Satish Rana

How did your career evolve into lighting design?

I did my Masters in English Literature and started my career as a Lighting Designer based only on my interest and passion around learning the nuances of lighting.

The fact that as a lighting designer you help build spaces, in all genres, is very satisfying. To watch people enjoy the lit spaces with happy smiles makes it very exciting. Having the opportunity to interact with a variety of clients also grows you as an individual and makes you understand perspectives... something that books can’t teach you.

What does Light Vision India stand for and what are its goals?
The vision has been, and will always be, promoting quality of light and innovation acceptance! In this journey, we have always been excited with the fact that we can be the front runners in implementing new technologies to set benchmarks. Our focus has always been to educate clients about the best possible tools available to achieve our design and make them proud of their own spaces.

What is your lighting philosophy and how is that changing?

To create spaces with drama of light has been always our focus. We always want to design spaces that excite people. They should feel the need to make the lighting experience a part of their everyday life. Unfortunately, it's an aspect that everyone takes for granted, yet it causes the most distress, consciously and subconsciously, if implemented wrongly. We are now seeing more technology-driven mediums and can either simplify or complicate things, depending upon their implementation. Technology is evolving too fast whereas its adoption is low — a balance needs to be created. Implementation is important but sustainability is prime.

What’s your favorite lighting project and why?

Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL), Asia’s largest and the world’s third largest wind turbine manufacturer, received the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Platinum award for its corporate headquarters in Pune. Developed on an area of 41,000 square meters, the facility is one of the largest green building projects in India.

To adhere to the LEED certificate requirement, LVI proposed a design with a 0.1 watt per square foot energy usage. The products used were all LED to keep minimal wattage and low maintenance.

What is your vision of lighting design and IoT?

IoT is very exciting as it engages people; it’s another example of technology that needs more adoption. Smart lighting can modify the light spectrum and match natural light, ensuring improved cognitive performance and lowering CO2 emissions — which is the need of the hour. Simpler control-based systems need to be designed for more people to be able to use it, because in our experience, a lot of clients want to adopt various new control-system formats but are daunted by the implementation and running complications. So a prime goal is to balance this with sustainability.

Taking all of these aspects into account, looking back on the last 16 years of my journey as a lighting designer is enthralling. The relevance and significance of lighting can be summed up by a quote from Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, which is still valid today: "How far that little candle throws his beams”.