ÅF Lighting Wins Swedish Lighting Award 2012 for Åre Ski Resort

The “In the Footsteps of Giants” lighting installation at the Åre Ski Resort has been named the winner of the Swedish Lighting Award 2012. Designed by firm Ljusarkitektur (which has merged with ÅF Lighting), “In the Footsteps of Giants” ("I jättarnas spår" in Swedish) beat out three other finalists to take home the prestigious award.

 

“This makes me extremely proud and happy,” says Mats Påhlsson, Divisional Manager at ÅF Lighting. “I know we have Scandinavia's leading lighting experts at ÅF and that our skills and expertise stand out, but this recognition is something the entire company can be very proud of,” he said.

 

Inspired by local folktales of giants and trolls, “In the Footsteps of Giants” uses 240 color-changing Lumenpulse luminaires – including a range of Lumeanbeam projectors – to cast an eerie moonlight glow over the slopes. 

 

“This is both a landscape and an experience project,” Creative Director Kai Piippo said about the project. “We have been able to use the best available technology to continue and reinvent the tradition of storytelling from the area that dates back hundreds of years,” he said.

 

Meant to draw attention to the high level of lighting design in Sweden, the Swedish Lighting Award is an annual competition organized by three lighting societies (Southern Sweden, West Swedish and the Swedish Lighting Society) and the Ljuskultur newspaper. In order to nominate truly innovative lighting projects, jury members considered design and aesthetic elements, functionality and operational factors, and the impact on the environment and sustainability.  

 

ÅF Lighting projects made up two of the four finalists for the award. The multi-disciplinary lighting firm, which has offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo, is a leader in the Scandinavian market, with a wide range of lighting services, including consulting, design and planning.

 

“In the Footsteps of Giants” is also a finalist for the Lamp Awards 2013 - an international competition for architecture lighting. The installation beat out 608 competing projects from around the world to make the list. Good luck!