L'Observatoire International is a

lighting design In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping in ...

firm established by Hervé Descottes in 1993 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The firm works within a range of different spatial expressions including architecture, landscape, urban, and fine art projects. L'Observatoire has become known for its innovative ways of applying light within the built environment, and does so by merging the latest technologies with an aesthetic paradigm in order to most advantageously engage and reveal the program, space, and form. The firm has collaborated with architects and designers including

Steven Holl Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. Among his most recognized works are the 2019 REACH expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 2019 Hunters Point Library in Q ...

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo ...

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...

, Peter Marino.

Recent notable works

Le Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Agence Search, Paris, France (Under Construction) * Le Nouvel Ardmore, Ateliers jean Nouvel, Singapore (2015) * Faena Hotel Miami Beach, Bazmark, Miami, FL, USA (2015) *

Philharmonie de Paris The Philharmonie de Paris () ( en, Paris Philharmonic) is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeaste ...

, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Paris, France (2015) * Seamarq Hotel, Richard Meier Partners, Gengneung, South Korea (2015) * House of Dior Seoul, Peter Marino Architects, Christian de Partzamparc, Seoul, South Korea (2015) *

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, Olin Partnership, New York NY, USA (2014) *

Aspen Museum of Art Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, ...

, Shigeru Ban Architects, Aspen, CO, USA (2014) *

Fondation Louis Vuitton The Louis Vuitton Foundation ( French: ''Fondation d'entreprise Louis-Vuitton''), previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (''Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création''), is a French art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group L ...

, Gehry Partners, Paris, France (2014) * Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Agence Jouin Manku, Munich, Germany (2014) * Fendi Avenue Montaigne, Curiosity, Paris, France (2014) * Vik Vinery, Smijan Radic, Millahue, Chile (2014) *

Conrad Hotel Conrad Hotels & Resorts is an American multinational brand of high-end luxury hotels and high-end luxury resort, resorts owned and operated by Hilton Worldwide. Conrad was considered the luxury flagship brand in the Hilton Family of Brands, name ...

, KPF, New York, NY, USA (2012) * Daeyang Gallery & Guesthouse, Steven Holl Architects, Seoul, Korea (2012) *

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...

, Leeser Architecture, Queens, NY (2011) * Cite de l'Ocean et du Surf, Steven Holl Architects, Biarritz, France (2011) *

Beekman Tower The Beekman Tower, also known as the Panhellenic Tower, is a 26-story Art Deco skyscraper situated at the corner of First Avenue and East 49th Street in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City. The building was constructed between 1927 and 1928 to ...

, Gehry Partners, LLP, New York, NY (2011) *

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...

, Rick Mather Architects + SMBW, Richmond, VA (2011) *Steel Stacks Campus, Wallace Roberts & Todd, Bethlehem, PA (2011) *

Vanke Center Vanke () is a large residential real estate developer in China. It is engaged in developing, managing and selling properties across more than 60 mainland Chinese cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai-Rim Region, with ...

, Steven Holl Architects, Shenzen, China (2011) *Taikoo Place, Wong & Ouyang, Hong Kong, China (2010) *Marc Jacobs Tokyo, Stephan Jakitsch Architects, Tokyo, Japan (2010) *

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a planned art museum, to be located in Saadiyat Island cultural district in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Upon completion, it is planned to be the largest of the Guggenheim museums. Architect Frank Gehry designed th ...

, Gehry Partners, LLP, Abu Dhabi (2010) *Hermes Rive Gauche, Rene Dumas, Architecture Interieure, Paris, France (2010) *ABC Kitchen, Jan Burtz, Jim Denney, Eric Slayton, New York, NY (2010) *Les Lalanne, Musee de Arts Decoratifs, Peter Marino Architects, Paris, France (2010) *

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

Redevelopment:

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

, Diller, Scorfidio + Renfro, New York, NY (2009) *

The High Line The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Ope ...

, Field Operations, New York, NY (2009) *The Standard Hotel, Polshek Partnership Architects, New York, NY (2009) *

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

, Gehry Partners, LLP, Toronto, Canada (2008) *

Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant The Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest sewage treatment facility operated by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Since 2010, its eight metallic "digester eggs", which are tall and dramatically ill ...

, Polshek Partnership (now

Ennead Architects Ennead Architects LLP (/ˈenēˌad/) is a New York City-based architectural firm. The firm was founded in 1963 by James Polshek, who left the firm in 2005 when it was known as Polshek Partnership. The firm's partners renamed their practice in mid- ...

), Brooklyn, NY (2008) *The Pink Project: Make It Right Foundation, Graft, Founder: Brad Pitt, New Orleans, LA (2008) *Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, Gehry Partners, LLP, Paris, France (2008) *

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (LRCBH), officially the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, opened on May 21, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is operated by the Cleveland Clinic and was designed by Frank Gehry. History Keep Me ...

, Gehry Partners, LLP, Las Vegas, NV (2008) *

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

, Gehry Partners, LLP, Basel, Switzerland (2008) *The French Presidency of the European Union, Agence Sylvain Dubuisson, Brussels, Belgium (2007) *

Vivocity VivoCity is a shopping mall located in the HarbourFront precinct of Bukit Merah, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, with of net lettable area and of gross floor area spread over a three-storey shopping complex and t ...

, Toyo Ito & Associates, Singapore (2007) * Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Sylvain Dubuisson, Paris, France (2007) *

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

, Atelier Jean Nouvel, Minneapolis, MN (2006) *Buffalo Bayou: Sabine to Bagby Promenade, SWA Group, Houston, TX (2006) *

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...

