July 9, 2025 • 24 mins
Enter our world of lighting design with our latest community roundup. We're thrilled to welcome a wave of new members to our growing community, creating an increasingly diverse group of lighting professionals sharing insights and inspiration.
Mark your calendars for two webinars approaching: Sarvdeep Basur presents "Preserving Darkness" on July 24th, hosted by the Signify Lighting Academy, which explores the balance between design excellence and environmental responsibility. Henk Rotman presents "The Growing Role of Controls" on July 25th, hosted by BHA School of Lighting, examining how technology is reshaping professional roles within our industry.
The highlight of this episode features a conversation between Martin Klaasen and Juan Ferrari discussing AI's transformative impact on lighting design. Juan, who directs a team of 25 lighting designers after transitioning from a theatrical background, offers a practical perspective on embracing AI as a powerful tool rather than viewing it as a threat. His journey from actor to lighting director illustrates how diverse experiences enhance creative approaches to lighting narratives in architectural spaces. "Everybody using AI is not cheating," Juan emphasises. "They're using a tool that is powering and amplifying what they're doing."
We also spotlight an exciting international opportunity – the design competition for ornamental lighting at the UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, with submissions open until August 19th. Finally, don't miss our preview of the upcoming Business of Lighting Design episode featuring Paul Nulty, who shares candid insights about the diverse skill set required to run a successful lighting design practice.
Join our community at members.vldcommunity.com to access these resources and connect with fellow professionals.
Creative Lighting Asia
A leading provider of architectural lighting design and implementation solutions.
Learn more about our community by visiting www.vld.community
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more like this, please signup, subscribe and would appreciate a 5-star review!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
you're tuned in to our latest what's on the
platform episode, a regularroundup where we spotlight
community happenings, trendingtopics and what's ahead at the
virtual lighting designcommunity.
First up, a huge welcome to allour new members.
We've seen an influx recentlyand we're thrilled to have you
join the community.
If you're listening and haven'tyet explored the platform,
(00:24):
here's a quick rundown of what'shappening and what you can get
involved with.
Let's look ahead to eventscoming up later this month.
On the 24th of July, signify ishosting the webinar Preserving
Darkness, presented by SarvdeepBasur.
This webinar dives into theintersection of design and
sustainability, the role ofresponsible lighting and the
(00:45):
broader impact of your work onthe environment.
On the 25th of July, bha Schoolof Lighting are hosting the
webinar titled the Growing Roleof Controls.
Hank Rotman will be discussinghow controls are reshaping roles
and responsibilities inlighting design.
Jump onto the platform atmembersvldcommunity and go to
(01:08):
events to learn more or RSVP Nowfor some community highlights.
The spotlight on projectssection in our community hub has
been getting a workout.
We've had some great membershipwork showcasing a range of
innovative, inspiring projects.
The show and tell area has seenseveral dynamic webinars,
including a recent talk by DavidGilbey on Lighting for Tomorrow
(01:30):
, hosted by BHA.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
One of the things I love about biophilia is how the
psychological affects thephysiological.
So you're in a hospital wardwhere you get daylight and you
look over greenery and you justyou're in a hospital ward where
you get daylight and you lookover greenery and you just feel
well in yourself psychologically, you feel better.
Well, it's researched that theydispense less pain medication,
(01:56):
that people actually get wellquicker, so feeling better helps
you get well.
I love that.
Ai Guys.
In my opinion, it's a tool.
It's a very useful tool andit's one.
(02:16):
It's a brainstorming tool.
It's get some ideas tool.
But I'm going to talk about thepros and cons of AI.
I mean, you can do anythingwith it.
It's about where you know howwe control light, where we put
light no light above thevertical and I mean it's quite
funny.
If you look at Mosterdam, whichis the responsible light
(02:39):
regulation in Saudi Arabia, theysay don't use up lights, no up
light whatsoever.
But as a lighting designer, Iknow that I can use up light and
control up light.
So for me it's more aboutresponsible design than you know
, accepting that we have to workwithin the norms, standards and
(03:00):
regulations around the world.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Don't miss your chance to take part in the
design competition for theornamental and artistic lighting
of the Cathedral of Santiago deCompostela, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, supported byLight Collective.
This is your opportunity toengage in a truly international
challenge.
Submissions are open until the19th of August.
Find all the details on theplatform.
