The Office of Academic Affairs awarded Korapin Srisom ’20 (MPSL), whose capstone project is featured on this page, the Chairman’s Award for her overall performance at NYSID. At NYSID, capstone projects are long journeys that challenge students to brainstorm, conduct research, and synthesize all they have learned. The journey ends with a presentation to a jury of faculty and industry professionals. Our students work closely with faculty to create hypothetical designs that offer solutions to real-world problems. View all 2020 thesis projects here.

Student: Korapin Srisom
Project: Lighting Design For Historical Landmark Building
Program: Master of Professional Studies in Lighting Design
Instructor: Marty Salzberg

Korapin Srisom endeavored to create a lighting design for an existing landmark building, the Brooklyn Historical Society, that reflected the way the sky and skyline have changed between the 1800s and today. Srisom studied photographs from the early 20th century to get a sense of changes in light, nature, and the built environment from more than a century ago to our times. For Srisom, the sky is a metaphor. She says, “Our sky is not the same as the sky from 150 years ago. If the sky represents the most subtle changes in nature; so light represents the most subtle changes in the Brooklyn Historical Society.” She wanted the lighting within the historical society to be dynamic, ever-changing, and so inconspicuous as to be almost imperceptible, like the sky. Her favorite element of the project is “the integration of luminaries into architectural elements.” She says, “Advances in technology empowered me to use smaller luminaires, with higher efficacy and more control built in. There is a step light hidden inside the cornice. I preserved the appearance of the elegant, vast ceiling, yet the illuminated ceiling system still emits light. This system empowers us to aim and focus spotlights, and to change beam angles and color temperatures via a tablet.” Although Marty Salzberg was her thesis advisor, she also credits program instructors Chuck Cameron, Shaun Fillion, and Melanie Taylor for helping her with “practical insight and instructions.”