Lighting the Future: young talents and creativity in light in Dubai

We are delighted to have completed the 4th edition of Lighting the Future, with the Interior Design Department at the American University in Dubai.
The design contest aims at encouraging creativity as a key factor in urban development and regeneration using Light as a tool for Social Innovation and Awareness. 

This initiative was inspired by a project organized in Italy back in 2021, Light for future, with the collaboration of IALD, the Fine Arts Academy in Macerata and the Municipality of Recanati whereas. Four international lighting design studios designed creative concepts of their own interpretation of environmental sustainability. 

After the huge success of the project, in 2022 iGuzzini Middle East decided to launch Lighting the Future in UAE with the aim of targeting the Designers of the Future, in order to foster the dialogue on strategic and social topics, such as Sustainability and Connectivity, using creativity as a medium. 

Interior Design students from AUD (American University in Dubai) have been since then tasked to develop a creative design with the winning concept getting produced and printed locally on a glass Gobo for our iGuzzini fitting Palco InOut. 

Given the enthusiasm and the high-quality standard of the applications we received in the past years, iGME Team and the Interior Design Department have been proudly organizing the Fourth Edition of Lighting the Future, launched on 17th March, which is revolving around the theme of "Innovation”. A successful collaboration with our team, AUD Interior Design Department and AUDesign_lab.

During the workshop session which took place on 24th March, the students have been given the chance to learn the fundamentals of lighting and were introduced to the concept of Creative Cities and Creative Light. The students also had the opportunity to “Touch the Light” through a practical workshop where they had an overview on our Palco InOut and saw different examples of gobo designs from previous editions. 

After that they had a couple of weeks to prepare their concepts and submit them to the Jury. In April, the students’ works were assessed and evaluated by the jury before announcing the winners. The winners’ gobo design will be soon produced and will be showcased, along with all participants in the project, during the Dubai Design Week in d3. 

The projects have been developed as part of IDES392: Interior Design Studio VI – Smart Design, under the guidance of Prof. Lambri, Chair of the Interior Design Department and Associate Professor of Interior Design and Dr. Parvaresh, Assistant Professor of Interior Design, in collaboration with iGuzzini Team. 

The Final Event and Awards Ceremony at AUD was a great success, held in the presence of Luca Savastano - Regional Director, iGuzzini Middle East & English Speaking Africa; Saba Napoletano - Marketing Manager, iGuzzini Middle East & English Speaking Africa; Nathalie Roumanos - Brand Specialist, iGuzzini Middle East & English Speaking Africa; iGuzzini Team, students, faculty, and distinguished guests. This year the jury was composed by: 

-Erin Denkovska, Senior Associate at Delta Lighting Design 
-Sergio Padula, iGuzzini Technical Director Middle East & English-Speaking Africa 
-Aneesha Rai, Identity Magazine Editor 

And the AUD Interior Design students Winners have been announced: 

1st Place: Ola Alhazeem, ex-aequo
1st Place: Ayesha Althani, ex-aequo
2nd place: Cathlyn Nassif
3rd Place: Jana El Rassy. 

This project perfectly represents the fruitful and longstanding collaboration between AUD Interior Design Department, AUDesign_lab and us, a partnership founded on shared values and on the goal of knowledge sharing to spread a culture of good design and lighting within the community and the future generations of designers. 
 

“Lighting the Future 2025 has been a great success, now proudly in its fourth edition. It highlights the immense value of the strong collaboration of the AUD Interior Design Department and iGuzzini, a recognized leader in the lighting industry. The exceptional levels of design and creativity demonstrated throughout all the editions underscores the importance of partnerships that bridge academia and industry—enriching the educational experience of students and contributing meaningfully to the evolution of the professional design field.” 

Annamaria Lambri, Chair of the Department of Interior Design and Associate Professor of Interior Design at American University in Dubai