UP CLOSE WITH
JIM BANEY By SHIRLEY COYLE, LC It was a high school elective class in architectural drafting that set Jim Baney on the path to lighting design. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Jim had always been “pretty good in math and sciences, with a love for design.” He recognized that The Penn State University’s Architectural Engineering program was a good spot for him. Finding the “visually driven” work was what inspired him, Jim thrived in his architecture projects, spending a lot of time on group projects working on physical models. He recalled, “I learned the impact that light has on rendering and reinforcing architecture ... the training helped me a lot as I moved into the working world.” Post graduation, Jim got a great start with CUH2A in Princeton, later HDR. A downturn in the economy led to having to find a new job. “It was a big blow, but in the lighting industry there are always relationships. Within a couple of days, I was working again, and it gave me a chance to do more of a search. I ended up going to New York, joining Fisher Marantz Stone (FMS).” He continued, “I believe every experience in life is not by mistake—that God ordains those things in our lives to refine us, sometime uncomfortably, moving us on to the next thing.” In 1994, he heard about an opening at Schuler Shook in Chicago, a city that Jim loved for its great architectural heritage and reputation. He interviewed and joined the firm in 1994. Over thirty years later, now a Partner at Schuler Shook, Jim reflected on his success, saying, “Success is making good decisions over a long period of time and learning from your decisions along the way. Part of that is being a good listener. If we listen to our owner client, to our architect client, then we understand the 102
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overall vision of a project.” “From the vision, we understand the requirements, then we can go off and come up with the answers … Beyond projects, it’s fun to do really great work. It comes down to the people you’re working with—many of our team members have been with us for a long time, and it’s rewarding to be part of their growth and development.” Explaining their design process, Jim noted, “There’s no shortcut to good design. We always fight for the process to include research, experimentation and collaboration, which take time. If you short circuit these things, the project suffers.” “There’s a tendency toward projects being driven so quickly that design takes a back seat, with design meetings replaced by coordination meetings. It was exacerbated by Covid, when everybody set up a weekly meeting on every project just to stay in touch. We’ve pushed ourselves back into in-person lighting design studio meetings, where we’ll bring a project in front of our whole group and brainstorm about it, putting out our best ideas.” Specification integrity is also critical, he explained. “As independent lighting designers, we’re paid to research and select the best products for a given application. We have a process to test products in our light lab, resulting in a spreadsheet of fixtures as the basis for our specification.” He added, “It’s another thing that has been swept aside in the digital age—the idea of getting our hands on physical fixtures and equipment, testing dimming products and doing that work ourselves. There’s no substitute for getting a fixture in our hands, aiming it at a wall, seeing the uniformity, color temperature, the way it’s built.” On the wide interest in AI, Jim
commented, “AI is obviously a very powerful tool, if used judiciously. It’s only as good as the prompts we’re able to feed it. We’re doing a lot of research into AI. For certain tasks, it’s been very helpful.” “I learned early in my career to write about a lighting concept before ever trying to draw it or present it. That’s kind of a lost art now. If you can get that picture in your mind by writing about the lighting concept, then you can make it happen using whatever tools you choose. And if you go to AI, you have to prompt it. You have to write about the lighting concept; then it gives you a picture.” Jim’s advice to those coming into the lighting community is to “get involved and do small things, wherever you start. Do it with excellence and that will lead to other opportunities. I get the sense sometimes that people want to rush through the process of their career, but I don’t think careers are forged that way.” He offered, “Join a committee with IALD or IES; attend industry events. Meet and learn from others. There’s such a wealth of knowledge and so many people that are generous and sharing, but you have to make yourself available.” What keeps Jim busy outside of Schuler Shook? He continues to return to Penn State, usually once a year, for Project Candle, a partnership between Penn State U and lighting professionals to nurture design in lighting education. When he’s not deep in his lighting design work, he tries to stay active, which for him “means running after one of my three girls (ages nine, seven and five) and our puppy Sparky. I enjoy running, hiking, in-line skating.” Jim Baney has built a rewarding career on a commitment to the design process, spec integrity and mentoring the next generation—along with a happy, hectic family life. ■