Lighting has been a presence in Chérine Talge’s life for a long time. Growing up, she worked for her father, Charles Talge, owner of Talge Luminaire, a lighting supplier in Beirut, Lebanon.
In college, she quickly signed up to major in architecture – it supported her connection with and growing love for lighting design. Upon graduation from Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) with a degree in Architecture, she pursued a Master’s in Architecture and Urban Design from Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy.
Chérine had plans to follow that up with a second degree in lighting design, but life intervened. She started her professional design career in Italy working for Voltaire Lighting Design in Milan and later joined VOYONS VOIR Lighting Design in Paris.
Her diverse background – working for a supplier, studying architecture and then joining a design studio – has expanded her love and appreciation for all project types. A particularly meaningful assignment was a public hospital in France. Hospitals are one of the most complicated and difficult projects, she noted. It is hard to light a hospital – you have to factor in so many variables – like standards and codes into the usual design considerations.
The stakes are high says Chérine – the design serves an incredibly important purpose. “This is a place where the most vulnerable people go. You need to understand their emotions inside those walls,” she explained. And, the cherry on top? The hospital was designed by a well-known architecture studio that she loves. This project for her “was the full package.”
Chérine’s latest venture is not a project, but rather a program. She had been looking to further her lighting design education. She had never thought of having a mentor, but then stumbled upon the Silhouette Awards, a program that identifies young, talented designers and pairs them with an established lighting professional for a 6-month mentorship.
Chérine applied and was selected for season 2 of the program, where she was paired with Maida Hot, managing director at Equation Lighting Design in the UK. “I never asked her why she picked me,” Chérine commented, but though it surely has something to do with their shared love of educating people about good lighting.
Spreading knowledge and sharing experiences was a passion she brought up several times throughout our discussion. It is something she cares about deeply. A future mentor herself, no doubt.
What’s her favorite aspect about being a lighting designer? The involvement with every other facet of a project. “What the architect wants, what the interior designer wants, what the client wants – a lighting designer has to take all of these into account,” she explained. It is fitting that the best piece of advice she received (from her father) was to master everything. A tall order, for sure, but the message was clear to Chérine – learn as much as you can, about as many things as you can. That is the path she has followed to success.
Her least favorite part of lighting design – the least beautiful part, in Chérine’s words – is the technical aspect. The documentation, the calculations, etc. “It’s not boring. It’s super interesting, but it’s not the best thing.”
This is an area where she wondered if artificial intelligence can make an impact, streamlining the more tedious aspects of design. But, using it for creative purposes?
Chérine has her doubts, even while recognizing that AI will only become more prevalent. Reluctant acceptance might be the best way to describe her feelings. “One day, we are all going to use it. Our parents and grandparents were afraid about the internet, about the car, about the phone. We are afraid about AI,” she commented. It’s the new thing, and new, disruptive technologies are inherently scary.
Her career in lighting began as a teenager. She has witnessed the proliferation of LEDs and now the introduction of AI. Through it all, her love of every aspect of lighting – has been a constant. Now, a decade and several degrees later, Chérine Talge is creating a bright future for herself and lasting projects for her clients.
