Bright Lights, Big Winners

Mark McMenamin

The Koizumi International Lighting Competition celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Interior Design· April 28, 2008

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Competition can bring out the worst in political candidates. Among design students, vying for first can uncover the best.

Case in point: the 20th-anniversary edition of the Koizumi International Lighting Competition, sponsored by the Japanese manufacturer. The contest's theme, In Search of the Way of Light—Global Environment of the Future, attracted 1,084 students from 165 schools worldwide. Each contestant was challenged to design and construct a unique lighting prototype. The eight-member jury, which included Patrick Whitney, director of the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design, awarded the gold, plus a prize of 1 million yen, to Yi Lu from China's Shaanxi University of Science & Technology. His design is a lamp-battery hybrid incorporating LEDs.

To see Lu's top design, and seven more award winners, click to start the slide show at right.