Leni Schwendinger

Owner/Principal Leni Schwendinger Light Projects, NightSeeing™

  • New York NY

"Fun, moving, exciting! Is how I would describe Leni's Talk and LightWalk."

Contact

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Biography

Leni Schwendinger
Lighting Urbanist

In a field where public lighting and illumination increasingly influence the global language of urban design and urban experience, Leni is considered visionary in her approach to the next generation of luminous environments and cityscapes.

With over 20 years of work as both lighting designer and public artist, she has refined her lighting philosophy and in doing so, has redefined the possibilities for light in the public realm.

She has been the recipient of numerous professional awards, including several ‘Lumen’ awards from the Illuminating Engineering Society; the Society for Environmental Graphic Design; and the NYFA Fellowship for emerging artists. Current projects include lighting the exterior of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven; the Times Square Reconstruction Project; and a public lighting strategy for Dohaland, Heart of Doha. Leni has been featured in Architectural Digest, Metropolis; Dwell; and numerous other design publications.

Industry Expertise

Arts and Crafts
Energy
Fine Art
Education/Learning
Architecture and Planning
Travel and Tourism
Lighting
Design

Areas of Expertise

Urban Nights
Lighting
Nighttime Environment
Cities
Design
Lighting Design
Color
Public Space
Night Tours
Nighttime Design

Accomplishments

"Shadings", a film and music performance at Carnegie Hall

2011-03-04

Shadings -- a collaboration between internationally renowned lighting designer Leni Schwendinger and critically acclaimed composer Laura Schwendinger (also her cousin) was performed at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. This marked the premiere of Leni's short film, Shadings, which takes the orchestral soundscape as a jumping off point for a lush meander through the spectral cities and gardens of Japan.

New York Construction Best of Awards

2008-11-04

2008 Best Marine Project Award: Hoboken Ferry Terminal and Clock Tower Restoration

Communication Arts: Award of Excellence

2006-05-09

2006 Award of Excellence, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: for the exhibition design "Fashion in Colors"

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Education

London Film School

Certificate

Film making

1974

Affiliations

  • International Association of Lighting Designers

Testimonials

Sponsor/Technilum

https://www.nightseeing.net

NightSeeing Frankfurt Luminale


Leni’s NightSeeing in Frankfurt was a great event that showed people the city lights with a very artistic and detail oriented approach. Technilum team was delighted to help organizing this event and bringing it to the Luminale as well as following Leni’s NightTalk & NightWalk with an amazing group of international people ! We received a lot of congratulations, people were super happy about the talk and the explanations about the lights and shadows in the city!

Event Director at United Business Media

http://www.nightseeing.net/

NightSeeing London ARC Show, IALD

Leni's participation at The ARC Show within the IALD Conference brought a new and highly innovative element to the event.

Director of Land Use and Planning Manhattan Community Board 1

https://www.nightseeing.net

NightSeeing NYC: Madison Square Park

“I am using your Night City movie to inspire my Pace University Urban Planning class. The video sparks discussion, students’ imaginations are stirred and ideas flow.”


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Event Appearances

Color and Light: Humanizing the Urban Nighttime Environment

Lighting Fair  Guangzhou Int’l Lighting Technology Symposium, CN

2009-06-11

Marketing your Creative Business

9th Annual Women’s Business Leadership Conference  New York City

2011-10-26

Community Involvement-an Essential Factor for Innovative Public Lighting Success

IALD Enlighten Americas Celebration of Urban Light  New Orleans, LA

2011-09-24

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Sample Talks

Luminous Landscapes; an Artist’s Approach to Design

A brief survey of creative lighting projects to broaden understanding of the use of lighting in public space: Light as communication, Light in relation to intimate and large-scale projects, Humanizing Brutalist forms with light, Immersive environments using light and Light as sculpture
Colored Light Lesson: Using colored light has become user-friendly and with the advent of LED, an easy application. The speaker proposes two approaches; the sublime and the carnivalesque. Explanation of color theory as it relates to colored light. Offers language to value use of colored light for environmental projects.

Case studies.

Immersive Color; Shades of Light

Leni Schwendinger’s visual discussion includes a survey of international installations for which color, light and materials are integral to communicate concepts. Leni invites the audience to explore the startling differences between CMYK pigment color and hues of light, starting with the primaries; Red, Green and Blue. A shift in perspective is required for adaptation of color theory to the additive qualities of color mixing with light. Leni explains this design orientation through real-life examples. Journeying through colorful, creative projects as diverse in scale as bridges, gardens, and museum exhibitions; viewers will leave with memorable luminous visions.

Community Involvement: An Essential Factor For Innovative Public Lighting

Synopsis: Delve into the experiential factor of public realm lighting. Leni Schwendinger will share design charrette techniques developed to enable community members to focus on the after-dark experience of their districts and neighborhoods. Framing the creative use of light in a brainstorm setting educates the end-user and facilitates open-minds. Workshops translate into effective lighting master plan, lighting strategy and/or lighting guidelines. Additionally, Leni will discuss her insights into the social politics required to manage the multi-headed client and stakeholder group for public projects.

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Style

Availability

  • Keynote
  • Moderator
  • Panelist
  • Workshop Leader

Fees

$3000 to $10000