Program Library

Every era has its “impossible.” And every few years, those impossibilities quietly become normal. Smartphones. Remote work. AI that creates. Interfaces that listen. Behaviors that shift almost overnight.

In this keynote, David Shing (“Shingy”) explored how exponential technology and cultural acceleration are reshaping how people live, work, connect, and create, often faster than our organizations, spaces, and design systems can adapt.

This was not a talk about trends. It was a talk about preparedness. About how to design for change when change itself is constant. About why relevance today depends less on predicting the future and more on building creative, cultural, and organizational systems that can evolve with it.

Shingy challenged the NeoCon community to rethink not just what we design, but how we design, centering human adaptability, emotional resilience, and fluid identities as we design for an evolving world where yesterday’s breakthroughs quickly become baseline expectations.

David “Shingy” Shing
Creative Advisor and Cultural Strategist, Former Digital Prophet, AOL

David Shing, widely known as "Shingy," is a global storyteller, trendspotter, and cultural architect who challenges the status quo with creative foresight. With an illustrious career spanning marketing, digital transformation, and strategy, Shingy is a force who blends art, imagination, and business acumen to ignite change. Formerly AOL’s self-proclaimed “Digital Prophet,” Shingy has a storied track record of identifying emerging opportunities and shaping visionary futures for industry giants. From launching AOL in new European markets to steering the company’s strategic acquisitions under Verizon, his work has redefined what’s possible in digital innovation. A creative polymath and trusted advisor to cultural leaders and global brands like LVMH and Nike, Shingy transforms bold ideas into iconic identities that resonate across markets. His ability to blend creativity with strategy has earned him a unique place on stages around the world, from TED and SXSW to Cannes Lions, where he inspires audiences with mind-bending insights. Since launching his creative advisory in 2019, Shingy has the reputation as a "one-man cultural McKinsey," delivering transformative consulting, creative direction, and business strategy. He helps clients not only envision the future but implement it, offering actionable insights that bridge instinct and innovation. Shingy’s keynotes are known to challenge conventional thinking, making him an indispensable guide in navigating the intersection of art, culture, and commerce. Whether shaping global media strategies, reimagining brand identities, or counseling executives on enlightened futures, Shingy continues to revolutionize industries with an alchemy of imagination, instinct, and impact. His legacy is defined not by following trends but by creating them—turning ideas into world-shifting realities.

Entrepreneurial thinking is an engine for change and a pathway to success, but nobody ever said it was easy. In fact, figuring out how to bet on your big ideas — and win — is even more difficult in our rapidly changing world. In this conversation, designers, futurists, and other experts came together to discuss the future of entrepreneurship within the design world and beyond. How do you surface the next big idea amid seismic societal change and successfully execute that vision? In an age of AI and smart materials, what types of services and products will best meet consumer needs and enhance human experience? How can potential entrepreneurs see past trends to build businesses with staying power?

Adi Goodrich
Spatial Designer and Founder, Sing-Sing Studio

Karli Slocum
President, 3form

Carrie Buse
Senior Director of Discovery, Mattel’s Future Lab

Mark Bryan, NCIDQ, IIDA
Chief Research and Strategy Officer, IIDA

Gen Z isn’t just adapting to workplace culture — they’re redesigning it. This conversation brought those insights to life through the perspectives of people shaping what comes next, from leadership expectations and communication norms to company values, hybrid work, and the design of physical and digital environments.

The discussion built on Fast Company’s reporting on Gen Z in the workplace—flexibility, boundary-setting, and new leadership models—and explored how leaders could evolve their cultures for a new era of authenticity, inclusion, and innovation.

Amanda Schneider, MBA
President, ThinkLab

Elanta Slowek
Content and Brand Strategist, The Academy Group, Inc.

Kasia Maynard
Global Head of Knowledge, WORKTECH Academy

Grace Snelling
Editorial Assistant, Fast Company

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping every industry, fueling predictions about its transformative impact on both our work and daily lives. However, the real extent of AI’s influence – particularly for knowledge workers and the built environment – is still unfolding. As we move toward an AI-led future shaped by agentic systems, ambient intelligence, and physical AI, organizations much consider which foundational elements to prioritize and design for today, to unlock tomorrow’s potential.