(03:23):
This week we're excited tohighlight a fascinating
long-form conversations recentlyposted by Light Talk, featuring
Martin Clausen in discussionwith Juan Ferrari on AI and the
future of lighting design.
It's over an hour of insightful, forward-thinking commentary.
We'll share a few standoutmoments.
Right now.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
There is a notion and it's a really interesting bit
of a conversation which is anotion that everybody that is
using AI is cheating.
We need to move away from that.
Everybody that is using AI isusing a tool that is powering
and amplifying what they'redoing.
They're not cheating.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah, it has been quite a while since we last
spoke, that's for sure.
But I'm having you here becauseI want to talk about ai and the
future of lighting design.
But before we dive into that,uh, give me a little bit of your
background.
A lot of people know you, butthere's also probably some of
our audience that don't know youso good.
If you gave us a bit of yourbackground in terms of where
(04:23):
were you born, what did youstudy, how did you get into the
position you are today, it's avery convoluted journey, as most
of the lighting designers inthe industry.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I'm Argentinian.
I was born in Buenos Aires many, many, many years ago.
I'm not going to tell you whenwas that, but many years ago.
You need to trust me there.
I'm not going to tell you whenwas that, but many years ago,
you need to trust me there.
I trained as an actor and thenI started directing theatre and
then I actually startedperforming and then I started
(04:58):
getting involved in all of thetechnical aspects of theatre,
and technical aspects that Iliked the most was lighting, and
I became kind of anaccomplished theatre lighting
designer to the point that Istarted doing things that were
over and above what I thought Iknew.
So I came here to the UK tostudy theatre lighting design.
(05:20):
I studied at the Royal CentralSchool of Speech and Drama.
I did my course there, I did aBA in light and in theatre
lighting and from there on,while I was at university, I
started shifting my attention toarchitectural lighting.
(05:40):
I find it fascinating that thenarrative that we had in theatre
and that I have actually livedas an actor and as a director
and as a lighting designer intheatre didn't naturally exist
in architectural lighting.
So I actually started payingattention to that and starting
exploring that, to the pointthat I ended up working in
(06:01):
architectural lighting, workingin architectural lighting.
So I got my first job as anarchitectural lighting designer
in a company called Equation.
That has now changed hands.
It's the actual equation, it'sthe GIA equation, but at that
point Mark Hensman was actuallythe director at Equation.
So I started working there.
I met some of my colleagues, mycurrent colleagues you had
(06:23):
Corley there, there inparticular, jonathan rush and um
and uh.
John then moved to to horleyand I moved shortly after and
since then we have actually beendeveloping the lighting team
for horley, first of thedirection of dominic merrick and
now under our own direction.
So between me, jon and RuthKelly was kit.
(06:44):
We are actually running thelighting design department for
Foley, which is quite up andagain a very well recognized and
well established lightingdesign department in its own
right within a massive, reallybig engineering company that is
also part of a bigger, evenbigger multinational company
(07:04):
called tetra tech.
So that's my role at the moment.
I direct a team of 25 people inlighting design.
Um, they're lovely.
They're really, in my view, themost creative people that I
have actually met with aenormous understanding of the
technical uh knowledge that youneed to have in order to deliver
(07:25):
the best quality lightingdesign possible.
So, yeah, that's that's my rolecurrently and I love talking,
so I do a lot of talks and I no,no, no, you're yes, that's
where I end up, so I'm quitecurious also, martin.
So that's why I ended up umworking and exploring AI, which
(07:46):
is another big story, anotherlong story in its own right.
We'll get to that.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
We'll get to that, I've got a cheeky question.
The fact that you have been anactor been of help in your
profession when meeting clients?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think that I actually think that I it helps
communicating anything that youdo to understand your body, to
understand the way that youexpress yourself, to understand
the emotions that you feel whileexpressing and any sort of
register that you get over yourown tools, of your own physical,
emotional tools.
(08:27):
It's quite helpful in anyenvironment.
So, yes, it helped me.
It.
It, to be honest, um, one ofthe most important things for me
is to to be able to communicateproperly, and lighting is a
very difficult.
It looks very easy, but it'svery difficult to communicate in
words.
Uh and uh, and I think that my,my theater background have
(08:49):
helped me enormously there, andthen and then the.
