Richard Kelly (1910–1977) was an American
lighting designer, considered one of the pioneers of architectural lighting design.
Kelly had already established his own
New York-based lighting practice in 1935 before enrolling at the
Yale School of Architecture. He graduated from there in 1944. Kelly characterized the difficulty in selling lighting consultancy, then a new discipline, when he reflected, "There weren't lighting consultants then. Nobody would pay for my ideas, but they would buy fixtures."
By the 1950s, his work in lighting design led him to coin the terms 'focal glow', 'ambient luminescence' and 'play of brilliants' to describe particular effects in lighting design,
namely that of highlighting objects, washing surfaces, and creating sharp detail, respectively.
Richard Kelly’s Three Tenets of Lighting Design , Architect Magazine
/ref> His later career also saw him lecture at Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
, Princeton, and Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
University.
After his death, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America established the Richard Kelly Grant in his name to encourage creativity in lighting among young people.
Notable projects
Richard Kelly's most notable projects saw him collaborate with architects including Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...
, Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
, Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...
, and Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...
. Such lighting projects include:
* David H. Koch Theater (then the New York State Theater).Kimbell Art Museum
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
.Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd and 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe along with P ...
.Flamengo Park
Flamengo Park, also known as ''Aterro do Flamengo'', Eduardo Gomes Park, and Aterro do Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, is the largest public park and recreation area within the city of Rio de Janeiro, in eastern Brazil, and the largest urban seaside ...
.
External links
Biography from Archlighting.com MetropolisMag article on Richard Kelly's workWebsite of the Richard Kelly GrantThe Structure of Light, a 2010 Book from Yale PressRichard Kelly: Defining a Modern Architecture of Light
*Richard Kelly papers (MS 1838). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
References
American lighting designers
Lighting designers
1910 births
1977 deaths
Yale School of Architecture alumni
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