In this thought-provoking panel discussion, sponsored by Cisco, industry leaders demystified AI by focusing on its core building blocks: compute, language models, and data. This accessible framework guided an exploration of how these elements enable AI’s evolution for knowledge workers and physical spaces, and what strategic steps organizations could take now—including decisions to consider in the design process—to ensure the right strategic and economic outcomes for the upcoming era of connected intelligence.

Brian McCourt
Principal, Future-Proofed Workplace Studio, Cisco

Alfonso Oliva
AI Lead for the AECO Industry, NVIDIA

Nandan Oza
Head of Americas Technology Partners, Microsoft

Amanda Schneider, MBA
President, ThinkLab

Lighting is often treated as an afterthought in the design process, introduced once architecture and interiors are already defined. Yet light is what ultimately reveals space, materials, color, and form. Lighting is the fourth visual element of the built environment, and lighting designers are the fourth visual professionals—because without thoughtful light, the designed environment cannot truly be seen or fully understood.

At a time when workplaces, hospitality environments, and public spaces are evolving rapidly, the quality of light has never been more important. Great lighting supports visual comfort, enhances materials, defines atmosphere, and elevates how people experience space.

Moderated by Al Uszynski of Inside Lighting, this conversation brought together two professional lighting designers, an interior designer, and a manufacturer’s representative to explore why lighting matters and why professional lighting design plays a critical role in shaping successful environments. Together, they discussed the impact of lighting quality and the growing importance of lighting design in the built environment.

Avraham ‘Avi’ Mor, IALD, CLD, LEED AP
Founding Principal, MorLights LLC

Caitlin Mulligan-Ankony, LC
Director of Business Development, Senior Specification Sales, SCI Lighting Solutions

Jenny West, NCIDQ, LEED AP ID+C, PROSCI
Founder, West Consulting | Design, Art, Strategy

Lisa J. Reed, PE, IALD, CLD, LEED AP BD+C
Principal & CEO, Reed Burkett Lighting Design

Rebecca Keehner, NCIDQ, Leed AP
Senior Interior Designer, Senior Associate Stantec

Sohana Arni
Founder and Creative Director, line + form + light

Al Uszynski
Publisher, Inside Lighting

Design is entering a decisive new era, shaped by economic shifts, technological acceleration, and rising expectations for how spaces perform. Drawing on research from the American Society of Interior Designers 2026 Trends Outlook and Economic Outlook, this featured presentation examined how these forces were transforming not only what designers create, but how projects are managed and delivered.

Moderated by ASID CEO Khoi Vo, this panel of ASID members brought together perspectives from across the project ecosystem: Olivia Ribeiro, Senior Workplace Strategist at dancker; Dwayne Stephens, Built Environment Consultant at Impeccable 7; and Kate Pixler, Interior Designer at HOK.

As complexity grows across budgets, timelines, teams, and supply chains, project management has become essential to translating design vision into successful outcomes. Together, the panel explored how collaboration, coordination, and evolving delivery models are reshaping the design process, and how stronger integration across stakeholders can support resilience, adaptability, and accountability in today’s built environment.

Olivia Ribeiro
Senior Workplace Strategist, dancker

Dwayne Stephens
Built Environment Consultant, Impeccable 7

Kate Pixler, RID, IIDA, LEED GA
Interior Designer, HOK

Khoi Vo, ASID, IIDA
CEO, ASID

Expanding beyond buildings, this conversation explored how experiential storytelling, cultural expression, and emerging design technologies foster belonging, joy, and connection in the spaces where we live, learn, and gather. The panel examined two transformative civic projects shaping Chicago’s South Side: the Obama Presidential Center and its adjacent Athletic Center, Home Court. Together, they represent a new model of wellness-centered civic development—one in which architecture, culture, and community converge to support long-term social and environmental well-being.

Tod Williams
Partner, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Dina Griffin
President, Interactive Design Architects

Renauld Mitchell
Partner, Chicago Office Director, Moody Nolan

Chris Brown
Commissioner, Chicago Public Library

Matthew Bird, PLA, WEDG
Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.