The notion that lighting is atool that actually tells stories
and that has a narrative it has, as all of that piece of work
of mine is is based on myexperience in theater, really,
so it's a yes.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
I've helped me a lot yes yeah, I think it's a great
combination because in theaterlighting your focus is
technically on the actors whenyou light, but in architectural
lighting it's more aboutlighting the architecture.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So I think that combined knowledge I think is is
great uh, but also inarchitecture it's it's not only
lighting the architecture, it'slighting for people using it.
So, although we don't, we don'tnecessarily experience, uh, our
, our lives as a play or as anarrative to, we don't feel that
(09:42):
our lives are a story.
We are actually living throughemotions in the same that we are
living through emotions at play.
So it's, it's quite importantthat lighting takes into account
the feelings and the journeysthat people have within the
architectural spaces, and that'sone of the most important
things for me so let's jump intoai straight away.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
At what point of time did you get caught by the AI
bug?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I actually.
That's why it's quite funny Ido a talk about AI and I
actually expose myself quite ina big manner in that particular
talk because I'm a user of AIand user and abuser of AI.
So I started playing with AI ona journey to Birmingham.
Actually, we were in the car,and particularly with ChatGPT we
(10:49):
were in a car a about, uh,lighting, and he'd answered it
in a way that I couldn't.
I couldn't answer it.
Um, even if I was given an houror two to to respond to that
particular question, I went like, wow, this is quite impressive
because in a microsecond, all ofa sudden, I get an answer that
was quite solid and it was verymuch technically sound and I
(11:14):
thought this is quiteinteresting.
So the IALD was doing theirEnlighten conference and calling
for papers and I actuallycomposed a paper completely with
AI, about AI and lighting, butthat without me knowing a lot
about AI, and the paper gotselected.
So all of a sudden, I had tolearn about AI in order to
present about AI, which is anunfortunate, fortunate situation
(11:41):
.
You know, it was a little bitcheeky from me and that was
quite a successful talk because,as I say, I exposed myself into
a point in which I said look, Idon't know anything about ai, I
just put this into a, into a,into inai, and I prepared a
presentation all through ais.
And then this is my story.
Um, right, if you fast forward,this was three years ago now
(12:02):
almost two and a half years ago.
And and uh, if, um, if you fastforward to today, I am actually
constantly training myself onthese new tools and in ai that
are available to us.
I'm playing with all of them.
I use them on a regular basis.
I I encourage people.
(12:24):
I think that my mission on this, on this particular front, is
to encourage people to use it.
Some people are quite scared.
They have ethical concerns,they have moral concerns, they
have all sorts of concerns, andthe only way of actually making
this tool a lesser problem isusing it.
So I'm encouraging people touse it.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I'm a bit like you because I just got late last
year or something, I got intouch with it and then, I know,
if you have seen, but I'mpromoting an AI course for
lighting designers, which I'mdoing with an AI specialist
which, like you, he's anarchitect, he's been in this for
the last couple of years, heknows everything of AI, he
(13:07):
dreams and and lives ai.
But I I feel also a bit bitreluctant and a bit overwhelmed
by all the possibilities.
And you talked about the toolstwo years ago.
Well, you see what speed theyevolve and develop, so what's
possible today.
But for me, the reason to jumpin is to be the reason to be.
(13:28):
You know, I've got 45 years ofexperience in lighting design,
so I can actually sort of beingthe challenger and the
reasonable, the reasoning behindwhat ai throws at us and and
look at it through the lightingdesign expertise that I have and
say, well, is this correct?
Yes, correct, yes.
And, like you say, what comesback is sometimes amazing, like
(13:50):
really the knowledge.
So, yeah, I think it'simportant to have that balance
and you can't better learn athing than really diving into it
and embracing it, becausethere's no way we can go around
it, it's there.
It's there for us.
It will be like the mobilephone.
It's something that's going tobe there as a new revolution,
(14:12):
and if you're not in it, you'renot going to win it, that's for
sure.
So talk about tools.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Go ahead.
Yeah, I think that is portant.
I think that you need to beable to use it and to be in it.
There is somethinggenerationally.
It's a really interestingconversation, the generation
conversation.
It's like we did within ourlifetimes we went from a pencil
and a piece of paper yeah to atypewriter I would put myself in
(14:42):
that category to a computer,yeah to the internet and to AI,
and we did that.
I'm going to disclose my agenow.
I'm 50.
So within 50 years, I've donethat.
