy. Leni led Cities Leadership Institute's 'Get the Night Right' Masterclasses in Sydney and the Hunter Region on the Night Time Economy. Play Video Play Video 10:52 Burlington 2019 - A New Language Of Lighting | Leni Schwendinger Signify Design and Lighting Academy hosted the 2nd edition of the Burlington Sessions, a CoCreate aimed at bringing together lighting artists & designers that inspire us, push the limits and create a new language of lighting. This is a small group, by invitation only, of international recognized disruptors leading the way into the future of lighting. These sessions are very hands-on, Signify shared some of the solutions we are developing in a very early stage, our guests were able to experiment and explore, and share their ideas on what/ how would these concepts work for them and their customers. Leni Schwendinger is an award-winning authority on city lighting & creator of illuminated environments. This work is shared through her public speaking & envisioning engagements, including NightSeeing™. She directs International Nighttime Design Initiative, establishing an interdisciplinary profession. Leni is a Visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and a Design Trust for Public Space Fellow (NYC) Contact us: Find more about Signify Lighting Academy: https://www.signify.com/global/lighting-academy Follow us on Social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SignifyUni LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/signify-lighting-university/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SignifyLightingAcademy/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PhilipsLighting/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=19 #Signify #LightingAcademy #BurS2 #BurlingtonSessions #Lighting #SignifyDesign #LightingDesign #LightingArtists #PioneersofLight Play Video Play Video 35:03 The Collaborative Night: Where light and cities meet Light for Life - July 27, 2020 A recording of Leni Schwendinger's unique presentation on behalf of Lighting Urban Communities International (LUCI) and hosted by IES (Illuminating Engineering Society). Light for Life was a global two-day online conference. Play Video Play Video 03:34 Architectural Digest: Lighting the Way Join Leni, Architectural Digest and Delta Airlines in a discussion of cities after work hours. Visit the Light Projects studio in the Fashion Center district, Manhattan. Travel through Times Square and New York City, Broadway Pier in San Diego, Liberty Science Center in New Jersey and Coney Island in Brooklyn. "Light is a tool to transform cities at night. The work we do with light is meant to transform neighborhoods, districts, infrastructure and spaces. To me night is a beautiful canvas..." http://cs.condenastdigital.com/cs/promo/delta/travelbetter/ for an additional image gallery. Play Video Play Video 19:07 Leni Schwendinger on Nighttime Design for the 24-Hour City "Nighttime is an existing condition, and that condition engenders different behaviors, different situations, different perceptions at night" Leni Schwendinger discusses the role of lighting design to create a 24-hour city. Schwendinger aims to utilize lighting design to allow the nighttime to be a place of activity in the urban, where people in public feel safe and included. Leni's signature NightSeeing™ program is an eye-opening concept to understand the way lighting impacts our after-hours urban experience. By designing lighting to fit the needs of different neighborhoods rather than trying to curate a specific type of experience on top of an existing neighborhood, Schwendinger sees potential in the development of nightlife in urban areas that do not conflict with local communities. Leni Schwendinger is the founder of NightSeeing™, the International Nighttime Design Initiative, and has formerly worked at Arup, taught at Portland State University, and has been a fellow at the Design Trust for Public Space. Schwendinger’s past projects have included installations at Kingston Bridge, Glasgow, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York, and the Seattle Center’s McCaw Hall. She brought her first NightSeeing™ walk to Prague during reSITE's In/visible City conference. -- reSITE is an international platform connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and economics. We feature thought leaders whose work pushes the boundaries on how we build, design, regenerate and create life in cities, and frame them through many lenses, convening them in one place. We act as a catalyst for social action and innovative leadership. We encourage an exchange of ideas about making cities more livable, competitive, and resilient. We protect and promote public space, architecture, and sustainable development in cities. All to make our cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile, and designed with humans in mind. Listen to our podcast Design and the City on the link below or wherever you get your podcasts. ▫️www.reSITE.org/podcast Learn More + Connect with Us! www.reSITE.org ▫️https://www.facebook.com/reSITEfestival/ ▫️https://www.instagram.com/resite_/ ▫️https://twitter.com/reSITE_ ▫️https://www.linkedin.com/company/resite-festival/ Play Video Play Video 06:14 As You Light It: Leni Schwendinger In our second installment of As You Light It we ventured to Manhattan to interview "lighting urbanist" Leni Schwendinger. From the terminals of Port Authority to the brights lights of Time Square and the muted majesty of Bryant Park at night, Schwendinger takes us on an odyssey that explores the unique effects of lighting in the city that doesn't sleep! ONLINE PRESENTATIONS + TRENDING TALKS Luminous Legibility: an online presentation and discussion about the trends and innovative methodologies that are rocking the world of public lighting design. Connecting Communities through Smart and Responsive Lighting: Using the newly released Smart Lighting Guidebook , Leni presents a holistic approach to digital technologies — valuing safety, welcome, walkability, and social capital -- to consider the practical the advantages of connected lighting as a critical tool for around-the-clock placemaking. SCHEDULE TODAY LUCI recently commissioned Leni to compile a report about the state of the field of urban lighting in the U.S. The report submitted by Leni is excellent. It showcases her curiosity and her expertise on the topic. It uncovers interesting differences in nighttime lighting values and governance between European cities and those in America. We are looking forward to continuing our collaborations with Leni on this research." — Mark Burton-Page Director General, Lighting Urban Communities International Association

