On May 7, 2019, the follow-up assessment for the 2018 National Art Fund Project aimed at training professionals in urban night-time image design was successfully carried out at Guangzhou Siquande Lighting Co., Ltd. This project was supervised by the National Art Fund, organized by the Communication University of China, and undertaken by the School of Drama and Film at the same university as well as the Joint Research Center for Applied Light Environment Design. Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts provided academic support for this initiative.
The Communication University of China is the first institution in China to offer a bachelor’s degree program in light environment design. The Joint Research Center for Applied Light Environment Design serves as a platform that integrates teaching, research, and practical application in the field of lighting design for cities, architectural landscapes, and cultural tourism projects. By leveraging the university’s strengths in teaching and research, this project developed a high-quality curriculum that takes a fresh perspective on urban night-time images. It combines key concepts and design requirements from various related fields such as urban brand marketing, urban planning, landscape design, night-time lighting, and urban nightlife into a systematic set of courses. This helps participants gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance, basic principles, and methods involved in planning and designing urban night-time images, thereby improving their skills in managing, planning, and designing such images. The goal is to cultivate highly skilled professionals who can contribute to enhancing the image of cities in China. Renowned experts and scholars from home and abroad were invited to teach, and advanced teaching concepts and methods were employed, with an emphasis on combining theory with practice and giving priority to practical skills.
The training for this project was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, theoretical lectures were delivered; in the first half of the second phase, training in design thinking was provided; and in the second half of that phase, practical training through design workshops took place. Additionally, activities such as follow-ups, exchanges, and visits to the participants’ workplaces were arranged later on.
Professor Zhang Lin, head of the Department of Environmental Design at the School of Drama and Film, Communication University of China, as well as director of the Joint Research Center for Applied Light Environment Design; Sun Xiao, deputy head of the Lighting Committee of the Chinese Society for Stage Art and a teacher at the National Academy of Chinese Opera; Chen Yansong, a doctor of design from the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University; and Xu Hantian, who holds a master’s degree in Scene Design and Communication from the University of Applied Sciences Dortmund in Germany, participated in the monitoring and evaluation of this program for training future professionals. Ma Limin, chairman of Guangzhou Siquande, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Fu Xueping, general manager, and Lai Feng, project director/senior engineer (a participant in the 2018 National Art Fund program for training professionals in urban night-time image design), took part in the discussions related to the project, offering high praise and recognition for the work of the expert team responsible for monitoring and evaluating the National Art Fund projects.
On May 8, 2019, the project expert group visited the Taikoo Warehouse port project, which was under construction at that time. The aim of this project is to create a hub in Guangzhou that combines cultural and creative activities, trade exhibitions, tourism, as well as leisure and entertainment functions, serving as a sort of “urban living room” for the city. The expert group offered valuable suggestions regarding the diversity and open-style development of the Taikoo Warehouse project; they also discussed how light and culture can be combined to create innovative and meaningful lighting designs, thereby adding a touch of elegance to this “urban living room”.
