Lights in Alingsås welcomes this year´s Workshop Heads

Last weekend the chosen group of lighting designers arrived to Alingsås to work on the 23^rd annual Lights in Alingsås festival. Finally, this year the project was able to have the usual concept meeting in March as before the pandemic. The sun was shining and there was a lot of energy and excitement in the room when the concept meeting started.

- Lights in Alingsås is a beautiful place which we visit every year, Berry van Egten says. We love the town and the concept of Lights in Alingsås. We love to teach and inspire the participants with our love for lighting.
Berry was one of the workshop heads in 2008 and this year he is back working with his wife and partner Ellen Goulmy.

The schedule was full for the weekend, this year’s theme was introduced, and the designers walked the lighting trail for the first time. Later they chose the locations to illuminate this autumn.

- The opportunity to be involved with Lights in Alingsås is so special, Kay Flounders says. To bring lighting designers and students from around the world together to produce an event which allows people to be immersed in light is something truly wonderful.

The route of the lighting trail and this year’s theme will all be revealed later this spring.

This year’s lighting designers

Meike Goessling, based in Hong Kong & Germany
Meike is a trained architect with 15 years of work experience in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
She started her career in Berlin but then moved to Hong Kong a couple of years ago. Since 2019 she is working as a Daylight & Architectural Lighting Design Consultant. In 2012 Meike co-headed a team at Lights in Alingsås with Melanie Rosenthal and now she is back as a workshop head on her own.

Jonathan Plumpton, based in USA
Jonathan has 28 years of experience, working on a large variety of project types, domestically in the US and internationally.
He is an Associate Principal and leader of Luma Lighting Design’s San Francisco office. Jonathan manages all aspects of the lighting design department, including marketing, client retention, financial management, staff recruiting and training, design direction, and standards.

Kay Flounders, based in Scotland
Kay studied at Napier University in Edinburgh and graduated in 2005. She started her career in lighting over 13 years ago at Lighting Design Partnership International working on both local and international projects.
She is currently a Senior Architectural Lighting at WSP in Edinburgh and work as part of the UK team.

Martina Alagna, based in England
Martina is an Architectural Lighting Designer based in London with a strong background in visual and performing arts. In the theatre she fell in love with the light that surrounds us, and that is something that never ceases to amaze her.
Martina is part of the Lighting Design Awards’ 40 under 40 Class of 2020 and since the beginning of 2022, she´s the business development and marketing manager for Linea Light UK.

Team Berry Van Egten & Ellen Goulmy, based in the Netherlands
Berry and Ellen are working and living together. They have their own lighting design studio Berlux Lighting Design (BXLD) and own Lighting Design Academy.
During December of 2019 they organized Lights in Blokzijl for the first time, an event that is inspired by Lights in Alingsås with focus on workshop and education. Next edition of this event will be postponed until 2023 due to the pandemic.

Team Michaela Bonzi & Frank Seemann, based in Switzerland
Michela and Frank are the Italian and German lighting design collective Lucespazio, They are an experience and quality driven lighting design team, established in Switzerland since 2018, who develop projects together as standard practice by openly and clearly sharing ideas and expertise, each from their 20+ years of professional lighting design handcraft informed by architecture, theatre and public art. They are also university educators and have lighting design classes at HSLU University of Applied Sciences Lucerne, ZHDK Zürich University of the Arts and the Light Lab, KTH Stockholm.