Alighting Design: You have been working in the lighting industry for 30 years. What’s the biggest change of both the industry and yourself?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：您在照明行業已經超過30年，這些年來照明行業以及您個人最大的變化是什么?

　　MK: When I started the incandescent bulb and the fluorescent tubes where the main tools to design with. Over the years we have seen unbelievable technological developments, unparalleled for any industry. I saw the growth of halogen lamps, metal halide lamps, the introduction of compact fluorescent lamps, induction lighting, fiber optics and now the new world revolution of LED technology. On a personal level that means that I have to re-adjust and re-learn nearly everything that I thought I knew because LED technology is a totally new ball game, with new rules, new definitions, new standards, new assessment and appreciation of qualities. The character of lighting and lighting design has changed radically and the lighting designer of today needs to differentiate between the LED professionals and the LED cowboys who try to benefit from this technology at all costs, a daily challenge!

　　MK：從最開始的白熾燈和熒光燈，我們見證了不可思議的技術進步。從鹵素燈、金鹵燈、緊湊型熒光燈、感應光、纖維光學到新世界革新技術LED，對個人而言，這意味著我必須重新學習并調整自我以適應這個全新的“游戲”，新的規則、新的術語、新的標準，以及新的品質評估系統。照明和照明設計的角色已經徹底改變了，照明設計師必須分清竭盡所能從飛速發展的技術中獲益的LED專家和LED“牛仔”，這是我們每天都要面對的挑戰。

　　Alighting Design: We know that you have started a blog named “Light Talk” since 2009, and the first year’s blogging was compiled into a book of the same name. Could you tell us about the blog? Why did you start writing? What purpose do you want to achieve?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：您從2009年開始創立名為“Light Talk”的博客，而且第一年的博客內容已匯編成書。這是個怎樣的博客?為什么開始寫博客?您想達到什么樣的效果?

　　MK: The blog started as a result of a challenge that I put to myself. Inspired by the film Julie and Julia (with Meryl Streep), where the lead person in the movie decides to try one recipe a day for a whole year from her favorite cooking hero and blog about it. After seeing the movie I thought why not blog every day for 365 days about my life as a lighting designer. I have many different projects, many different clients in many different countries, every project is different, with different people and cultures and comes with its own set of challenges and enjoyments. I decided that PLDC Berlin (a week later) would be the perfect time to start. As it turned out I was never shy of any subject to write about and now more than 5 years later I still write, though in a more compact (weekly) format. It was only after I completed my 365 days and looked at the material I had accumulated that I decided it would be perfect for a book! It has been highly successful and there are now even plans to have it translated in Chinese!

　　MK：這個博客是我給自己的一個挑戰。其實是受到電影《朱莉與朱莉婭》的啟發，電影主角用一年的時間每天嘗試一份自己最喜歡的烹飪大師的食譜，并且用博客記錄下來。我想，我有那么多的設計項目，有許多來自不同國家不同文化的不同客戶，工作中伴隨著一系列挑戰和樂趣……為什么不把我作為燈光設計師的一年365天也記錄下來呢?于是，一周之后的PLDA大會成為了“Light Talk”的起點，從此一發不可收拾，任何話題都不在話下。直至5年后的今天，我仍然堅持每周寫一篇博客。也是在一年之后，看著累積了365天的文字，我萌生了要匯編成書的念頭。這本書獲得了很大的成功，現在也準備出中文的版本了。

　　Alighting Design: You have clients from different countries. How do you meet the cultural needs of different countries?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：您的客戶來自不同國家和地區，怎樣滿足不同地域的文化需求?

　　MK: The key is to listen to your client, always! A good designer is a good listener. Appreciate the values and culture of your host country, do not try to enforce only what you believe is right! See how things are done in that country, assess if that has merits and marry that with good lighting design that you practice! There are basic professional lighting standards that apply cross border, but implementation needs to be done against the accepted norms and practices in that country. Having said that one of our biggest challenges is to educate our clients in any culture about the benefits of better lighting design, specifically the cost-quality balance, because value for money has different meanings in different countries!