My journey took 50 years.
If you think about it.
Our kids nowadays learned allof that in a period of 10 years.
(15:07):
So imagine how much all of thistool-related relationship that
we have with our profession anyof our professions will evolve
in the next 40 years.
For them, what will come, wedon't know, but it's going to be
definitely at the pace that weare currently exploring it.
So it's going to be magical,you know.
So it's incredible the amountof change that is ahead of us.
(15:33):
So what we need to build inourselves is the possibility of
being flexible and grab thesetools that are given to us.
And today today, we're in 2025.
The tool that we are using, or alot of people are using is chat
, gpt or deep seek, but tomorrowit will be another one, and the
(15:55):
day after it would be anotherone, you know.
So what you need to be able isto become permeable to all of
these tools that are coming touse to you, to be able to use it
, and the way of really usingthem is, um, is having a reason
to use them.
So I think that the second bitof an NEI conversation is what
(16:15):
do we want to do with them?
What do we want to do with AI?
Because if we don't have ananswer of what do we want to do
with it, then we cannot use thattool.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Okay, so tell me, what are we going to do with AI?
What?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
are we going to do with AI?
What are you doing?
Maybe better, what are?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
you doing maybe better.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
What are you doing at the moment with ai, and what do
you think we should probably bedoing?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
so let's, let's let's start a very basic uh point of
what do we do with ai.
The first thing that we do withai is try to streamline our
mundane tasks, you know, thosethings that we don't like doing,
like writing emails.
What do I use AI for?
To write my emails.
I turn not to write any moreemails.
(16:59):
I actually tend most of thetime to dictate an email to an
AI.
The AI composes.
I review that email sent.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I still need to correct.
You still have to prompt, sothat means you still need to
write something.
No, I do that verbally it flies.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I do not.
I do it verbally, I do it onthe microphone, so I actually
dictate it to oh.
OK, all right, ok, I don't, Idon't, I don't write it.
I actually go write an email toMartin Klassen.
I want to actually discuss thisnext interview that we're doing
together.
I want to know the subject thatwe're going to discuss.
Send the amount and, and the aidoes it for me, uh, formats it
(17:39):
for me when, when you're workingon your second language and
english is my second language.
This is a really, really timesaving tool.
Um, it does save me loads oftime and and I absolutely adore
the fact of doing that mundanetask for me I use it quite a bit
for research, so I build upproject folders within my AI of
(18:01):
choice and actually then say,well, look, this particular bot
is going to act as a lightingagent or a lighting person, and
then it has this amount ofexperience and it actually based
all of his knowledge on thispiece of information.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
If you want the full experience, we highly recommend
watching the full video on theLightTalk YouTube channel at
LightTalk Space or the websiteat lighttalkspace.
Of course, it's also availablefor viewing on the VLDC platform
.
What's next?
Before we wrap up, a preview ofour next episode, we're
bringing back a favorite fromseason one in our Business of
(18:41):
Lighting Design series.
You'll hear Paul Nolte of NolteLighting in setting the stage.
A must listen for anyoneinterested in the business side
of lighting design.
Here's a sneak peek of what'sin store.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
The business of lighting design is the business
of requiring a whole new skillset from that of being just the
lighting designer.
And I'm not going to lie when Istarted my practice I certainly
didn't have many of the skillsthat were required.
For me it was a case of make itup as you go along and figure
it out.
(19:13):
So I'm hoping at least I cangive some of you a head start
today.
And if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
Set of skills is even largerwhen it comes to running your
(19:33):
own practice.
So let's just have a thinkabout that, because once you set
out on your own, you're nolonger just a lighting designer.
You are deep breath here asalesperson, you're a bookkeeper
, a manager, a businessstrategist.
You're possibly a boss.
If you employ people, you'llneed to have a really good
understanding of accountancy, oflegalities, of contract law.
(19:54):
You may need to understandemployment law and HR law.
You're definitely going to needto understand conflict
resolution, because you can nolonger pass those difficult
contractors and clients off toyour boss, you've got to deal
with them yourself.
Now, I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
(20:16):
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
simple closing line I want to bethe worst person at everything
(20:36):
in my practice, and I can tellyou that, even if I didn't know
it, though, I certainlyunderstood what I didn't know.
I certainly understood that Ineeded to know certain things to
be able to manage a business,and in many respects, that meant
that I needed to become a bitof a Swiss army knife of skills
(20:57):
a multitude of skills, amultitude of skills that are
required to run a practice.
