With a background in fine cabinet making and interior design, Gerd Pfarre joined Ingo Maurer's design team in Munich in 1982. There he quickly made a name for himself (he was a member of the team that designed the Yayaho - the first serial low voltage system based on two cables) with his involvement in various product, exhibition and shop design projects.
After a break of four years followed by stints working and broadening his horizons in South America, Milan and Berlin he took over Ingo Maurer's new project department in 1989. Here Pfarre was involved in more than 250 lighting projects around the world. Many of them included one-of-a-kind lighting objects (the foyer of the Tel Aviv Opera House; the Palace of the Grand Duke in Luxembourg; Westfriedhof subway station, Munich; Grandage Golf Club in Kuguraku, Japan; various areas of the Munich Airport to name a few).
On top of his growing experience in lighting design he was able to use his talent in graphic design and art direction. For many years Pfarre belonged to the team that designed and structured the entire range of printed matter for the Ingo Maurer company. One of his innovative ideas, the pocket version of the general catalogue, entitled 'Der Kleine Maurer' (The Small Maurer) resulted in more than 250,000 issues being printed. A huge success, several graphic design awards were granted to the team for their innovative design ideas.
In 1996 the team behind the huge Millennium Center in Budapest approached Pfarre to design the lighting concept for the project. His practice (which was building in parallel to the freelance commitment with Ingo Maurer) suddenly got very busy so, in 1997, he left Ingo Maurer to set up his own practice - Gerd Pfarre Lighting Design was born. Currently the office consists of two lighting designers, two architects and one office manager, surrounded by an experienced group of specialists for product design, visualisation, model making and photography. The office works in German, English, Spanish and Italian.
Some of his current project works include the Solar City lighting masterplan in Linz, Austria; several private residences in Germany and Switzerland; a health and recreation complex in the Bavarian Alps; the Munich offices of Linklaters, a large law firm; the overall lighting design for the Globus department store in Zurich, and the facade and outdoor lighting of the Montenpalais in Munich.
Pfarre's philosophy is simple: "A client called me and said what he likes most about our designs is the 'invisibility' of the lighting fixtures. Basically, this is it. We try to prevent 'visual noise' wherever we can. Our designs create the desired atmosphere and emphasise the architecture, the interior, the purpose of the space and the corporate identity; we respect the architecture and are, thanks to my experience in the design of lighting fixtures, able to develop custom made solutions in the specific context of the architecture and the task concerned. We prefer long lasting designs (both aesthetically and technically) and are convinced about the advantage of good teamwork between client, architect and lighting designer. We create our designs with great passion because light is absolutely fascinating."
Despite his busy schedule, Gerd Pfarre has been a professional member of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) since 1998 and an active member of the Board of Directors since 2002. This year he organised the first IALD lighting conference in Abu Dhabi, and he is invited to speak in Buenos Aires in November. Pfarre also created the idea of LightNight, an informal event that brings people from all over the world together to celebrate light and lighting design. The first LightNight took place in 2002 in Frankfurt and was a great success. In 2003, more than 450 luminairies attended LightNight in New York and experienced a stunning presentation by architect Daniel Libeskind. On April 19, 2004 the event will again take place in Frankfurt, in conjunction with the Luminale program during the Light + Building trade fair. One day earlier, on April 18, 2004 Gerd Pfarre Lighting Design will inaugurate a second office in Frankfurt.
information:
www.lightingdesign.de