On Guard for Lighting Quality. The establishment of the first association of professional lighting designers

Not many people in the lighting community are aware of the fact, that after electricity was invented and in general use in the United States from the late nineteenth century, only electrical engineers were responsible for the illumination of architecture. After 1906, when the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) was established in the USA, companies and individuals professionally involved in the field of gas lighting and natural light, were first brought together. However, this new field quickly became dominated by people applying electric light in their projects. Members of this young discipline were mindful from the beginning, that a collaboration with architects was decisive and of great importance for the future development of lighting as a profession.