Joshua Harris
Vice President, Public Engagement, The Barack Obama Foundation

Kimshasa Baldwin, NCARB, NCIDQ, LEED AP
Principal, Deture Culsign, Architecture+Interiors

Circularity in commercial furniture is increasingly being judged not by intentions, but by outcomes. This panel examined where circular strategies are working in the marketplace—and where they fall short—by comparing high-quality, durable products with lower-cost, disposable offerings.

Industry leaders looked at the logistical realities of sustainable design. From designing products with a “vintage-ready” second life to navigating the complexities of reuse logistics, they explored what worked, what didn’t, and why.

They provided real-world examples, candid insights, and actionable strategies for designing and managing furniture products to maximize value while minimizing waste. Whether you are a designer looking for practical solutions, an owner seeking to maximize your asset investment, or a manufacturer caught in the middle, this discussion will illuminate the path forward.

This session is designed for owners, A&D professionals, manufacturers, and service providers who want grounded, operational insights on making circularity work in the real world.

Joshua Belczyk
Sustainability Officer, Keilhauer

Lisa Adams, NCIDQ, LEED AP, WELL AP, LSSYB
Principal, HKS

Kristi Zook, NCIDQ, IIDA, LEED Green Associate
Senior Interior Designer, State Farm

Steve Kooy
Director Health & Sustainability, BIFMA

What began as a 2016 Work Design magazine article series—“What I Learned About Workplace Strategy from My Daughter” by Arnold Levin, Principal at CWI and past strategist at Gensler—evolved into a powerful exploration of the real-world challenges neurodiverse individuals face at work. Inspired by his daughter Zoe Levin’s experiences navigating the workforce with severe ADHD and dyslexia, the talk featured Arnold Levin and explored what designers could do better to create workplaces for neurodiverse populations. Zoe was not present at NeoCon; the session was led by Arnold, who shared her experiences through his perspective.

Arnold C. Levin
Principal, CWI

One of the most frequently renovated spaces in the built environment, interior makeovers can generate as much carbon over a building's lifespan as its exterior. As the urgency to reduce emissions and material waste grows, interior designers are uniquely positioned to lead the transition from linear consumption to circular design.

Led by members of ASID’s Environment Health and Wellness Committee—Brittany McNairy of Perkins&Will and Timothy Anscombe-Bell of the Sustainable Design Collective—this talk focused on the core principles of circular interior design: longevity, adaptability, material health, circular material flows, and end-of-life planning—while addressing why interiors required strategies distinct from architecture. Grounded in real-world case studies, the session demonstrated how circular principles could be applied as actionable, value-driven design decisions rather than abstract theory. A preview of the ASID Circular Design Guide 2026 also offered additional tools for implementing circular design across project lifecycles.

Brittany McNairy, ASID, LEED AP ID+C, WELL AP
Senior Technical Coordinator, Senior Associate, Perkins&Will

Timothy Anscombe-Bell, WELL AP, Fitwel Ambassador, ASID
Director, Sustainable Design Collective

Great design doesn’t come from following rules; it comes from knowing when and why to break them.

Presented by Founder and Principal of Chicago-based DMAC Architecture & Interiors Dwayne MacEwen, this talk challenges designers to ask better questions, interrogate assumptions, and identify the missing information needed to reach solutions. The session explored how the strongest ideas are rooted in deeper stories—of brand, place, and community—and why those narratives matter more than surface aesthetics. It also made the case for rigor and courage in the creative process, citing that the most impactful ideas are rarely the first ones approved and are often the ones pushed to their edge; tested, refined, and picked back up off the floor, where real innovation lives.

Dwayne MacEwen, AIA, NCARB, RAIC
Founder, Principal & Creative Director, DMAC Architecture & Interiors

As architecture and design firms race ever faster to meet client needs, leadership rooted in people, purpose, and culture has emerged as a clear competitive advantage.

In this session, Janet Simpson, President and CEO of Atlanta-based architecture, interior design, and planning firm TVS, shared how she guided the firm’s growth by empowering diverse voices, cultivating emerging leaders, and intentionally strengthening culture as a core business strategy. Drawing from firmwide programs and leadership practices, Simpson explored how a values-led approach to leadership enabled the firm to deliver iconic cultural and civic projects that enriched neighborhoods while creating meaningful community impact. Simpson also discussed how fostering innovation, agility, and performance within the firm positioned TVS to respond to a rapidly changing industry.

