Lights in Alingsås
20th anniversary of the world renowned lighting event
Every autumn since 2000, the town of Alingsås lights up during the festivities connected to this unique lighting design event. With up to 80 000 visitors annually, Lights in Alingsås has become world renown as an appreciated and inspiring meeting point. For five whole weeks visitors enjoy beautiful light installations made by international lighting designers and students during a workshop one week prior to the event. At the workshop students create installations with expert guidance by professional lighting designers from a yearly theme. This year’s theme is “Be the light” – a theme intended to inspire visitors to become ambassadors of light and make the world brighter for the people around them.
A new permanent light art installation
The instigators of the event – Kai Piippo, Head of Design at ÅF Lighting and Torbjörn Eliasson, Lighting designer at White Arkitekter – have been an important part of the event and conducted workshops on several occasions. This year they came back, reinforced with colleagues from ÅF Lighting – Seren Dincel and Helena Aman Johannsson – to create a permanent installation as a celebration of the events 20th anniversary.
- Lights in Alingsås have changed the Swedish lighting culture and spread the knowledge of good lighting around the world. We wanted to give the citizens in Alingsås something back. A place to be proud of, to visit and to tell the world about, says Kai Piippo, Head of Design at ÅF Lighting.
The overall purpose of the installation was to make better use of the space both in terms of visual beauty and safety. Sustainability was also a high priority. Real sustainable materials was used and the visual is timeless and highlights the great architecture and nature of the city. Thus the installation is permanent, it is still adaptable. The design allows many future opportunities for lighting designers, artists and temporary decorations, beginning with pre-school children’s interpretation of the theme “be the light”.
- The site of the installation will change in character during the year, with seasons, weather conditions and shifting temporary installations. It will be be a popular and famous changeable Instagram-view for the citizens and visitors of Alingsås to enjoy for many years to come, says Torbjörn Eliasson, Lighting designer at White Arkitekter.
True value
Lights in Alingsås is one of the best practical lighting experiences in the world. It is highly valued by the students as they get insight into the entire lighting process from analysing customer needs to presenting and producing installations. Also, the lighting designers running the workshops gets project management experience, attend inspiring lectures and make valuable connections for life.
Besides being a great platform for students and lighting designers Lights in Alingsås has become the main event for the entire Alingsås community. The citizens are committed to the event and participate by lighting up their gardens and attending garden lighting workshops. The whole community has increased their knowledge about lighting design.
- A lot of effort is put into Lights in Alingsås, but it is worth every hour. Our employees are proud to be a part of the event, which creates a strong company culture. The event has also become a platform for students to grow and establish network. We work closely with the students at the Alströmergymnasiet electric program, which has become valuable for recruitment of young talents, says Margaretha Stenmark, Lighting designer, Alingsås Energi.
Lights in Alingsås takes place between September 27th and November 3rd, 2019.
Visit their website: https://www.lightsinalingsas.se/en/
Photographer: Patrik Gunnar Helin
