ROB SHAKESPEARE
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Downtown South Bend, Inc. solicited the expertise of world-renowned lighting designer Rob Shakespeare of Shakespeare Lighting Design to design, fabricate and install the South Bend River Lights project. Shakespeare is a professional lighting designer specializing in theater and dramatic architectural designs.
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Shakespeare obtained his B.A. with Honors from Brock University in Canada in 1973, and has since served residencies in Hong Kong, Helsinki, and Prague. He has developed and incorporated computer visualization and collaboration tools into his design practice and has presented lectures, workshops and courses on his lighting design process in Asia, and throughout Europe and North America. He is co-author of Rendering with Radiance: The Art and Science of Lighting Visualization.
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Shakespeare is a leader in his field, with more than 200 lighting designs across three continents. His work has been seen on some of the world’s largest bridges in Hong Kong, skyscrapers in Atlanta and Hong Kong, as well as theaters, restaurants, and resorts.
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Recently, he has had a special focus on art museum lighting and specialized lighting installations. His iconic “Light Totem” installation was commissioned by the IU Art Museum to mark the 25th anniversary of the I.M. Pei designed Museum.
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Shakespeare was a natural choice to design South Bend River Lights, which commemorated South Bend’s 150th birthday. This will be the only lighting display of its kind in the world. It’s a birthday gift to South Bend that literally shines a spotlight on one of the city’s greatest assets: the St. Joseph River.