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Gregory Kay is an entrepreneur in lighting manufacture and retail, as well as a lighting designer and engineer. He is the founder of Tech Lighting and the founder, owner, and President of contemporary lighting retailer/e-retailer Lightology and lighting manufacturer PureEdge Lighting. He is also a Master electrician.
Kay holds eleven patents and design patents as inventor or co-inventor of lighting designs and technologies.[citation needed] He was one of the original forces in the proliferation of contemporary low-voltage lighting systems in America, helping bring the style from Europe and developing fixtures for the US market.[1][2][3]
As of June 2013, he has won 38 awards, including 4 key awards for lighting design, 32 awards for light fixture designs, and 2 awards for his lighting showroom, Lightology. He is the only person to have won both the Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award for Interior Lighting Design of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and the Lightfair International Award for best New Product Design.[citation needed] Kay was the first Chicago lighting designer to win the Guth award, which he received in 1983 for his work lighting the AT&T Information Services Showcase Networking Division.[4][failed verification]
Kay’s lighting designs and light fixture designs have been influenced by lighting designer Paul Gregory of Focus Lighting and lighting artist James Turrell.[citation needed] His fixture designs place an emphasis on manipulating light to create precise and varied lighting effects, catering to architectural lighting design.[1][5]
Early career
Gregory Kay began his career as an electrician in his native Detroit, becoming a master electrician in 1979. He then went into business with roller skate distributor Midwest Skate Company and became a roller disco lighting specialist.[6] The business drew the attention of Paul Gregory of LiteLab (and later Focus Lighting), who was also known for designing the dance floor in the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever.[7] Paul Gregory and Greg Kay formed a lasting working relationship, with Gregory teaching Kay many aspects of the art of lighting design.[3][6]
In 1983, Kay became interested in the world of contemporary design after attending New York’s first Light World Convention, where he first saw low-voltage halogen lighting incorporated into contemporary fixture designs. He decided to apply his technical knowledge of lighting to create fixtures that catered to this emerging design trend.[7] Later that year, he moved to Chicago and opened Tech Lighting, the first contemporary lighting showroom in the city of Chicago.
Tech Lighting
Kay founded Tech Lighting in 1983 as a 1,500 sq ft showroom[6] at the corner of Superior and Franklin Streets in Chicago.[1] He initially imported all low-voltage fixtures and cable systems from Europe but began to manufacture his own after experiencing the difficulties posed by the foreign fixtures, which were designed to looser specifications than allowed by the American National Electrical Code.[8]
Drawing from his technical background as a master electrician, Kay organized a proposal that resulted in a revised National Electrical Code.[9][10] The revisions allowed for UL or ETL listing of low-voltage lighting systems, opening the door for their manufacture and sales in the US for the first time. Tech Lighting began manufacturing its own low-voltage contemporary lighting systems in 1988, and Kay went on to design and introduce a number of low-voltage lighting systems like KableLite, Freejack, and MonoRail.[6][8] Tech Lighting became the number one low voltage lighting manufacturer in the USA. Tech Lighting currently controls over 60 percent of the market and sells to more than 1000 lighting showrooms nationwide.[8][10]
During his time with Tech Lighting, Kay was awarded five patents and won seven of the industry’s top design awards, including the Edwin F. Guth Award of Excellence in Lighting Design, sponsored by the IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) and the IIDA (International Interior Design Association).
Kay sold Tech Lighting in 2001 to create the lighting showroom and retailer Lightology.[8]
Edge Lighting and Pure Lighting
Greg Kay founded Pure Lighting in 2006 and sister company Edge Lighting in 2007. Kay developed these two lines of architectural-grade lighting, which manufacture sustainable lighting solutions, including low voltage LED lighting and specification grade, energy efficient luminaires.[11][12] Kay’s Pure Lighting recessed fixtures are influenced by the work of lighting artist Dan Flavin and James Turrell. Since 2008, Kay has won 29 industry awards for his Edge Lighting and Pure Lighting products.