Perhaps you want to save theworld, perhaps you want to be
more environmentally friendly.
Whatever your purpose is, Ithink it is really important to
understand it and define it,because it's going to help you
create your own USPs and it willseparate you from your
(21:19):
competition.
And if we start to understandour purpose, then we can start
to build a brand around it, andthat brand has to be passionate
and it has to have a uniqueselling point, a USP.
So, whether your purpose is tosave the planet, to help the
world, to bathe the world inmore blue light, whatever your
(21:41):
purpose is, it's going to definewho you are and who your brand
is, its ethics, its style, andit should be underpinned,
ultimately, by your passion,because passion is absolutely
everything.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat you're doing.
If you're not passionate aboutit, don't do it.
you're tuned in to our latest what's on the
platform episode, a regularroundup where we spotlight
community happenings, trendingtopics and what's ahead at the
virtual lighting designcommunity.
First up, a huge welcome to allour new members.
We've seen an influx recentlyand we're thrilled to have you
join the community.
If you're listening and haven'tyet explored the platform,
(00:24):
here's a quick rundown of what'shappening and what you can get
involved with.
Let's look ahead to eventscoming up later this month.
On the 24th of July, signify ishosting the webinar Preserving
Darkness, presented by SarvdeepBasur.
This webinar dives into theintersection of design and
sustainability, the role ofresponsible lighting and the
(00:45):
broader impact of your work onthe environment.
On the 25th of July, bha Schoolof Lighting are hosting the
webinar titled the Growing Roleof Controls.
Hank Rotman will be discussinghow controls are reshaping roles
and responsibilities inlighting design.
Jump onto the platform atmembersvldcommunity and go to
(01:08):
events to learn more or RSVP Nowfor some community highlights.
The spotlight on projectssection in our community hub has
been getting a workout.
We've had some great membershipwork showcasing a range of
innovative, inspiring projects.
The show and tell area has seenseveral dynamic webinars,
including a recent talk by DavidGilbey on Lighting for Tomorrow
(01:30):
, hosted by BHA.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
One of the things I love about biophilia is how the
psychological affects thephysiological.
So you're in a hospital wardwhere you get daylight and you
look over greenery and you justyou're in a hospital ward where
you get daylight and you lookover greenery and you just feel
well in yourself psychologically, you feel better.
Well, it's researched that theydispense less pain medication,
(01:56):
that people actually get wellquicker, so feeling better helps
you get well.
I love that.
Ai Guys.
In my opinion, it's a tool.
It's a very useful tool andit's one.
(02:16):
It's a brainstorming tool.
It's get some ideas tool.
But I'm going to talk about thepros and cons of AI.
I mean, you can do anythingwith it.
It's about where you know howwe control light, where we put
light no light above thevertical and I mean it's quite
funny.
If you look at Mosterdam, whichis the responsible light
(02:39):
regulation in Saudi Arabia, theysay don't use up lights, no up
light whatsoever.
But as a lighting designer, Iknow that I can use up light and
control up light.
So for me it's more aboutresponsible design than you know
, accepting that we have to workwithin the norms, standards and
(03:00):
regulations around the world.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Don't miss your chance to take part in the
design competition for theornamental and artistic lighting
of the Cathedral of Santiago deCompostela, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, supported byLight Collective.
This is your opportunity toengage in a truly international
challenge.
Submissions are open until the19th of August.
Find all the details on theplatform.
(03:23):
This week we're excited tohighlight a fascinating
long-form conversations recentlyposted by Light Talk, featuring
Martin Clausen in discussionwith Juan Ferrari on AI and the
future of lighting design.
It's over an hour of insightful, forward-thinking commentary.
We'll share a few standoutmoments.
Right now.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
There is a notion and it's a really interesting bit
of a conversation which is anotion that everybody that is
using AI is cheating.
We need to move away from that.
Everybody that is using AI isusing a tool that is powering
and amplifying what they'redoing.
They're not cheating.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah, it has been quite a while since we last
spoke, that's for sure.
But I'm having you here becauseI want to talk about ai and the
future of lighting design.
But before we dive into that,uh, give me a little bit of your
background.
A lot of people know you, butthere's also probably some of
our audience that don't know youso good.
