In July, lighting design studio L’Observatoire International announced that it would be opening a London studio to complement its existing teams in New York, Paris, and Seoul. Heading this new studio is Project Director Leah Xandora. Here, we speak to Xandora about the move, and its benefits to the wider L’Observatoire International team.
IN CONVERSATION LEAH XANDORA
How did you first get into lighting? By designing large scale lighting installations and lighting objects – more art pieces. The focus at that time was very much how people interacted with an ‘object’. I remember finding my first project working at an architectural scale fascinating – the way people interact with spaces can be so much more subjective, but it can also be so much more theatrical; the blending of the psychology and science of light, and the curation of the experience of a space. I loved the process, to say the least, and have been working in lighting design since. When did you join L’Observatoire International? I met Hervé Descottes, Founder and Principal of L’Observatoire International, in 2017 working on a project together as collaborators. His passion for lighting is inspiring – the drive and perfectionism but also the very layered way he thinks about lighting, was quite the experience, and we had a very good dynamic from the get-go. I joined the New York team in 2017, and was based there until the idea of London came about. When, how, and why did the conversation of opening a London office come about? At L’Observatiore International, our work is, and always has been, worldwide. In the team in New York, we have projects spanning the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and much more. In my team, we always had a mix of this, but also London and UK-based projects. Being familiar with the regulations, people, and the nuances of local projects is always hugely important, and I took on many of our London-based projects. We were finding we had increasing numbers of these, and while we’re always on the go, to be available to a job site and be agile in a way that helps catch something or improve the execution is key to maintaining the high level of design we strive for, and it just seemed increasingly important to have a presence to be able to do so. Why did you choose London as a location? London has always been a huge hub of international creativity, for architecture and design, and it is still one of the most connected UK cities to mainland Europe. Although it is always changing culturally, it was a good base for L’Observatoire International UK. What benefit will the new studio bring to L’Observatoire International as a whole? We are very much an international company of lighting designers. We have designers from all over
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the world in our wider team – that helps bring new insights, experience, and helps us manage our projects in the most seamless way, so we can focus on the design. While we travel extensively, the way of working on projects is always changing, and it helps to have the ability to support each other from different time zones and different positions around the globe, to be more agile. How will it fit into the wider L’Observatoire International brand? Having worked with Hervé and L’Observatoire International New York for eight years, I think its key we keep that DNA and that approach. Hervé and our Directors are constantly travelling, and as such we are always connected, but also bringing new ideas. London has its own character and its own type of projects, but still, the core is the same. What sort of collaboration will there be between the London studio, and existing teams in New York, Paris, and Seoul? To my mind they are far from separate. We still collaborate on many projects between New York and London – so we are speaking every day. While we don’t do this on every project, we’ve found it helps once you have a good fluency with each other as designers, to manage say, a project designed out of London but built in the US, we can now have team members in both. In other ways, as we always have done between New York and Paris, it helps to bring different perspectives to the design and management of projects, and as a senior leadership team, we look to share each other’s insights into the architectural lighting world from Europe to the US, and now to the UK. What is next for both the London studio, and for L’Observatoire International as a whole? While L’Observatoire International has been expanding, the ethos and the approach is still very much the same – to ensure we create beautiful, layered, and thought-provoking designs that are as specific to the projects and the architects we collaborate with, as their designs. For the London studio, we are looking to deepen our connections in the London design community, create more beautiful collaborations, and expand our team in a conscious way, to navigate the future design world as a group, and to make sure we can support each other better to create more beautiful, and excellent lighting projects for the future. www.lobsintl.com