Studio Waldemeyer Illuminates Enlighten Europe with Art, Technology, and Play
At the IALD Enlighten Europe Conference in Valencia, Studio Waldemeyer delivered a captivating presentation on how lighting can merge technology and storytelling to create unforgettable experiences. Founded in 2004 by Moritz Waldemeyer and later joined by Nazanin Farahbod, the London-based studio has built a reputation for designs that are both technically sophisticated and emotionally resonant.
Dual Backgrounds Shape a Unique Studio
Moritz and Nazanin each bring complementary skills to the studio. Moritz, who grew up in East Germany, began his career as a visualizer at the Royal Opera House, where he spent a decade pre-programming lighting for massive productions of 3,000 moving lights. This experience taught him to think about light as data and pixels as much as physical phenomena.
Nazanin’s journey began in Iran, where she studied coding before transitioning into industrial and product design. After completing her education in Milan, she moved to London to join Studio Waldemeyer in 2016. Their combined sensibility—artistic vision balanced with technical rigor—has been critical in taking on complex commissions that often blend engineering and fine art.
Lighting the Worlds of Fashion and Music
Studio Waldemeyer first gained public recognition through collaborations with Swarovski and avant-garde fashion designers who sought to integrate light into their couture. Their work soon caught the attention of the music industry, leading to projects with global artists such as Jamiroquai.
For Jamiroquai’s Automaton tour, the studio developed a futuristic headpiece composed of parametric blades embedded with programmable LEDs. Moritz described how the team used Grasshopper design software to create a customizable digital skeleton of the hat. Singer Jay Kay was able to adjust the blade length and angle himself, transforming the piece into a true co-creation.
Another project involved Ellie Goulding, for whom they created an installation featuring synchronized light trails and motion-capture animations to produce a visually immersive music video. These examples illustrate the studio’s core philosophy: light should enhance the narrative, not merely decorate it.
Installations That Engage and Inspire
While wearable technology remains a hallmark, large-scale installations have become a central part of the studio’s portfolio. Nazanin shared examples ranging from hotel lobbies to museums. At the Mozart Museum in Vienna, a permanent installation of 1,500 LED candles flickers individually in response to the storyline of Mozart’s life and death. When the moment of his passing arrives, a digital gust extinguishes the sea of flames before they slowly re-ignite, symbolizing his enduring legacy.
Another striking project was a pendulum installation in a Christopher Wren church in London. Initially intended for a week-long exhibition, it remained up for a year and a half due to public enthusiasm. As the pendulum circled, a moving point of light traced halos above the historic space, merging architectural history with contemporary artistry.
Reinventing Automotive Lighting
Studio Waldemeyer has also helped reshape lighting design in the automotive industry. For Bentley’s centenary concept car, they were tasked with designing the entire lighting system—inside and out. The vehicle incorporated more than 20,000 individually addressable LEDs, each precisely positioned to create dynamic animations across the car’s surfaces.
To meet tight timelines and complex geometry, the studio developed proprietary software to bridge Grasshopper’s design tools with PCB manufacturing. They even flew to Italy personally with the custom circuit boards, purchasing an extra airline seat to ensure the precious cargo arrived intact.
Products That Tell Stories
Beyond installations and automotive projects, the studio also designs lighting products that beautifully fuse craftsmanship with technology. Their LED candles, which convincingly mimic the flicker of real flames in low resolution, have steadily evolved over the years. By adopting chip-on-board technology, the team minimized components and developed a patented design that balances elegant simplicity with expressive movement.
In Vienna’s Mozart Museum, these digital candles animate historic rooms with a warm, lifelike glow, yet they are equally compelling as standalone objects. During the presentation, one of the candles flickered softly on the podium. It was easily the most realistic LED candle I’ve ever seen. As soon as the talk concluded, several attendees hurried up to the stage, eager to examine it up close.
Nazanin recounted how these candles resonated with her personally—she grew up during the Iran-Iraq War, when electricity shortages meant her family relied on candles each night. Seeing technology recreate that memory in a more hopeful context felt profoundly meaningful.
A Future of Playful Exploration
Studio Waldemeyer’s talk demonstrated that lighting design thrives at the crossroads of disciplines. Whether crafting interactive art in public spaces or reimagining car interiors, the studio shows that the boundaries of lighting are limited only by curiosity and imagination.
As Moritz summed up, “Sometimes you can see a project that has a completely different outcome than you could ever imagine.” For Studio Waldemeyer, that sense of discovery is the point.
Read more about IALD Enlighten Europe: IALD Enlighten Europe 2025 Opens in Valencia