Infrastructure and Bridges < Previous Next > Photos: Mikaela Baird ​ Parking Garage and Community Space Location Queens, NY Client Urbahn Architects Team Marvel Design, Hunter Roberts Construction Group ​ ​ The Queens Parking Garage and Community Space, completed in 2023, is the first New York City Department of Design and Construction "design-build" project. Leni Schwendinger Light Projects (LSLP), a Women-owned Business Enterprise, consulted with Urbahn Architects and Marvel Design, headed by Hunter Roberts Construction Group. Beautiful lighting enhances a feeling of safety, care, and identity. The Queens Parking Garage and Community Center’s east facade is punctuated by triangular, metallic fins. The large-scale dimensional wall is a canvas for illumination. Colored light dynamically displayed in the public realm is an LSLP specialty. The team conducted a series of sketching, rendering, technical, spatial, and budgeting exercises to arrive at the final illumination concept: Iridescent Waves. Clients and designers determined that the massive facade would provide a moment of vibrancy for vehicular viewers traversing the adjacent highway tangle, where the Van Wyck Expressway visually converges with Grand Central Parkway. The textured, luminous wall would be a landmark for those drivers, especially during high traffic volumes. For residential tower occupants, it will provide a far-away point of focus. During the evening hours, Iridescent Waves reflects ever-changing hues inspired by the butterfly and bird wings’ “scattered light” chromatic effect. The selected tones are predominantly of the cool spectrum, accented with warm tones. The sequence plays in a loop from sunset until midnight. The programmed composition is bookended by static white providing “white space on the page.” Bookending provides a beginning and end to the luminous color sequence and focuses the viewer’s attention on the light art itself. LSLP provided lighting design for the building exterior. The Community Center entry faces the Queens Borough Hall. The parking entrance faces east toward the highways. With its outdoor stairways and plazas, all sides of the structure present a dynamic profile during the day. After sunset, the eastern side turns iridescent.

Planning + Community < Previous Next > Video Production by Plane-Site Photo: Don Slater/Configuring Light Smart Everyday Nighttime Design, Cartagena Location Cartagena, Colombia (Latin America) Client NOT LISTED Team Arup, Despacio, Plane-Site, London School of Economics' Configuring Light, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, iGuzzini, Findeter ​ ​ Smart Everyday Nighttime Design, an international, collaborative, research project led by Leni Schwendinger, with Arup, focused on innovative ways to improve the nighttime experience in Getsemaní, a UNESCO world-heritage district in Cartagena, Colombia, undergoing rapid gentrification. The gentrification relies on the colorful and edgy authenticity of the area. Yet at the same time, threatens to obliterate that uniqueness. This project was a research-based after-dark design project, created with and for the local community. Urban design often neglects the nocturnal city, when the streets show another side to their character. The practice of nighttime design asks questions about the after-dark experience — for transportation and mobility, urban spatial elements, public acoustics, or digital amenities. Nighttime design proposes that lighting should play a more active role in shaping cities that feel safer, more legible, enjoyable, and more sociable for the user. Lighting enhances public health by extending the hours of walkability and social encounters. Additionally, it augments economic vitality through retail and cultural offerings after dark. The Smart Everyday Nighttime Design project focused on light and lighting, to develop a new lantern design for the area’s streets. The sketches developed by the community during the workshop showed how a modern, universal object could be localized according to a specific urban environment. With its blend of old and new components, the new lantern accentuated the character of Getsemaní, and its collaborative component brought together the interests of residents and commercial activity. The project had two overall ambitions: the first was to conduct research and develop a new and sustainable Nighttime Design concept; the second was to improve community connections and galvanize local stakeholders through the use of private property for public lighting. In July 2016, a community workshop and a "pop-up" pilot installation took place on a commercial street in Getsemani, Cartagena. This one-day workshop and one-night pilot were a point of departure for addressing critical issues of social/urban policy. The workshop included community stakeholders including politicians, artists, designers, cultural organizations, and most importantly, the local residents. Historical preservation, infrastructure, heritage, tourism, and mobility were discussed and debated. The project’s findings were captured on video by Plane—Site, a global agency specializing in full-cycle content strategy.

