UP CLOSE WITH
By SHIRLEY COYLE, LC
It was a high school art teacher, respected Canadian artist John Viljoen, who unknowingly set Stephen Kaye on a path to lighting design. “I thought I was going to be an architect, so I was really drawn to art. Viljoen’s teachings and guidance got me through high school ... he showed me how to do still lifes, how light interacts with glass, how light falls on difficult surfaces, and how to use things like crayon and charcoal to capture the quality of light in an environment.” After an undergraduate degree in Studio Art at University of Guelph, Stephen interned for a year at B+H Architects (formerly Bregman + Hamann Architects) in Toronto. He recalled, “I was doing a lot of their presentation and CAD work, but I was drawn to making their renders look realistic by getting the light done properly. When you fake the light in a render, a trained eye can tell. That’s when I gravitated toward Parsons in New York.” Delighted with life in New York City, Stephen completed his Master of Fine Arts, Lighting Design at Parsons School of Design – The New School, in 2010. For his thesis, Stephen had the good fortune to have Phil Gabriel as his professor. “Phil was my mentor. We stayed in touch all the way, until his end ... Phil was just an incredible person.” Stephen interned with Leni Schwendinger in her New York studio. “It was a wild experience. Leni was very hands on, and it was the first time I experienced building models. I loved it! Leni thought deeply about master planning and was insightful about the use of color temperature, navigating from warmer colors for people versus cooler color for vehicle settings—and these were early days of LEDs!” Stephen’s dream to be a lighting designer in NYC was challenged by the impact of the Great Recession. He was an international student, and no one was hiring. After getting a referral from his former colleagues at B+H in Toronto (the firm did not do lighting design), Stephen landed at engineering consulting firm Mulvey + Banani International (MBII) in Toronto, as a lighting designer. Within five years, Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc. (MBL) was launched as a lighting design consultancy and subsidiary of the engineering firm. Stephen now serves as a Vice President. “Being a true design firm, seeing us as designers, not engineers, but knowing that the people behind us and around us are engineers ... there is value to be pulled from each direction that makes our projects that much more successful.” Asked to reflect on his success, Stephen offered, “I’m
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extremely fortunate ... right time, right moment, being surrounded by the right people, finding great support and mentors along the way. I’ve always found something that allows doors to be open instead of being shut. The grass is always greener where you water it. He continued, “I’m fortunate to have one of the best teams I can even imagine. We work and put forward incredible projects, meet difficult timelines and very tough constraints, and still go out to have a drink ... we’re doing a light walk this week where Alan (Alan McIntosh, also a VP at MBL) and I are going to walk the team through several of our projects in the downtown core, and then all go have dinner!” Spreading his love of lighting through teaching and speaking has been standard fare throughout Stephen’s career. He has taught the Daylighting Design course at Toronto Metropolitan University for the last fifteen years, and for five of those years as Academic Coordinator in the Certificate in Lighting Design program, Canada’s only university level lighting design program. “I love teaching. There’s something so rewarding about the questions when you get a good group of students who are keen. I’m passionate about daylight coming to the forefront of our well-being and well spaces. Daylighting is always on one road and lighting designers on another—when can they merge? Why do lighting designers still design in black holes? How can we bridge that gap?” To those coming into the lighting community, he advises, “Focus and commit to one concept— lighting design, sales, or other avenues within the industry ... really learn that skill set. But, you don’t have to know everything.” Stephen also encourages engagement with the IALD and spoke highly of the recent IALD Enlighten Conference in Tucson, saying, “The IALD conference is one I won’t miss. I’ll always be there and I always promote it to people!” And what does Stephen do for rest and recovery when he’s not working? “My wife Clarisa (Clarisa Llaneza, architectural and lighting designer) and I love to find places that are kind of remote, a spa setting, a hike, where we get away and disconnect as much as possible. I still love to draw ... I find any opportunity, even during my workday, whether it’s drawing details or sketching. I have two books I carry around just for drawing.” A love of art, drawing and light—inspired in high school art class—continues to reverberate. ■