If you gave us a bit of yourbackground in terms of where
(04:23):
were you born, what did youstudy, how did you get into the
position you are today, it's avery convoluted journey, as most
of the lighting designers inthe industry.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I'm Argentinian.
I was born in Buenos Aires many, many, many years ago.
I'm not going to tell you whenwas that, but many years ago.
You need to trust me there.
I'm not going to tell you whenwas that, but many years ago,
you need to trust me there.
I trained as an actor and thenI started directing theatre and
then I actually startedperforming and then I started
(04:58):
getting involved in all of thetechnical aspects of theatre,
and technical aspects that Iliked the most was lighting, and
I became kind of anaccomplished theatre lighting
designer to the point that Istarted doing things that were
over and above what I thought Iknew.
So I came here to the UK tostudy theatre lighting design.
(05:20):
I studied at the Royal CentralSchool of Speech and Drama.
I did my course there, I did aBA in light and in theatre
lighting and from there on,while I was at university, I
started shifting my attention toarchitectural lighting.
(05:40):
I find it fascinating that thenarrative that we had in theatre
and that I have actually livedas an actor and as a director
and as a lighting designer intheatre didn't naturally exist
in architectural lighting.
So I actually started payingattention to that and starting
exploring that, to the pointthat I ended up working in
(06:01):
architectural lighting, workingin architectural lighting.
So I got my first job as anarchitectural lighting designer
in a company called Equation.
That has now changed hands.
It's the actual equation, it'sthe GIA equation, but at that
point Mark Hensman was actuallythe director at Equation.
So I started working there.
I met some of my colleagues, mycurrent colleagues you had
(06:23):
Corley there, there inparticular, jonathan rush and um
and uh.
John then moved to to horleyand I moved shortly after and
since then we have actually beendeveloping the lighting team
for horley, first of thedirection of dominic merrick and
now under our own direction.
So between me, jon and RuthKelly was kit.
(06:44):
We are actually running thelighting design department for
Foley, which is quite up andagain a very well recognized and
well established lightingdesign department in its own
right within a massive, reallybig engineering company that is
also part of a bigger, evenbigger multinational company
(07:04):
called tetra tech.
So that's my role at the moment.
I direct a team of 25 people inlighting design.
Um, they're lovely.
They're really, in my view, themost creative people that I
have actually met with aenormous understanding of the
technical uh knowledge that youneed to have in order to deliver
(07:25):
the best quality lightingdesign possible.
So, yeah, that's that's my rolecurrently and I love talking,
so I do a lot of talks and I no,no, no, you're yes, that's
where I end up, so I'm quitecurious also, martin.
So that's why I ended up umworking and exploring AI, which
(07:46):
is another big story, anotherlong story in its own right.
We'll get to that.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
We'll get to that, I've got a cheeky question.
The fact that you have been anactor been of help in your
profession when meeting clients?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think that I actually think that I it helps
communicating anything that youdo to understand your body, to
understand the way that youexpress yourself, to understand
the emotions that you feel whileexpressing and any sort of
register that you get over yourown tools, of your own physical,
emotional tools.
(08:27):
It's quite helpful in anyenvironment.
So, yes, it helped me.
It.
It, to be honest, um, one ofthe most important things for me
is to to be able to communicateproperly, and lighting is a
very difficult.
It looks very easy, but it'svery difficult to communicate in
words.
Uh and uh, and I think that my,my theater background have
(08:49):
helped me enormously there, andthen and then the.
The notion that lighting is atool that actually tells stories
and that has a narrative it has, as all of that piece of work
of mine is is based on myexperience in theater, really,
so it's a yes.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
I've helped me a lot yes yeah, I think it's a great
combination because in theaterlighting your focus is
technically on the actors whenyou light, but in architectural
lighting it's more aboutlighting the architecture.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So I think that combined knowledge I think is is
great uh, but also inarchitecture it's it's not only
lighting the architecture, it'slighting for people using it.
So, although we don't, we don'tnecessarily experience, uh, our
, our lives as a play or as anarrative to, we don't feel that
(09:42):
our lives are a story.
We are actually living throughemotions in the same that we are
living through emotions at play.
So it's, it's quite importantthat lighting takes into account
the feelings and the journeysthat people have within the
architectural spaces, and that'sone of the most important
things for me so let's jump intoai straight away.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
At what point of time did you get caught by the AI
bug?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I actually.