PLANNING + COMMUNITY 82nd Street Partnership Lighting Strategy LOCATION: Queens, NY, U.S. CLIENT: 82nd Street Partnership (Business Improvement District) TEAM: NightSeeing™ Continue Double Bay Centre Public Domain Lighting Strategy LOCATION: Double Bay, Australia CLIENT: Woollahra Municipal Council TEAM: Arup, ASPECT Studios, NightSeeing™ Continue NightSeeing at Myrtle Beach LOCATION: Myrtle Beach, California CLIENT: Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance TEAM: NightSeeing™ Continue Smart Everyday Nighttime Design, Cartagena LOCATION: Cartagena, Colombia (Latin America) TEAM: Arup, Despacio, Plane-Site, London School of Economics’ Configuring Light, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, iGuzzini, Findeter Continue NightSeeing™ Third Street Corridor, for Downtown Santa Monica LOCATION: Santa Monica, California, U.S. CLIENT: Downtown Santa Monica (DTSM), Santa Monica City Planning Department TEAM: NightSeeing™ Continue Municipal Smart City Street Lighting Conversion & Evolving Technology Guidebook LOCATION: New York Capital District, U.S. CLIENT: Capital District Transportation TEAM: International Nighttime Design Initiative (NTD), Planning 4 Place Continue

Infrastructure + Bridges < Previous Next > Photo: NYC Department of Transportation Photo: Leni Schwendinger Under the Elevated, Phase II Pilot Location Sunset Park Brookly, NY Client Design Trust for Public Space, New York City of Department of Trasnportaion (DOT), Industry City Team Tricia Martin, Landscape and Sustainability; Quilian Riano, Urban Design; Arup, Technical Lighting ​ ​ There are 700 miles of elevated infrastructure which creates darkened spaces below New York City’s bridges, expressways, and rail tracks. The New York City DOT intends to develop a set of physical design typologies to reclaim these public spaces. Design Trust for Public Space coordinated a study and pilot program with partners DOT and Industry City tapping collaborative design fellows including Leni Schwendinger for illumination at the Gowanus Expressway at 36th Street and 3rd Avenue. There are 700 miles of elevated infrastructure which creates darkened spaces below New York City’s bridges, expressways, and rail tracks. The New York City DOT intends to develop a set of physical design typologies to reclaim these public spaces. Design Trust for Public Space coordinated a study and pilot program with partners DOT and Industry City tapping collaborative design fellows including Leni Schwendinger for illumination at the Gowanus Expressway at 36th Street and 3rd Avenue. ​Underpasses are notorious as dividers between communities and assets such as waterfronts: daytime can feel spooky and nighttime dangerous. Our design includes a light-colored paint coating for comfort and better visibility during the day. The parking configuration was rationalized, and tiles defined a safe walkway. Features include a botanical experiment to cleanse run-off water from the upper-level road surface. For lighting, we sought to stitch together both geographical sides of the bridge, which lead to and from the Upper New York Bay waterfront and 36th Street subway stop. The lighting scope included focal points such as illumination of the unusual, splayed columns and curved beams, as well as volumetric space illumination for pedestrian waiting and crossing. Additionally, tests were conducted with green infrastructure plants and horticultural lighting. Illumination, especially the plant lighting, was called out as number one in the list of improvements by the DOT post-installation survey of visitors, residents and local workers. From the New York Times, “The murky blocks by 36th Street and Third Avenue now have brighter lighting, beautified lighting, beautified walkways and lovely planters to clean the air and filter runoff from the highway above.”

LANDSCAPES + PARKS Photo: Barrett Doherty Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park Phase II LOCATION: Queens, NY, U.S. CLIENT: NYC Economic Development Corp TEAM: Arup, SWA/Thomas Balsley, Weiss/Manfredi Architects Continue North Embarcadero Vision Project (NEVP) LOCATION: San Diego, California, U.S. CLIENT: Port of San Diego TEAM: Project Design Consultants, Civitas, Spurlock Poirier Continue Zaryadye Park LOCATION: Moscow, Russia CLIENT: City of Moscow TEAM: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Hargreaves, Citymakers, Mobility in Chain, Buro Happold, Arup Continue The Park LOCATION: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. CLIENT: MGM Resorts International TEAM: !MELK, Marnell Architecture, Cooper Robertson & Partners, Arup Continue HtO Toronto Harbourfront Parks LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada CLIENT: The City of Toronto TEAM: Janet Rosenberg + Associates, Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Stantec Continue Jiading Park LOCATION: Jiading, China CLIENT: Shanghai Jiading New City Development Company, Ltd. TEAM: Sasaki Continue

