Hervé Descottes

Hervé Descottes is a French lighting designer, business owner and author. He established the lighting design firm L'Observatoire International in New York City in 1993[1] after eight years of design practice in Paris, France. Descottes personally creates the lighting concepts for all projects designed by L'Observatoire International, and oversees project development through project completion. He is the author of Ultimate Lighting Design (teNeues, 2005) and co-authored Architectural Lighting, Designing with Light and Space (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011) with Cecilia E. Ramos. Mr. Descottes has been recognized numerous times by the lighting design and architectural community. He has received awards from the International Association of Lighting Designers, the Illuminating Engineering Society and the New York City Illuminating Engineering Society, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, D&ADAD, the Municipal Art Society of New York City, and the GE Corporation. In 2008, Descottes was named Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture for his work in lighting design.[2]

In 2026, Hervé Descottes received the Architecture Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, recognizing architects whose work is distinguished by a strong personal direction.

A comprehensive list of projects and awards is at the L'Observatoire International article.

Selected projects

Lectures

  • Temporary transformation and activation of TALEA Green Cells workshop at the University of Bologna, Italy, 2026
  • Light for Spaces Round Table at The Euroluce International Lighting Forum at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy, 2025
  • Friends of ESDA of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, 2019
  • Hervé Descottes in Conversation with Cindy Allen, Interior Design Innovation, New York, USA, 2019
  • Belysnings, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018
  • Designing with Light, Chicago Architecture Biennal Symposium, Chicago, USA, 2017
  • Columbia CORE I Series, New York, USA, 2016
  • Foro Lighting en Site IES, Mexico, 2015
  • University Penn Design, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2015
  • Using Light as Infrastructure, Chester City UK, 2014
  • Ubuntu: Design Symposium, Sangmyung University, Seoul, Korea, 2011
  • OHNY, Friends of the High Line, New York, USA, 2010
  • Light and Theater, New York, NY, USA, 2008
  • Art, Architecture and Light, Athens, Greece, 2008
  • Making Light, IES Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, 2008
  • Evocative Luminance, IES NY, New York, USA, 2007
  • Rediscovering Columbus, New York, USA, 2007
  • UW School of Architecture, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2006
  • Cooper Union School of Architecture, New York, USA, 2006
  • Lighting Design Talk, Cedar Lake Theater, New York, USA, 2006
  • Center of Mediterranean Architecture, Chania Crete, Greece, 2004
  • Hommage to James Turrell, Institute Franco-Portugais, Lisbon, 2003

Bibliography

  • Ultimate Lighting Design (teNeues, 2005)[3]
  • Architectural Lighting, Designing with Light and Space co-authored with Cecilia E. Ramos (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011)[4]

References

  1. ↑ "He turns on NYC: Lighting designer Herve Descottes' bright ideas light up the city". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  2. ↑ "France Honors Hervé Descottes and Mia Farrow". frenchculture.org. 10 June 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  3. ↑ "Ultimate Lighting Design (Ultimate)". Hstech.org. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  4. ↑ "Architectural Lighting". Papress.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
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