That's why it's quite funny Ido a talk about AI and I
actually expose myself quite ina big manner in that particular
talk because I'm a user of AIand user and abuser of AI.
So I started playing with AI ona journey to Birmingham.
Actually, we were in the car,and particularly with ChatGPT we
(10:49):
were in a car a about, uh,lighting, and he'd answered it
in a way that I couldn't.
I couldn't answer it.
Um, even if I was given an houror two to to respond to that
particular question, I went like, wow, this is quite impressive
because in a microsecond, all ofa sudden, I get an answer that
was quite solid and it was verymuch technically sound and I
(11:14):
thought this is quiteinteresting.
So the IALD was doing theirEnlighten conference and calling
for papers and I actuallycomposed a paper completely with
AI, about AI and lighting, butthat without me knowing a lot
about AI, and the paper gotselected.
So all of a sudden, I had tolearn about AI in order to
present about AI, which is anunfortunate, fortunate situation
(11:41):
.
You know, it was a little bitcheeky from me and that was
quite a successful talk because,as I say, I exposed myself into
a point in which I said look, Idon't know anything about ai, I
just put this into a, into a,into inai, and I prepared a
presentation all through ais.
And then this is my story.
Um, right, if you fast forward,this was three years ago now
(12:02):
almost two and a half years ago.
And and uh, if, um, if you fastforward to today, I am actually
constantly training myself onthese new tools and in ai that
are available to us.
I'm playing with all of them.
I use them on a regular basis.
I I encourage people.
(12:24):
I think that my mission on this, on this particular front, is
to encourage people to use it.
Some people are quite scared.
They have ethical concerns,they have moral concerns, they
have all sorts of concerns, andthe only way of actually making
this tool a lesser problem isusing it.
So I'm encouraging people touse it.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I'm a bit like you because I just got late last
year or something, I got intouch with it and then, I know,
if you have seen, but I'mpromoting an AI course for
lighting designers, which I'mdoing with an AI specialist
which, like you, he's anarchitect, he's been in this for
the last couple of years, heknows everything of AI, he
(13:07):
dreams and and lives ai.
But I I feel also a bit bitreluctant and a bit overwhelmed
by all the possibilities.
And you talked about the toolstwo years ago.
Well, you see what speed theyevolve and develop, so what's
possible today.
But for me, the reason to jumpin is to be the reason to be.
(13:28):
You know, I've got 45 years ofexperience in lighting design,
so I can actually sort of beingthe challenger and the
reasonable, the reasoning behindwhat ai throws at us and and
look at it through the lightingdesign expertise that I have and
say, well, is this correct?
Yes, correct, yes.
And, like you say, what comesback is sometimes amazing, like
(13:50):
really the knowledge.
So, yeah, I think it'simportant to have that balance
and you can't better learn athing than really diving into it
and embracing it, becausethere's no way we can go around
it, it's there.
It's there for us.
It will be like the mobilephone.
It's something that's going tobe there as a new revolution,
(14:12):
and if you're not in it, you'renot going to win it, that's for
sure.
So talk about tools.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Go ahead.
Yeah, I think that is portant.
I think that you need to beable to use it and to be in it.
There is somethinggenerationally.
It's a really interestingconversation, the generation
conversation.
It's like we did within ourlifetimes we went from a pencil
and a piece of paper yeah to atypewriter I would put myself in
(14:42):
that category to a computer,yeah to the internet and to AI,
and we did that.
I'm going to disclose my agenow.
I'm 50.
So within 50 years, I've donethat.
My journey took 50 years.
If you think about it.
Our kids nowadays learned allof that in a period of 10 years.
(15:07):
So imagine how much all of thistool-related relationship that
we have with our profession anyof our professions will evolve
in the next 40 years.
For them, what will come, wedon't know, but it's going to be
definitely at the pace that weare currently exploring it.
So it's going to be magical,you know.
So it's incredible the amountof change that is ahead of us.
(15:33):
So what we need to build inourselves is the possibility of
being flexible and grab thesetools that are given to us.
And today today, we're in 2025.
The tool that we are using, or alot of people are using is chat
, gpt or deep seek, but tomorrowit will be another one, and the
(15:55):
day after it would be anotherone, you know.
So what you need to be able isto become permeable to all of
these tools that are coming touse to you, to be able to use it
, and the way of really usingthem is, um, is having a reason
to use them.
