The launch of the Euroluce International Forum

“The Euroluce International Lighting Forum” is the title of the biennial event that will take place on 10 and 11 April 2025 in the biennial Euroluce as part of the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, scheduled from 8 to 13 April. These will be two days packed with events, including round tables, workshops and lecture with international guests. The Forum will bring together a panel of experts in different fields, including lighting designers, creatives, architects, scientists and lighting professionals to discuss crucial issues such as the interaction between light, architecture and well-being.  

Under the heading Light for Life. Light for Spaces, The Euroluce International Lighting Forum is a Salone del Mobile project, directed by Annalisa Rosso in collaboration with APIL. An unprecedented opportunity to reimagine lighting, in a new interdisciplinary approach over two intense days, in a new arena designed by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.

The talks scheduled for 10th April will be organised under the theme Light for Life. The special guests: Solar Designer Marjan van Aubel, who has always observed sunlight and wondered how this form of democratic energy could be used widely, as addressed in the Sunne project; followed by Stefano Mancuso, a pioneer in plant neurobiology, who will explore how humans can be inspired by the strategies adopted by plants to capture light and transform it into a source of well-being; and Robert Wilson, a renowned American artist, who will discuss his approach to light. In the afternoon, there will be a Round Table featuring Nicholas Belfield, a partner in dpa lighting consultants, an international lighting design firm that has chalked up more than 7,500 completed projects in 80 countries, including The Constellation, The Founder's Memorial, Abu Dhabi; Rogier van der Heide, a lighting designer who has lit some of the most iconic collective spaces, from the Olympic Stadium in Beijing to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; Shelley James, a lighting strategy consultant at Age of Light Innovations and an international expert on light and wellness; Manuel Spitschan, since 2022 a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics who also serves as Professor of Chronobiology & Health at the Technical University of Munich; Piero Benvenuti, Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Padua.

The talks scheduled for 11th April will be organised under the theme Light for Spaces. The special guests: Kaoru Mende, the Japanese lighting designer − whose best-known projects include the lighting designs for the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building and the Sendai Mediatheque − who will explore the present and future of lighting design from three different perspectives: innovation, sustainability and wellbeing; followed by Patrick Rimoux, an artist and light sculptor famous for his interventions on urban monuments, collaborations with Wim Wenders, Akira Kurosawa and Bollywood and, most recently, for the new lighting of the Notre-Dame de Paris; and Lonneke Gordijn, artist and co-founder of DRIFT, a studio specialising in lighting sculptures, installations and performances that underscore the parallels between artificial and natural structures. In the afternoon, there will be another Round Table discussion, featuring Susanna Antico, architect and lighting designer, and a member of APIL (Lighting Professionals Association – Italy); Hervé Descottes, lighting designer, founder and owner of L'Observatoire International, known for his innovative and artistic approach to light, with projects such as the Qatar National Museum in Doha and the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi behind him; Mariel Fuentes, lighting designer and co-founder of MMAS Lighting, specialising in architectural lighting design, whose projects include Transicions; Timothy Ingold, Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen; Elisa Orlanski Ours, Chief Planning and Design Officer of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, a company that manages the marketing and sales of luxury real estate projects such as 56 Leonard and One High Line in New York; Carla Wilkins, President-Elect of IALD (International Association of Lighting Designers) and senior partner of Lichtvision Design, an international firm specialising in architectural lighting with projects such as Blue Cinema at Chur to its credit. Finally, the workshop with A.J. Weissbard, international lighting designer and artist, will offer practical and functional insights, bringing together all the themes, concepts and visions covered over the course of the day