Janet Simpson
President and CEO, TVS

Tanner Woodford, the Founder of the Design Museum of Chicago, was joined by the 2026 Designing a Better Chicago grantees for a round of lightning talks that highlighted grassroots design projects that are addressing challenges across Chicago communities. Each grantee shared a finding from their work using design principles to creatively tackle social problems from food insecurity to expanding access to educational opportunities.

Tanner Woodford
Founder, Iterative Work

Why does walking in the forest feel so fulfilling? It’s more than fresh air—it’s fractals.

Nature is full of patterns—from rippling water to the veins of a leaf. Our brains naturally respond to these repeating forms with calmness, focus, and restored creativity. Neuroscience shows that fractal-rich environments can reduce stress and support cognitive performance, yet indoor spaces often feel flat and rigid. When we bring in local expressions of biophilia—textures that echo organic forms, lighting that mimics dappled sunlight, graphics inspired by branching rivers—spaces begin to feel different. These elements quietly signal to the brain: you’re safe, you can breathe.

Mette Shenker, LEED AP, IIDA
Senior Principal, Design Director, SmithGroup

There are two types of people in this world: those who are disabled and those who are temporarily abled.

For Kristin Cerutti, Regional Design Leader at NELSON Worldwide, this mantra helps explain a fundamental issue within the design space and beyond: the invisibility of disability. As a designer of physical space for over twenty years, Cerutti had always designed her projects with the occupants in mind—or so she thought. Two years ago, the way she moves through the world abruptly changed and forever altered her understanding of “people-first” design thinking. In this talk, listen to Cerutti’s personal journey of adversity and perseverance—and how it made her a better designer.

Kristin Cerutti, NCIDQ, Well AP, LEED AP ID+C
Regional Design Leader, Workplace, NELSON Worldwide

Color is often treated as a finishing layer—but what if it’s actually one of the most powerful tools designers have to shape human experience?

Color strategist and founder of LOVE GOOD COLOR, Laura Guido-Clark, provided a thought-provoking conversation on how color operates beyond aesthetics—impacting emotion, behavior, and our sense of belonging within a space. Drawing from her work with leading global brands and her pioneering methodology that integrates science with the senses, Laura explored how color functions as a language—one that influences how we move, connect, and feel in the environments we inhabit.

This session also discussed assumptions that color is experienced universally. In reality, individuals—especially those who are neurodivergent—perceive and process color in vastly different ways. By understanding color as a multi-sensory and neurological experience, designers can begin to create spaces that are not only beautiful, but empathetic and inclusive.

Laura Guido-Clark
CEO, LOVE GOOD COLOR PBC

The contract furniture industry is at a pivotal moment. Geopolitical tariffs, supply chain volatility, the rise of AI, and growing expectations around climate accountability are reshaping the systems that have long supported commercial furniture design and manufacturing. In this talk, Global Head of Sustainability & Impact at iF Design Lisa Gralnek explored the existential questions the industry faces and highlights the opportunities emerging from this period of disruption.

Drawing on iF Design’s global perspective, Gralnek examined how shifting trade dynamics, material scarcity, and digital automation are redefining value, authorship, and responsibility in contract furniture. She explored how AI is transforming not just how products are made, but also how choices about labor, materials and ethics are decided. The discussion also emphasized that sustainability can no longer sit alongside business strategy—it must be central to product development, sourcing, and client relationships as regulatory, economic, and cultural pressures intensify.

Lisa Gralnek
Global Head of Sustainability & Impact, US Managing Director, iF Design

In fast-paced and high-pressure work environments, supporting employee wellness has become a strategic imperative.

This session explored how the integration of art and creative design practices transforms the workplace into more than just a productivity center; it becomes a space for healing, belonging, and human flourishing. Drawing on insights from recent International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) research on how design impacts wellness and real-world applications, attendees learned how immersive, inclusive art strategies advance culture, community, and purpose within intergenerational workforces. Led by wellness expert Stephen Brown of IWBI and disabled artist and healing practitioner Quána Madison, this discussion reimagined workplace design through the lens of accessibility, emotional resonance, and net-positive business outcomes—inviting attendees to design workplaces that feel as good as they function.