Landscape + Parks < Previous Next > Photo: Singleton/SWA Photo: David Lloyd Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park Phase II Location Quees, NY Client NYC Economic Development Corp Team Arup, SWA/Thomas Balsley, Weiss/Manfredi Architects ​ ​ Hunters Point Park South, Phase 2, along Newtown Creek, transforms 5.5 acres of abandoned industrial landscape into a new waterfront park. This park initiated a complex development that includes 5000 units of affordable housing, two schools, and an expanded ferry stop. The landscape features an illuminated, majestic, cantilevered platform. The 30-foot-high platform reaches out over the East River and provides visitors with panoramic nighttime views of Manhattan’s sparkling skyline. There are varied programmed spaces for children and adults which include a playground, picnic terraces, wooden seating areas, and a kayak launch. Each space is appropriately illuminated. Working closely with landscape architects and architects, the illumination design harmonizes with the stunning, natural, riverside habitat bordered by the city and remnants of its industrial past. Soft lighting is integrated and accentuates park furniture, walkways, and edges.

Public Art < Previous Next > Photos: Eduard Hueber / Arch Photo ​ The Great Hall: A Spatial Portrait Location New Jersey, NJ Client Liberty Science Center Team EwingCole, Ed Purver, Ron Fogel Associates ​ ​ Public artist, Leni Schwendinger, and her studio won the commission from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts percent for art funds New Jersey’s Liberty Science Center’s Great Hall. Working together with the Center’s curator and architect, Schwendinger sited A Spatial Portrait, a monumental, suspended, interactive sculpture eleven feet above the floor in the mid-space of the Hall. This pendant of 120 strands of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), each 10 feet long, creates a dazzling show of light in real time. Reflecting upon and reinterpreting the Center’s belief that every person’s actions affect everyone else on the planet and conversely, how global changes affect each one of us— a light installation was envisioned to capture the movement of every visitor as they circulate throughout the Science Court. The composite movements of visitors create an ever-changing three-dimensional “spatial portrait” of the room. From multiple positions in the Hall, sensors and video cameras track visitors’ movements. Through digital processing and switching, this information is then translated and displayed on a rectangular spatial field. The information displayed in the LED array consists of three different programming concepts— each offering a different interpretation of the movement in the Science Court. These concepts are defined in the following ways: The figurative concept marks the entry of visitors. Visitors’ colors, shapes, and movements are captured by a video camera at a designated area close to the main entrance. This visual information is pixilated, reassembled, and fed into the LED array—and is viewable from multiple vantage points in the Court. Like a three-dimensional mirror of light, the interacting visitors view a low-resolution depiction of their actions displayed in real-time. The diagrammatic concept celebrates the passing of time and movement. Cameras positioned around the LED array track visitors’ presence throughout the Court’s monitored area. As people move through the space, their progress is tracked—drawn into the spatial field above and represented in two preselected colors, orange and white. Vivid bursts of color are displayed in the LED array when people cross paths during a set period.

NIGHTSEEING™ CLIENTS ​ Architecture/Engineer/Construction Industry Architects and Planners Landscape Architects Urban Designers Lighting Designers Municipalities Department of Transportation and Public Works Department of Planning Department of Sustainability Tourist Board Business Improvement Districts Architecture/Engineer/Construction Industry Architects and Planners Landscape Architects Urban Designers Lighting Designers Municipalities Department of Transportation and Public Works Department of Planning Department of Sustainability Tourist Board Business Improvement Districts I had the pleasure to participate in Leni's important "wake-up call" on how we want to develop our cities in the future. Leni brought up many important questions and leaves us in new light. Great work, looking forward to more! –– NightSeeing™ attendee (Times Square) Despite the Covid-induced constraints of a Zoom talk, through a virtual 'walk' through the City of London Leni was still able to artfully show the fundamental importance and advantages of night to our sense of place and understanding of our urban surrounds. –– Virtual NightSeeing™ attendee (London) Book an Online Tour www.nightseeing.net Light Projects and NightSeeing™ together comprise a platform for locally engaged, inspiring nights. By identifying the needs and wants of your constituents we drill down to the real needs of nighttime lighting so that community gets on board. Districts undergoing improvements often neglect 50% of the 24-hour day. The hours between dusk and dawn can be a concern – for safety, lack of activity (dead zones) or too much activity (bars and late-night noise). Our job is to work with stakeholders solve these challenges. NightSeeing™, Navigate Your Luminous City, is a staged program in one, two or three parts Walking: raise awareness and elevate the vocabulary of light, Workshopping: build consensus for future nighttime objectives Strategizing: develop an action plan to implement local night and light projects Leni takes your audience through an immersive LightWalk experience, decoding the shadows twinkling lights of the city to open minds and hearts to the potential of your urban night.