, Olin Partnership, New York, NY (2005) *Bronx Museum, Architectonica, New York, NY (2006) * Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Atelier Jean Nouvel, OMA/Rem Koolhas, Seoul, Korea (2004) * Walt-Disney Concert Hall, Frank O. Gehry & Associates, Los Angeles, CA (2003) *

Bellevue Arts Museum The Bellevue Arts Museum is a museum of contemporary visual art, craft, and design located in Bellevue, Washington, part of the greater Seattle metropolitan area. A nonprofit organization established in 1975, the Bellevue Arts Museum (BAM) provides ...

, Steven Holl Architects, Bellevue, WA (2001) * Langston Hughes Library, Maya lin Studio, Clinton, TN (2000) * Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Steven Holl Architects, Helsinki, Finland (1998) *

Cranbrook Institute of Science The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cr ...

, Steven Holl Architects, Bloomfield Hills, MI (1998)

Awards

* 2016 -- Architizer Award for ''Fondation Louis Vuitton'' (Paris, France) * 2015 -- IES Illumination Award for ''The Metropolitan of Arts'' (New York, USA) * 2014 -- Global Awards for Excellence for ''Steel Stacks Campus'' (Bethlehem, PA) * 2014 -- Architizer Award for ''The High Line'' (New York, USA) * 2014 -- Lumen Award for ''Les Haras Strasbourg'' (Strasbourg, France) * 2014 -- IES Illumination Award for ''Private Residence in Fire Island'' (Fire Island, USA) * 2014 -- IES Illumination Award for ''Lafayette Grand Cafe'' (New York, USA) * 2014 -- IES Illumination Award for "Les Haras Strasbourg'' (Strasbourg, France) *IES Illumination Award for Le Ciel de Paris (Paris, France) (2013) *IES Illumination Award for Conrad Hotel (New York, NY) (2013) *IES Illumination Award for Daeyang House and Gallery (Seoul, South Korea) (2013) *IES Illumination Award for Vintry Fine Wines (New York, NY) (2013) *IES Illumination Award for the Virgin Atlantic JFK Clubhouse (New York, NY) (2013) *IALD Award awarded to '' Cite du Surf et de L'Ocean'' (Biarritz, France) (2013) *GE Edison Award (highest honor) for Vintry Fine Wines (New York, NY) (2013) * Lumen Award of Merit awarded to the following projects: '' Cite du Surf et de L'Ocean'' (Biarritz, France) and ''

'' (New York, NY) (2012) * IALD Award of Special Citation for Sensitive Application of Light in a Repurposed Urban Setting for ''The High Line'' (New York, NY) (2012) * IES Illuminations award of Merit Awarded to the following projects: ''The Cosmopolitan (Las Vegas, NV), Hermes Rive Gauche (Paris, France), '' Cite du Surf et de L'Ocean'' (Biarritz, France), and ''

'' (New York, NY) (2012) * Wan Awards Retail Interior Award for
RDAI's Hermes Store
' (Paris, France) (2011) * Municipal Arts Society's Masterworks Award Best Restoration for the ''

Queens Theatre in the Park Queens Theatre, formerly Queens Theatre in the Park and before that Queens Playhouse, is an American professional theatre, located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City, New York. Artistic and Executive Directors have included ...

'' (Queens, NY) (2011) *Lumen Award of Merit for ''Lincoln Center Redevelopment: Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard School''(New York, NY) and Private Residence (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) (2010) * World Architecture News Award in Civic Building Category for the
New York Korea Cultural Center
' (New York, NY)(2010) * IES Illuminations award of Merit Awarded to the following projects: ''Newton Creek Waste Water Pollution Treatment Plant'' (New York, NY), ''

'' (New York, NY), and ''Lincoln Center Redevelopment: Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard School'' (New York, NY)(2010) * Best Redesign awarded by The Municipal Art Society of New York Awarded to the following projects: ''Lincoln Center Redevelopment: Alice Tully Hall'' (New York, NY) and ''The High Line'' (New York, NY)(2010) * Commendable Achievement Exterior Lighting from Architectural Lighting Magazine's Sixth Annual Light and Architecture Design Awards for ''Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant'' (Brooklyn, NY)(2009 *

ASLA Asla (Arabic: عسلة, from Arabic "Assel", lit. ''honey'') is a municipality in Naâma Province, Algeria. It is coextensive with the district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local ...

Design Excellence Award for ''Buffalo Bayou: Sabine to Bagby Promenade'' (Houston, TX)(2009) * Chevalier des Arts et Lettres''Knight of Arts and Letters'' Award administered by the Minister of Culture and the Government of France (2008) * Award of Merit from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(AIA) for ''Theory World Headquarters and Retail Flagship'' (New York, NY)(2008) * Yellow Pencil Award from

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

(British Design and Art Direction) for Environmental Design/Installation for the Make It Right Foundation's ''Pink Project'' with Graft as architect (New Orleans, LA)(2008) * Award of Excellence from the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...

for the ''Buffalo Bayou: Sabine to Bagby Promenade'' (Houston, TX)(2007) * General Design Award of Honor from

for ''Columbus Circle'' (New York, NY)(2006) * Institute Honor from Collaborative Achievement in Design

(AIA)(2003) * Award for Excellence in Design from the Art Commission of New York City for the exterior lighting of the ''P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center'' in Long Island City (New York, NY) (2003)

Book Publications

* *

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Official website
Companies based in New York City Architectural lighting design