Congratulations to the Winners of the
2026 IESNYC Student Lighting Competition

The IESNYC is proud to announce the winners of the 25th annual IESNYC Student Lighting Competition, marking a milestone year for a program that continues to inspire and connect the next generation of lighting designers.

This year’s competition theme, Everything Old is New Again, challenged students to explore adaptive reuse through light—reimagining existing objects, spaces, and ideas into something entirely new. Participants developed three-dimensional studies demonstrating how lighting can transform the familiar through visual delight, enhanced functionality, and innovative reinterpretation.

Left to right: Shaun Fillion, Co-Chair and First place winner Eli Lucas; Second place winner Phoebe Zimski; 
and Third place winner Athos Argue

The 2026 competition featured over 160 projects from over 180 students, representing leading art, design, architecture, and engineering programs across New York City and the surrounding region. The competition was presented in a live exhibition at the LEDucation Trade Show and Conference at the New York Hilton Midtown on April 14–15, 2026, with the awards ceremony held on April 14.

Grand Prize Winner

"Metamorphosis"
Eli Lucas, Pratt Institute

A distorted emulation of a candle, Metamorphosis evokes the age-old simplicity of a flame lingering above a column of wax fuel. As the wax is melted, its old form is eviscerated, drip by drip, and a new form is developed. The uniformity and rigidity of the original column of wax is eviscerated, exploded, and destroyed as if a projectile was slowly worming its way through it vertically. Through the thermal metamorphosis of the wax, the object as a whole becomes new again.

Second Place

"worn"
Phoebe Zimski, Pratt Institute

Worn shines light on the ritual of hang-drying clothes. The garments hang open in space, as if they were outside. Warm light, like the sun, reflects off the surface of the pieces and casts a textured shadow on the wall behind them. The viewer is invited to notice both the clothes and their shadows, and to watch them sway if a gust of wind passes through.

Today, we are accustomed to the automated maintenance of our belongings. We have lost the patience to slow down and engage in meticulous tasks. This piece recalls a time when we were more present with our possessions. The garments on the line are plastic imprints, rigid and transparent. Thus, the clothesline is but a shadow, a memory of when we used to take care of our things.

Third Place

"Slow Light"
Athos Argue, Pratt Institute

A lamp that requires a ritual to turn on. Before electric light, illuminating a room was a process. One gathered materials, prepared a flame, tended it. That relationship disappeared within a generation. The result is a world in which light is produced and discarded without thought, and a night sky that no longer meaningfully exists across most of the United States.
I came to design through cooking, in kitchens built around the philosophy of the Slow Food movement. The argument was that the process of making something is part of its value. Convenience has a cost that its price does not reflect. Slow Light applies that argument to lighting.

Honorable Mention

"Hundredweight" 
Alyssa Kend, Troy McIver, Daniel Pachman and Robert Hill-Guarino,
New York School of Interior Design

Honorable Mention

"Urban Escape"
Aajanayae Hawes Herndon, Pratt Institute

Honorable Mention

"The Void Garden"
Mitchell Ho, Pratt Institute

Honorable Mention

"Lazarus"
William Rothman, Pratt Institute

Honorable Mention

"Miasin"
Kyle Yastangacal, Pratt Institute

About the IESNYC Student Competition

The IESNYC Student Lighting Competition is dedicated to our founder, Patricia DiMaggio. As an NYC educator and past president of IESNYC, we uphold Patricia’s goals of education, community, and friendly competition. Having grown from 8 students in 2000 to over 100 students today, it is a legacy which will continue to grow with all your support.

One of the goals of the IESNYC is to promote education and greater awareness about the importance of lighting and the Student Competition is one of the contributors towards these efforts. Since 2000, they have invited students from New York City Art and Design schools to participate in a city wide design competition. The competition empowers students to explore light as an art form, demonstrate light as a stimulus, and prove light as a valuable medium. Every year, students in lighting, architecture, interior design, art, product design, photography and electrical engineering programs have submitted projects, resulting in a diverse showcase of ideas and interpretations on a single theme. The IESNYC Student Competition has been incorporated into the curriculum lighting classes in several area schools and has piqued an interest in lighting design of close to a thousand design students to date.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]