The Robert Bruce Thompson Charitable Trust recently announced the 2021 RBT Student Light Fixture Design Competition, an independent design competition designed to promote education and awareness of light fixture design. The competition is open to students in both undergraduate and graduate design and engineering programs across American universities. The top prize is $5,000.
This year’s design scenario to address is:
You have been hired by a University Student Center to design a light fixture for the bookstore apparel area. Specifically, the Student Center sells jerseys and other clothing that celebrates the school’s sports teams. The luminaire should illuminate circular racks of logo clothing, but also have a lively and inviting appearance. It should deliver light in an energy-efficient manner, without glare for the customer and staff. The bookstore apparel area has a ceiling height of 11 ft. It has sliding doors that open onto an exterior plaza to become an indoor/outdoor space so the fixture will also serve to advertise the Student Center. Determining the architectural design of the apparel area is up to you.
The winning student’s design will incorporate energy use, durability, and maintenance considerations. This competition aims to encourage the next design generation of designers to think beyond what looks good on the computer screen to what will be buildable, installable, and maintainable.
For more information about the competition, visit the organization’s website.