Awards, Recognition, and Achievements
| Year | Award | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | IESNA Lighting Design Award | Good Lighting Practice |
| 1997 | IESNA - International Illumination Design Award of Merit[4] | For lighting design |
| 2002 | NeoCon World’s Trade Fair – Citation of Excellence | For the Lyra Suspension |
| 2005 | River North Business Association – Best of River North Awards | Best Retailer or Design Resource - Lightology |
| 2008 | ASID Illinois - Design Excellence Award[13] | For the Stratus LED – Pure Lighting |
| 2009 | Next Generation Luminaires - Recognized Winner[14] | Nautilus LED – Edge Lighting and Stratus LED – Pure Lighting |
| 2010 | Residential Lighting Magazine - Showroom of the Year | Award for Merchandise Display - Lightology[15] |
| 2010 | Lighting for Tomorrow - Winner[16] | Scope LED Track/Monorail Head and Scope LED Pendant – Edge Lighting |
| 2010 | Next Generation Luminaires - Recognized Winner[17] | Sun3 LED, Port LED, and Taos LED – Edge Lighting |
| 2011 | Architectural SSL Magazine - Product Innovation Award[18] | Scope LED Pendant and Sun3 LED – Edge Lighting |
| 2011 | ADEX - Award for Design Excellence[19] | LED Soft Strip, Sun3 LED, Atlas LED, Cody LED Picture Light and Taos LED – Edge Lighting |
| 2011 | Lighting for Tomorrow [20] | Premium LED Soft Strip with Soft Line Mounting Hardware – Edge Lighting |
| 2012 | Architectural Products Magazine - Product Innovation Award | Reveal and Aurora Dual Adjustable Accent – Pure Lighting |
| 2012 | Next Generation Luminaires Outdoor - Best In Class[21] | TV LED and Dial LED – Edge Lighting |
| 2012 | Next Generation Luminaires Indoor - Recognized Winner[22] | Softline Indirect LED – Edge Lighting |
| 2013 | Architectural SSL Magazine - Product Innovation Award[23] | Cirrus Channel with Square 1" Lens – Edge Lighting |
| 2013 | Lighting for Tomorrow [24] | Scope LED Pendant – Edge Lighting |
| 2013 | Architectural Products Magazine – Product Innovation Award | TruLine 1.6 – Pure Lighting |
Master Electrician (1979)
American Lighting Association (ALA) Certified Lighting Consultant (CLC)
Pushed to get National Electrical Code changed to recognize/allow low-voltage halogen lighting, and all Tech Lighting products UL/ETL listed (1996)[25]
References
- ^ a b c Klages, Karen E. (March 13, 1994). "The Bright Side: Why Gregory Kay Has Us So Wired Up About Lighting". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Grisham, Susan (May–June 2004). "The Height of Lighting Savvy". Contract Lighting: 60–62.
- ^ a b Bazer, Gina; Lisa Cregan; Nadine Ekrek; Dennis Rodkin (Jan–Feb 2008). "Best of Chicago Design: Light Master, Gregory Kay". Chicago Home and Garden: 76–77.
- ^ a b "About Lightology". Indeed.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Style Makers: Greg Kay – Lightology". Luxe Chicago. 2 (4): 126.
- ^ a b c d "Innovative Lighting Design Begins at Home for Lightology President and Master Electrician, Gregory L. Kay" (Press release). Chicago, IL. October 8, 2002.
- ^ a b "Lightology". Sonneman A Way of Light.
- ^ a b c d "New Lightology Showroom Dazzles Passersby with Unique Selection of High-Quality Contemporary Lighting in Airy, Glass-Walled Showcase" (Press release). Chicago, IL. October 8, 2002.
- ^ Sherrod, Pamela (November 3, 2002). "Illumination is their trade". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b "Designer Profile: Gregory Kay". Lightology.
- ^ Edge Lighting Catalog (PDF). Chicago, IL. 2012.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Pure Lighting Catalog". Pure Lighting.
- ^ "2008 Design Excellence Awards". i4design Magazine.
- ^ "NGLDC 2009 Winners". Next Generation Luminaires.
- ^ Staff. "Showroom of the Year: Merchandise Display". Residential Lighting Magazine.
- ^ "Lighting for Tomorrow 2010 Winners". Lighting for Tomorrow.
- ^ "NGLDC 2010 Winners". Next Generation Luminaires.
- ^ "2011 Product Innovation Awards" (PDF). Architectural SSL Magazine.
- ^ "2011 Adex, Award for Design Excellence". Design Journal Magazine.
- ^ "Lighting for Tomorrow 2011 Winners". Lighting for Tomorrow.
- ^ "NGLDC 2012 Outdoor Winners". Next Generation Luminaires.
- ^ "NGLDC 2012 Indoor Winners". Next Generation Luminaires.
- ^ "2013 Architectural SSL PIA Winners Announced". Architectural SSL Magazine.
- ^ "Lighting for Tomorrow 2013 Awards". Lighting for Tomorrow.
- ^ "AMENDMENT OF MUNICIPAL CODE OF CHICAGO TO PERMIT LOW-VOLTAGE LIGHTING SYSTEMS OPERATING AT 30 VOLTS OR LESS" (PDF). Chicago City Council (18807 Referred). 26 March 1996.