A founding Partner of architectural lighting and theatre consulting firm Schuler Shook, Robert is a creative and skillful design collaborator whose philosophy of lighting remains firmly focused on enhancing the experience of architecture. He began his career in theatrical lighting design, and he has combined his knowledge of lighting for the performing arts with his love of architecture.
Examples of Robert’s lighting design work include the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago’s Palmolive Building — Exterior Lighting and Beacon, Dallas City Performance Hall and Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium. Robert’s lighting designs have received numerous awards, and yet true to his collaborative design philosophy, he has always given credit to the full team of lighting designers who worked with him.
Of equal importance to his many awards and accomplishments is Robert’s ongoing service to the field of lighting design and lighting education. Robert is a contributing author to two lighting textbooks: “Scene Design and Stage Lighting 9th Edition” and “Stage Lighting: Fundamentals and Applications” and is a contributor to several trade publications. He is a sought-after speaker, panelist and lecturer both for national professional conferences and in the university classroom, including UW Madison, IIT and DePaul University.
Asked what he is most proud of in his lighting career so far, Robert replied, “I find it very rewarding to change things. Too many people accept – or complain about – the status quo. Why not get involved in the solutions instead? Whenever I have been able to help a lighting designer or the field of lighting take a step forward, that’s when I’ve felt I’ve accomplished something really valuable.”
Robert will be formally inducted into the IALD College of Fellows in October, along with new Fellows Katherine C. Abernathy, FIALD, and Janet Lennox Moyer, FIALD.