June 5th Memorial Named 2019 LIT Design Awards Winner in Ambient Lighting

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June 5th

The Lighting Practice is proud to announce that the June 5th Memorial was among the winners of the 2019 LIT Design Awards in the category of Ambient Lighting. The project honors the six people who were killed in 2013 when a building undergoing demolition collapsed onto a Salvation Army store in Philadelphia.

“Our team is honored to have contributed to this important place of remembrance in the Philadelphia community,” said Al Borden, FIALD, CLD, MIES, who developed the design with Caitlin Bucari. “We are glad to bring attention to it among the greater lighting design community through this recognition.”

The park is a place of healing and commemoration while also highlighting the importance of building safety. Led by architect Scott Aker, artist Barb Fox, and the 22nd and Market Memorial Committee, TLP donated time and expertise to develop a reverential lighting solution for the memorial.

Solid state lighting sources and fiber optics give the site a nighttime glow that welcomes and engages visitors to pause and reflect. Lighting cascades down the surrounding walls and illuminates the spiral-patterned path to the memorial’s centerpiece, a sculpture containing three stones that glow from within. The lighting design related the colored glass in the stone monoliths – a color selected by each family for their lost loved one – to the energy of life.

“The glass glows without any obvious source,” Al said. “We designed a system that allows the glass boxes to remain sealed forever, preserving the energy within. The stones and glass will last perhaps forever, as will the memory of the people who were lost.”

The LIT Design Awards recognize talented lighting professionals and their projects around the world. LIT, which stands for “Light in Theory,” was envisioned to celebrate the creativity and innovation in the fields of lighting products and application. Winners are chosen by an esteemed jury of leaders in fields spanning lighting, interior design, and architecture.

Congratulations to the June 5th Memorial’s design team and the rest of the 2019 winners.

June 5th Memorial Park
Photography by Jeffrey Totaro Photography