　　MK：關鍵是你得時刻聆聽客戶的心聲。一個好的設計師必然是一個很好的傾聽者。領會和尊重項目所在國家的文化和價值觀，做自己認為對的事情。觀察這個國家的行為處事方式，評估其中的優劣，配以優質的燈光設計。現行的基本照明專業標準適用于跨界領域，但在實施的過程中卻不得不違背當地的某些公認的標準和習慣。燈光設計師最大的挑戰之一是告知我們不同文化背景的客戶，燈光設計的重要性，特別是成本與質量的平衡關系，因為不同國家對于金錢的價值會有不同的理解。

　　Alighting Design: What impresses you most while working for Chinese clients? What’s the difference from the other clients?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：中國客戶給您什么印象?與其他國家的客戶有什么不同?

　　MK: Chinese clients seem in general bolder and more daring when it comes to exploring new concepts, they like something special, appreciate something new, something that will set them apart, contrary to other countries who generally are more conservative in their approach. On the flipside in China specifically the cost quality balance is heavily swayed towards costs. While costs are always an issue in any project and any country, in China specifically budgets seem to be totally inconsiderate of quality. This at times feels contradictory to the innovative and unique projects that are being developed. It is my main and foremost challenge in China and I am sure many of you have the same experience.

　　MK：中國客戶很聰明，也更敢于嘗試創新的概念。他們喜歡新的、特別的東西，因為可以將他們與其他“保守派”區分開來。但另一方面，在中國，成本與質量的天秤很明顯偏向于成本。在任何項目中，成本都是一個重要問題，但在中國，預算里面似乎完全忽略了質量的因素。這看起來跟發展創新性和唯一性項目的追求背道而馳。這是我在中國最主要的挑戰，相信很多人都有相似的經歷。

　　Alighting Design: What do you think of the Asian lighting profession? How about the lighting design industry in China?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：您如何看待亞洲照明行業的發展狀況?中國的呢?

　　MK: It is without doubt that Asia in general and China specifically has seen an unprecedented growth where lighting design has certainly come of age. The activities of the CLDA, which I support as a member of the International Advisory Council, are testimony of that. While 10-20 years ago foreign lighting designers in Asia/China were the dominant force, we now see a reversal with leading countries such as China and India for instance, now having a big domestic lighting design fraternity.

　　MK：作為CLDA國際咨詢委員會的一員，我可以肯定地說：亞洲，特別是中國的照明設計近年來經歷了史無前例的快速發展，已經日趨成熟。在過去的十幾二十年里，在亞洲，在中國，國外設計師都是主導力量，但現在情況發生了逆轉，比如中國和印度，現在已經擁有了一大批國內的照明設計新力量。

　　Alighting Design: How to balance the functionality and aesthetics in lighting design?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：怎樣平衡照明設計的功能性與美學性?

　　MK: The key here again is the human factor. Once you keep that center to your lighting design approach the balancing and decision making becomes focused and easy, regardless of any project.

　　MK：同樣，關鍵是“人”。一旦你將“人”置于燈光設計的核心，無論任何項目，你都可以專注而從容地做好多方的平衡與決策。

　　Alighting Design: Did you do the lighting design for your own house? What is it like?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：您有為自己的房子做燈光設計嗎?是什么樣的?

　　MK: No not really! Because I travel so much with “homes” in several countries I have yet to settle down properly and design my own beautiful lighting at home…it is on my to do list for when I slow down and spent more time at home.

　　MK：沒有。因為我經常旅行，在幾個國家都有“家”，我還沒有安定下來并為自己的房子設計燈光。不過，停下來好好享受居家時光，已經在我的待辦事項里了。

　　Alighting Design: Could you share with us some of your favorite projects?

　　《阿拉丁·設計》：可以跟我們分享一些您最喜愛的項目嗎?

　　MK: Some of my favorite projects are very small but because of that very satisfying as they were executed 100% the way I wanted. In general my favorite projects are those that give me the greatest satisfaction when completed big or small and generally these are the ones that are executed very close to design intent or those that despite strong budget limitations came out really well through our creative value engineering! For instance, Murdoch Art Wall, Fremantle Cliff, Grand Hyatt Goa, Shangri-la Futian Shenzhen.

　　MK：最喜歡的項目都比較小，但都100%是我想要的效果，給了我巨大的滿足感。不論大小，這些項目的實現效果最接近我的設計意圖，而且盡管在預算吃緊的情況下，通過我們創造性的工程設計，項目都能順利展開。比如，默多克藝術墻，弗里曼特爾懸崖，印度果阿君悅酒店，深圳福田香格里拉大酒店。