The design practice Speirs and Major Associates is among the most respected and pioneering names in architectural lighting. Mark Major, who founded the company with Jonathan Speirs in 1993, nevertheless considers his involvement with lighting to have been rather “accidental”. While doing his postgraduate studies in architecture, he met and worked at the office of his future partner Jonathan Speirs, who already specialised in architectural lighting. This first contact gave Mark Major the opportunity to work in a field that was still largely unknown and pioneering at the time, while also allowing him to combine his passion for art and science in a more creative result, away from the institutional constraints of architecture.
Today Mark Major calls himself a lighting architect, that is, an architect who works with light, stressing the practice’s involvement in architectural projects, although this does not mean that its interests are limited to that field. While the work of SaMA brings to mind large-scale projects and impressive, high-specification lighting solutions, the practice’s portfolio covers a range of work from urban design (public spaces, private buildings, churches, airports, bridges) to branding and product design.
Asked which kind of architectural lighting interests him most, Mark Major answered that he has recently been particularly occupied with public space in cities, as it calls for strategic thinking on many levels. Projects of this kind are not limited to the quality of the lighting, but also concern how the wider public interacts with light in general, for example when it is used as a means of conveying information.
In his talk at the conference in Stockholm, Mark Major spoke about the idea of the “dark city” and about classifying the urban fabric into lit and unlit zones according to type of use, the needs in each case and the “character” of each area. The zones that result from this exercise concern not only the amount of light in each area but also choices about the colour quality and warmth of the light. Some areas may not need to be lit at all!
SaMA approaches each project in its own way, without following a template or a standardised package of solutions in architectural lighting. What ties all the projects together is a shared philosophy and approach to the design and execution of the work. Mark Major says that “we need to bring light into people’s lives”. SaMA’s aim is for everyone to have access to good-quality lighting, even those who are worst off financially. Like architecture, architectural lighting design is an integral part of our everyday lives and needs to become part of how we educate our social conscience.