Quána Madison
Multi Disciplinary Artist, ArtLifting

Stephen Brown
Senior Vice President of Global Market Development, International WELL Building Institute (IWBI)

In interior design, color is often seen as purely aesthetic, while acoustics are treated as a technical requirement. But what if these two elements could collaborate to shape how we experience a space—emotionally, sensorially, and functionally?

Presented by architect Elettra De Pellegrin of Slalom Acoustics, this talk examined the evolving relationship between color and acoustic performance in contemporary interiors across corporate, hospitality, and hotel environments. Drawing on Slalom’s acoustic expertise, the talk offered insights for professionals seeking innovative ways to balance performance and aesthetics, where sound-absorbing elements are not hidden necessities but expressive design tools that enhance spatial identity.

Emphasizing process and design thinking, the session explored how color influences mood and perception, and how acoustic materials can amplify these effects while improving comfort and well-being. Attendees gained insights into emerging color trends, strategies for integrating color and acoustics, and ways to reinforce brand identity.

Elettra De Pellegrin, Architect
Founder and CEO, SLALOM Acoustics

Many workplaces focus on efficiency or utility but neglect how design physically and psychologically supports well-being. This is where salutogenic design changes the game—by prioritizing factors that enhance health, resilience, and joy.

Presented by Jill Stewart, President of Office Revolution, and Kelly Colon of Eledex Consulting—also known as “The Neurospicy Professor”—this talk explored how to evaluate design through a salutogenic lens, three furniture strategies to support thriving occupants, and ways to measure impact on well-being. As NeoCon continues to spotlight human-centered design, sensory well-being, and the future of work, this session challenged a common industry pattern: treating wellbeing as a feature rather than a foundation. By positioning salutogenic design as a basis of design, not an add-on, we shift from reactive fixes to proactive workplace strategies that use furniture and space to support health, engagement, and the desire to be present.

Jill Stewart
President, Office Revolution

Kelly Colón
Founder, Coach, Educator, and Author of "Life Interrupted", Eledex Consulting

This Talk combined lighting techniques through the lens of architectural photography and lighting design. That perspective allows lighting to be understood in both two and three dimensions. It highlights the difference between lighting designed for a single moment photograph and lighting designed to support spaces as they are lived and worked in.

David B. Seide, ASMP Chicago/Midwest President Emeritus
Owner/Principal: Lighting Designer, Consultant, & Architectural Photographer, Defined Space Inc.

The lighting sales channel can feel like a maze: manufacturer reps, distributors, contractors, lighting designers, and manufacturers all influence what gets specified, priced, substituted, installed, and ultimately experienced. This session demystified the channel in plain language and gives designers a practical decision guide for who to involve, when, and why, based on project complexity, controls, budget, schedule risk, and accountability. Attendees learned the real roles each player serves, where handoffs commonly break down, and how to protect design intent when value engineering, lead times, or substitutions threaten the outcome. Using real-world scenarios, Justin mapped the most common paths from spec to site and provide a simple framework designers can apply immediately to choose the right partners, ask better questions early, and reduce costly surprises.

Justin Castellano
Owner, Just In Time

Light plays a critical role in the spaces we construct and for the people who inhabit them. As the built environment transforms from the assembly of inanimate materials crafted by a series of independent trade artisans to a world of intelligent, interconnected solid state electronic devices, new methodology is the imperative.

The advancement of LED technology has disrupted the electric lighting industry. As the rate of innovation continues, opportunities rise to leverage LED sources in ways that were never possible with legacy sources. Unconventional thinking about light as a naturally occurring phenomenon allows for greater design freedom and reduced environmental impacts. This course explained basic and advanced optical theories of how natural and electric light can be used together to their maximum potential, redefining many of the elements of design to enhance the human experience and improve infrastructure and connectivity.

