Rogier van der Heide
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| Rogier van der Heide, Designer, The Netherlands | |
 photo by Michael van Oosten |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Rogier van der Heide, Designer, The Netherlands |
| Birth date | 1970 |
| Birth place | Bennebroek, The Netherlands |
| Work | |
| Significant buildings | |
| Significant projects | Galleria West, Seoul, Korea Amsterdam Public Library, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum, London, UK California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA Prada Fall Winter 08-09 Fashion Show, Milan, Italy |
| Awards and prizes | IALD Radiance Award Lighting Designer of the Year Award International Lighting Designer Award of Excellence Edison Award of Excellence |
Rogier van der Heide is a designer based in The Netherlands, who has contributed to public and commercial places all over the world. He studied at the Institut Superieur des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium and the Amsterdam School of Arts. Rogier van der Heide worked until 2003 as an independent designer, usually in close collaboration with well known architects. As off 2004, Rogier has worked for the global design and consulting practice Arup. December 2007, the leading publication Metropolis Magazine devoted 8 pages to Rogier van der Heide, announcing him on the cover as "Arup's Brilliant Master of Light".
[edit] The early years: theater design
1989, Rogier van der Heide started working as a theater lighting designer in The Netherlands, designing the lighting for theater groups such as De Kern, Orkater and most of the productions of author and director Geert Kimpen. 1990 he joined the Amsterdam-based design practice Hans Wolff & Partners, who at that time specialized in architectural lighting design and theater consulting. Most notably, Rogier van der Heide worked for HW&P on the renovation of the Royal Flemish Opera in Ghent, Belgium. 1994, Rogier left the practice, and became a founding principal at Hollands Licht Advanced Design, the practice that he would own, lead and direct for ten years.
[edit] 1994–2003: architectural lighting design
Hollands Licht became well known for Rogier's unconventional approach to light in the built environment. The practice completed projects in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and many other cities world wide. Recognition was based on the vision that the designer is not only responsible for the look and functionality of the environment, but equally for the visitor experience as a result of combining design and perception. Rogier van der Heide stated that light and lighting are in a strong position to create such an experience as light predominantly defines the atmosphere and "feel" of a space. A large number of international projects and collaborations with a constellation of architects followed the inception of Hollands Licht: the National Museum of Science and Industry's Wellcome Wing (1999, architect Sir Richard MacCormac), Zaha Hadid's Mind Zone in the Millennium Dome (1999), Renzo Piano's Academy of Sciences in San Francisco (2002 and onwards) and Hani Rashid's Hydrapier Pavillion in The Netherlands (2002). The fact that Rogier van der Heide had no formal technical background put him in a position unlike other lighting designers: he truly levelled with the architects he worked for. Rogier's maverick attitude combined with a strong conceptual feel for projects did not go unnoticed and he received several awards during the Hollands Licht period. Most notable are the Edison Award of Excellence (2000), and the Lighting Designer of the Year Award (1999) presented by the leading magazine Lighting Dimensions of New York City.
[edit] 2004–present: Arup
The holistic design practice Arup seems to be an ideal environment for Rogier van der Heide to further explore the qualities of light in the built environment. Arup, that celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007, has a reputation as designers of the most complex environments and already had a lighting design group focusing on daylighting design using advanced computer simulation techniques. With Rogier joining the practice, creativity and technical skills were combined in an integrated approach to projects and their solutions. The merger has led to many signature projects, most notably Galleria West in South Korea in collaboration with Ben van Berkel of UN Studio and the 2004 Architecture Biennale show in Venice in collaboration with Hani Rashid of Asymptote. Rogier is a Director with Arup. He also is Arup's Global Leader of the lighting design business.
Besides his work as lighting designer, Rogier has a broad interest in the crossroads of design and business. According to Rogier van der Heide, design should be considered a critical factor in the everyday operations of companies and organizations. In articles and lectures, he has frequently stated that design should be on the agenda in the boardroom of his clients, and that architects, designers and engineers offer their clients a differentiator in today's competitive market. A good example is his design work for the Louis Vuitton boutiques, that have much contributed to an updated style while cutting energy costs as much as 80%.
2005, Rogier van der Heide was the first European designer to receive the world's most prestigious lighting design award: the International Association of Lighting Designer's Radiance Award. For his Louis Vuitton work, he received the International Lighting Design Award of Excellence in 2006.
