The future of lighting design beyond lighting design

MARCO BEVOLO, Adjunct Professor of Design Futures at the World University of Design, India, he coordinates the Business Strategy module of the Master in Strategic Event Management and is researcher / lecuturer in Place-making at Breda University of applied sciences, a leading Uas in The Netherlands. He is an independent consultant in Foresight, Futures Research, and Strategic Design.

From 1999 to 2009, he was a Director at Philips Design, a.o. leading the 2nd global edition of city.people.light.  His past consulting clients include FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (Turin); Lighting Design Collective (Madrid, Helsinki, London); RENA Electronica (The Netherlands); and Planet Smart City (London, Turin, Brazil, India). From 2010 to 2016, he was independently contracted as Principal Research Urban Futures for Philips Lighting, now Signify, in EMEA, Poland, and the Czech Republic. He started his career at ItalDesign Giugiaro, Italy.

Dr. Bevolo is a scientific advisor to the EU EnlightenME research program, to the Erasmus+ project on Next Generation Sports Facilities, and on the KreativEU project on the future European university. He contributed to lighting design-related events by IALD (EE2024), LUCI, PLDC,  UNAM (on invitation by Gustavo Avilez), and more. He has published four books, more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, and several magazine articles, including arc lighting (London), Cities & Lighting (Lyon), Axis (Tokyo), and more.

In 2016, he earned his PhD on the role of design in generating urban futures, validating the Plhilips Lighting city.people.light approach at the Graduate School, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Tilburg University.

Ton has nearly 40 years of experience in design, having graduated with a degree in Industrial Design from the Netherlands.

He spent most of his career in Design Consulting roles in the US, Asia and Europe with focus on Product Design and Design Innovation programs. In 2006, he joined Philips Design, building the external consulting business there. In 2015, he moved to Philips Lighting, now known as Signify. He held various leadership positions at Signify Design before becoming the Chief Design Officer in 2023. In this role, he leads the Signify Global Design Function, including product, UX/UI, and lighting application design. His team has won multiple awards for consumer and professional lighting products and apps; most notably for HUE and 3D printed product ranges.

As part of the Innovation organization at Signify, his Design team is instrumental in advancing new lighting solutions, pushing the boundries on human-centric lighting, sustainability, and digitalization of design processes including AR, VR and AI.