Adrian Howitt
General Manager + VP, Fluxwerx

Who designs the lighting—and when does a project benefit from a dedicated lighting designer? This session explored the complementary roles of lighting designers and manufacturer representatives in the design and delivery of architectural lighting. Through visual comparisons and project examples, Caitlin and Prianka illustrated how lighting designers shape atmosphere and visual hierarchy, while lighting representatives help translate design intent into buildable solutions by aligning products with project goals, budgets, and lead times.

Caitlin Mulligan, LC
Director of Business Development, SCI Lighting Solutions

Prianka Chorney, LEED Green Associate
Associate, HLB Lighting Design

In the modern pursuit of minimalist, open-concept design, the ceiling has become a battlefield of competing trades. Exposed concrete and glass volumes create acoustic chaos, while a "Swiss cheese" of sprinklers, sensors, and vents disrupts the architectural intent. As lighting professionals, we hold the key to the most critical real estate in the building.

This session explored a paradigm shift: moving from standalone fixtures to integrated lighting platforms. Jason examined how the lighting system can serve as the primary structural "hub" to absorb sound, conceal safety technology, and host IoT sensors without compromising aesthetics.

By leading with a lighting-first integration strategy, architects and designers can reclaim the "Quiet Ceiling" - a high-performance space that is visually composed, acoustically tuned, and technically superior.

Jason Rakip
Senior Vice President of Sales – North America, COOLEDGE

Why Lighting Feels Hard — But It Doesn’t Have to helped architects and interior designers better understand lighting without technical overload, jargon, or ego.

The audience learned why lighting often feels complicated—not because they’re missing knowledge, but because lighting sits at the intersection of design intent, technology, human experience, and commercial reality. Through real stories and simple framing, the talk broke lighting down into what actually matters most: early decisions, collaboration, and clarity of intent.

This topic is relevant because lighting profoundly shapes how spaces are experienced, yet it’s often treated as a late-stage or isolated decision. Reframing lighting as a design amplifier—not a complication—leads to better collaboration and stronger outcomes.

What made this talk unique is the presenter’s role as a translator, drawing insight from years of listening to lighting designers and industry leaders, and sharing what helps lighting finally “click” for non-specialists.

Sam Koerbel
Founder, Lytei

The presenter shared basic and advanced lighting concepts, by showing high-resolution Project images, matched to a quote by some of the biggest names in the lighting industry, past and present. The techniques are very simple and practical and will make any lighting solution more appropriate and many times more cost effective. The recommendations were appropriate for commercial office, retail, hospitality to even facades, but the focus was on interior applications. Attendees learned ways to add drama to spaces without sacrificing visual acuity.

Chip Israel, FIALD, FIES, CLD, LEED-AP, LC
Principal, Lighting Design Alliance, a Salas Obrien Company

Every lighting specification is a biological decision — whether you know it or not. Light is the most powerful regulator of human physiology, governing circadian rhythms, sleep quality, alertness, mood, and cognitive performance. It affects how safely people move through a space, how productively they work, and how well they recover. Yet in most projects, its biological impact is an afterthought at best.

This session translated the latest research on light and human health into language and guidance that designers, architects, and end users can act on immediately. Attendees left with a clearer understanding of what makes a lighting environment work for the people inside it — not just aesthetically, but biologically — and the questions you should be asking on every project going forward.

The most consequential material in your next specification might be the one you're least thinking about.

Robert Soler
Founder and Chief Scientist, bios

Lighting decisions often arrive late in the design process, reduced to fixture selection and reflected ceiling plans developed after spatial design is complete. Yet the most compelling architectural environments begin much earlier—with intentional thinking about where light belongs and why.

Find Your Lighting Voice: Designing with Light, Not Just Picking Fixtures invited architects and interior designers to step confidently into the lighting conversation. This session introduced practical methods for thinking about light spatially and communicating lighting ideas visually throughout the design process.

Participants explored how section, elevation, and spatial diagrams can guide lighting strategy before fixtures are selected. By focusing on placement, layering, and reflected light, designers can shape how architecture is perceived and experienced.

The result is stronger collaboration with lighting specialists, clearer design intent, and more purposeful, integrated illumination.

Sage Russell
Vice President - Specification Sales, Lumenwerx

Lighting is often treated as a specification, but the best designers understand it as culture.

