Interview with LDPi (China Branch)

Lighting Design Partnership International (LDPi) is a specialist lighting design consultancy group and is one of the worlds foremost lighting architects and provides professional lighting design services at an international level.

For me, "design" is the outcome of a creation process based on a conceptual idea.

In addition to the projects that are designed by LDPi, I like to join the Switch On International Lighting Festival that is held annually in Beijing. There I have an opportunity to design some installations combined with lighting. Usually the theme of my installation is based on topics related to education and family.

The design that helped me most since 2009 are the inner soles of "Realflex" sport shoes from Reebok and "Boost" sole of the sport shoes series from Adidas. Without them and regular medical treatment, I would not be able to walk for more than 15 minutes due to pain caused by plantar fasciitis.

The GTC Galleria Chengdu shopping center (Sichuan province, China).

I wish we could use more efficient lighting, whether from an energy efficiency or from a pollution point of view.

When writing articles for the bi-monthly Chinese version of the Italian Luce e Design magazine.

The why and the story of the design.

When the design is starting, I feel proud to contribute to the growth of a country such as China by creating unique spaces where people can feel at ease through lighting.

I also feel satisfied when a project is successfully completed. But there are always lessons learned from a project for self-improvement for future projects.

The cooperation between the members of a project team.

The visual aspect.

To design for the people and their loved ones and at the same time to keep in mind that resources are not limitless. At LDPi, every year since 2009, we also allocate about 2% of the annual profit to our BEST foundation program which support kids from the Liuba area (Shaanxi province of China) to attend a one month English summer camp at the Shanghai Xuhui Giraffe Training English Center. Why this school? Because we design the interior lighting for that school, but chose to use the design fee to support the kids.

Faster, cheaper, more efficient. From designing tools to hunt and paint on wall during prehistorical times to design a spacecraft that can land on a meteorite, design's boundary is one's imagination.

I participate in the Switch On International Lighting Festival since 2011 and will continue as long as this event is held annually.

In addition to the projects that are designed by LDPi where the inspirations comes from the team members, I like to join the Switch On International Lighting Festival that is held annually in Beijing. Usually the theme of my installation is based on topics related to education and family.

Until now, all my installations are "small and beautiful". They are made of reused or recycled material and very quick to install.

I arrived in Beijing, China in August 2004. I felt I was adopted by a new family in such a rich cultural country where speed and tight budgets always influence design.

We work under our clients and in cooperation with other designers.

Select a designer not only for the pricing, but also because of the ability to communicate and complete the design from A-to-Z.

During LDPi's design process, the project team works along with the customer and in cooperation with other designers and consultants. We start from a schematic design (SD) with renderings of the project, intended lighting fixtures, scenes and budget. After the SD is confirmed, we move into the design development (DD) where the lighting layout, logical control of the lighting and the recommended fixtures are delivered to the client. After the DD is confirmed, we support the customer during its tender evaluation of the fixtures to ensure the quality of the products used before starting working on the site administration.

Air purifiers (quite needed in Beijing), masks, Reebok and Adidas sport shoes, two Flos free standing lamps and Apple devices.

Wake up have a mix of western and Chinese breakfast with cereals with a mix of grains and beans porridge prepared automatically in 20 minutes by a Joyoung machine (one of the most successful porridge breakfast mixer in China with better product design since 2008).
Leave for work with my 20-inch folding Giant bicycle, rain or shine to avoid the heavy traffic.
Work on lighting design projects and when the timing is right, write articles for Luce e Design, work on the annual lighting installation for the Switch On International Lighting Festival, read industry and design related news (core77, interni, Domus, id+C, Architectural Review, LED Mag, Lux Magazine)
Go back home by bicycle to avoid more traffic.
Read news and play with my daughter.

Every big name started small. Believe in oneself and never give up.

Being too idealist and not enough practical.

Say what you do and do what you say.

Being open, curious, able to communicate.

Office automation, 2D rendering, CAD, the internet to look for references, catalogs, product samples, lux meter, color temperature meter, color rendering index meter.

Delegation.

Lighting design projects for property development usually last 3 years in average.

Why do I look young?

My first project where I learn a lot with the client, the architect and our company's team.

Real estate developers, and occasionally government agencies or other designers.

Looking at the schematic design with the team in order to provide a few options to the client on how the project will look like at night.

Continue working with LDPi for our clients' five-star hotels, shopping center, office and residential projects; participating in the annual Switch On International Lighting Festival and the BEST foundation program to help kids attend a one-month English summer camp at the Shanghai Xuhui Giraffe English Training Center.

Our design team is composed of 12 people split into 3 teams to work on the lighting design of our clients' projects.

It is a great honor to work again with Steven Holl Architects on another mixed-use project, this time in Shenzhen. There are also a few interior lighting for Hyatt hotels in the works as well as shopping centers.

Via email or telephone.

Not at this moment.