So I think that the second bitof an NEI conversation is what
(16:15):
do we want to do with them?
What do we want to do with AI?
Because if we don't have ananswer of what do we want to do
with it, then we cannot use thattool.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Okay, so tell me, what are we going to do with AI?
What?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
are we going to do with AI?
What are you doing?
Maybe better, what are?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
you doing maybe better.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
What are you doing at the moment with ai, and what do
you think we should probably bedoing?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
so let's, let's let's start a very basic uh point of
what do we do with ai.
The first thing that we do withai is try to streamline our
mundane tasks, you know, thosethings that we don't like doing,
like writing emails.
What do I use AI for?
To write my emails.
I turn not to write any moreemails.
(16:59):
I actually tend most of thetime to dictate an email to an
AI.
The AI composes.
I review that email sent.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I still need to correct.
You still have to prompt, sothat means you still need to
write something.
No, I do that verbally it flies.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I do not.
I do it verbally, I do it onthe microphone, so I actually
dictate it to oh.
OK, all right, ok, I don't, Idon't, I don't write it.
I actually go write an email toMartin Klassen.
I want to actually discuss thisnext interview that we're doing
together.
I want to know the subject thatwe're going to discuss.
Send the amount and, and the aidoes it for me, uh, formats it
(17:39):
for me when, when you're workingon your second language and
english is my second language.
This is a really, really timesaving tool.
Um, it does save me loads oftime and and I absolutely adore
the fact of doing that mundanetask for me I use it quite a bit
for research, so I build upproject folders within my AI of
(18:01):
choice and actually then say,well, look, this particular bot
is going to act as a lightingagent or a lighting person, and
then it has this amount ofexperience and it actually based
all of his knowledge on thispiece of information.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
If you want the full experience, we highly recommend
watching the full video on theLightTalk YouTube channel at
LightTalk Space or the websiteat lighttalkspace.
Of course, it's also availablefor viewing on the VLDC platform
.
What's next?
Before we wrap up, a preview ofour next episode, we're
bringing back a favorite fromseason one in our Business of
(18:41):
Lighting Design series.
You'll hear Paul Nolte of NolteLighting in setting the stage.
A must listen for anyoneinterested in the business side
of lighting design.
Here's a sneak peek of what'sin store.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
The business of lighting design is the business
of requiring a whole new skillset from that of being just the
lighting designer.
And I'm not going to lie when Istarted my practice I certainly
didn't have many of the skillsthat were required.
For me it was a case of make itup as you go along and figure
it out.
(19:13):
So I'm hoping at least I cangive some of you a head start
today.
And if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
Set of skills is even largerwhen it comes to running your
(19:33):
own practice.
So let's just have a thinkabout that, because once you set
out on your own, you're nolonger just a lighting designer.
You are deep breath here asalesperson, you're a bookkeeper
, a manager, a businessstrategist.
You're possibly a boss.
If you employ people, you'llneed to have a really good
understanding of accountancy, oflegalities, of contract law.
(19:54):
You may need to understandemployment law and HR law.
You're definitely going to needto understand conflict
resolution, because you can nolonger pass those difficult
contractors and clients off toyour boss, you've got to deal
with them yourself.
Now, I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
(20:16):
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
simple closing line I want to bethe worst person at everything
(20:36):
in my practice, and I can tellyou that, even if I didn't know
it, though, I certainlyunderstood what I didn't know.
I certainly understood that Ineeded to know certain things to
be able to manage a business,and in many respects, that meant
that I needed to become a bitof a Swiss army knife of skills
(20:57):
a multitude of skills, amultitude of skills that are
required to run a practice.
Perhaps you want to save theworld, perhaps you want to be
more environmentally friendly.
Whatever your purpose is, Ithink it is really important to
understand it and define it,because it's going to help you
create your own USPs and it willseparate you from your
(21:19):
competition.
And if we start to understandour purpose, then we can start
to build a brand around it, andthat brand has to be passionate
and it has to have a uniqueselling point, a USP.
So, whether your purpose is tosave the planet, to help the
world, to bathe the world inmore blue light, whatever your
(21:41):
purpose is, it's going to definewho you are and who your brand
is, its ethics, its style, andit should be underpinned,
ultimately, by your passion,because passion is absolutely
everything.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat you're doing.
If you're not passionate aboutit, don't do it.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.