In conjunction with the immersive Illuminate at NeoCon vignettes, this session introduced the core principles that shape architectural lighting: intensity, color temperature, grazing vs. wall washing, the influence of material finishes, and strategies for illuminating millwork and displays. We’ll also explore downlight techniques, cove vs. slot lighting, circadian lighting concepts, and sustainable lighting approaches.

Designed as a Lighting 101 conversation for the A+D community, this session translated technical concepts into practical design insights, helping designers understand not just how lighting works, but some of the nuances that get missed, or unclear misconceptions that happen in lighting conversations.

Sohana Arni
Founder and Creative Director, line + form + light

How to Protect Design Intent, Asset Value, and Occupant Experience.

Lighting has an outsized influence on how spaces feel, perform, and are ultimately valued — yet many of the decisions that determine its final quality happen quietly during budgeting, procurement, and construction. Fixture substitutions, value engineering, control simplifications, and schedule pressures can gradually shift lighting outcomes away from the original vision.

The result is familiar: projects that meet technical requirements and stay on budget, yet fail to deliver the atmosphere, comfort, and visual quality they were designed to achieve.

This session examined the critical decision points that most influence lighting outcomes. Through real-world project insights, attendees will explore how lighting evolves between concept and installation — and how small decisions along the way can dramatically reshape the final experience.

Avraham ‘Avi’ Mor, IALD, CLD, LEED AP
Founding Principal, Morlights

Designers have long shaped placemaking based on observation, intuition, and assumed patterns of use. Yet today’s spaces are more dynamic, social, and unpredictable than ever before, often outgrowing the static lighting scenes and digital systems designed to support them. A new shift is underway: environments can now perceive real human movement, density, and behavior in real time, allowing spaces themselves to “experience” the people who inhabit them.

In this Talk, attendees explored how spatial sensing is transforming digital placemaking and enabling lighting and digital effects to become responsive, adaptive layers of design. Through real-world case studies and live demonstrations, the audience saw how dynamic lighting can form gathering zones, guide circulation, enhance perceived safety, and support social vitality by responding to how spaces are actually used, not how they were predicted to be used.

Participants gained insight into how this emerging design approach moves placemaking from static programming to living environments that continuously respond to human presence. The Talk introduced new ways to think about lighting not as a fixed utility, but as an active contributor to place identity, comfort, and performance.

What made this Talk unique is its focus on real deployed systems and field-collected behavioral data, demonstrating not just what is possible, but what is already happening in real places today. Attendees left with a new perspective on how digital placemaking can evolve to create environments that truly feel alive, responsive, and human-centered.

Robert Pope
Founder & Principal, Digital Ambiance

Eben Berg
Studio Partner | Industrial Designer, Digital Ambiance

Lighting is often the unsung hero of interior design—when done well, it disappears, leaving behind an atmosphere that feels effortless, intentional, and alive. Whether you're designing a workplace, hospitality space, or residential interior, this session will illuminate how lighting can be a strategic design partner—not just a finishing touch. This session, led by expert architectural lighting designers, explored the transformative power of integrated lighting design and how it adds measurable and experiential value to interior environments.

Katherine Stekr, CLD, IALD, IES, EDAC, LEED AP BD+C
Founder & Principal, STEK Design Co

Rachel Fitzgerald, CLD, IALD, IES, LEED AP BD+C
Senior Principal, Discipline Lead Lighting, Stantec

Lighting is often introduced after architectural concepts are established—yet light has the power to shape form, hierarchy, materiality, and experience as profoundly as structure itself. This presentation explored how integrating lighting design from the earliest phases of a project transforms outcomes for architects, clients, and users alike.

Through built case studies across multiple market sectors, this talk demonstrated how early lighting collaboration informs massing, façade articulation, interior volumes, and daylight strategies—while improving budget alignment, sustainability performance, and design clarity.

Attendees gained practical strategies for incorporating lighting design during schematic design, understanding where early decisions have the greatest impact, and fostering stronger interdisciplinary collaboration. This session reframed lighting not as a layer applied at the end, but as a fundamental architectural material.

Gwen B. Grossman, IALD, CLD, LC, IES
CEO & Founding Principal, GGLD

Alex Quella, IALD
Sr. Lighting Designer, GGLD