Leni Schwendinger

Founder, International Nighttime Design Initiative and Creative Director and Consultant, NightSeeing™

Leni Schwendinger is a recognized authority on the many issues and applications of city lighting with more than 20 years of experience creating illuminated environments for public spaces all over the world. Her innovative interdisciplinary practice, nighttime design urbanism, focuses on city districts’ darkened hours and includes fresh community involvement methodologies. This work is shared through Leni’s public speaking engagements, including the worldwide “NightSeeing™, Navigate Your Luminous City” program, most recently in Prague, Czech Republic, Sydney, Australia, Santa Monica, California (USA), and Bogota, Colombia. For Myrtle Beach (South Carolina, USA) Leni’s Light Projects team is starting up a nighttime masterplan. Recent and ongoing projects include illuminating landscapes along the Erie Canal (New York State) and a pedestrian and cycle bridge (New York State) among others.  Professional awards include multiple Lumens from the Illuminating Engineering Society, American Society of Landscape Architects, and the National Endowments for the Arts. Schwendinger has enjoyed extensive coverage in design press and media, including videos produced by Monocle, Architectural Lighting, Architectural Digest, and Dwell magazines. She is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, a Design Trust for Public Space Fellow, and served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in residence at the Portland State University (USA) Department of Architecture. Leni directs International Nighttime Design Initiative which is establishing an after-dark, creatively focused, profession.

Learn about urban lighting and nighttime design here: https://www.lslp.net/and Leni’s public speaking and training programs here: https://lenischwendinger.com/.