OCT 15 Late deadline
Nov 5–25 Judging
Dec 10–15 Winners announced:
Dec 10–15 Selection of Lights Invited to participate in L A M P’s Exhibition at Alcova, Mexico City notified.
Feb 3 to 7, 2027 L A M P Exhibition at Alcova, Mexico City as part of Art Week.
L A M P will present a selection of this year's entries at Alcova Mexico City during Art Week, February 2027. Every entry received by October 31 is eligible, and the selection will be made by 2026 L A M P jurors Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima, founders of Alcova.
L A M P together with Alcova’s Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima will make a selection of physical, functioning lights from the full pool of 2026 entries, independently of the finalists, to invite to participate in this unique opportunity. Every designer who enters is therefore considered twice: once by the full jury for recognition as a 2026 competition Winner, and once for the separate, curated presentation in Mexico City. L A M P manages the display, and selected designers will be responsible for the cost of shipping their work, and a small participation fee to take part in this engaging, dynamic installation at Art Week, Mexico City in February 2027.
L A M P at Alcova is Presented by Diez Company - DISEÑO QUE INSPIRA. L A M P’s participation in the Alcova Exhibition is an independently organized and sponsored initiative. We are deeply grateful for the support of our trusted sponsors. To become a sponsor please contact info @ lampthecompetition.com to obtain info and view our sponsorship package here.
For details on the benefits of taking part in this exhibition and a breakdown of estimated costs associated, please click the button below:
“Since we moved the competition online, I have missed is seeing the work in a room, at scale, with people walking around it. Mexico City gives us that opportunity. Valentina and Joseph look at more new design in a year than most of us see in ten, so having them choose from our submissions puts these designers in front of an audience that is very hard to reach.””
About L A M P
Founded in 2013 and independently run from Vancouver, Canada, L A M P’s mandate is to discover emerging lighting designers and advance established ones, through an international, juried, open call competition.
About Alcova
A platform that has redefined how contemporary design engages with historical and unconventional spaces, transforming abandoned and historical buildings into immersive exhibitions. Each edition activates a new location to showcase emerging talent, experimental projects, and research driven design, fostering a global dialogue on sustainability, material innovation, and new production methods.
Founded in 2018 by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima. Milano, Alcova’s home edition since 2018. Miami, first international expansion, since 2023. Mexico City, debuting February 2027, Alcova’s newest edition.
About Diez Company
Since 2004, Diez Company has been the bridge between Mexico and the world’s most prestigious decorative lighting brands. Founded by Gina Diez Barroso and Rodrigo Fernández, the company has spent more than 20 years bringing international lighting design to luxury residential, hotel, corporate and retail projects across Mexico and Latin America, through its three pillars: Diez Design, Diez Architectural and Diez Gallery. Diez Company is the Presenting Partner of L A M P at Alcova Mexico City.
Mexico City Art Week 2027: where to go:
Mexico City Art Week runs the first week of February, and the city turns into one big opening. These are the go-to stops.
Zona Maco (zsonamaco.com): The anchor. The largest contemporary art, design, photography and antiques fair in Latin America, at Centro Citibanamex. Feb 3 to 7, 2027. Give it a full afternoon.
Feria Material (material-fair.com): The intimate, curated one. Independent spaces and galleries, younger energy, returning to Expo Reforma. The best place to find the artists you'll be following next year.
Salón ACME (salonacme.com): Artist-led and open call. Five days, Feb 4 to 8, 2027, at Proyectos Públicos (Calle General Prim 30, Juárez). A natural pairing with Alcova, which is in the same building.
Alcova Mexico City (alcova.xyz): Alcova is the design show that takes over unexpected buildings in Milan and Miami, and 2027 is its first Mexico City edition, Feb 3 to 7, at Proyectos Públicos in Juárez and Casa Reforma.
2026 Judging Panel
Omer Arbel is the co-founder and creative director of Bocci, and the founder of Omer Arbel Office (OAO). His work spans buildings, lighting, objects, and installations, rooted in a sustained investigation into materials and light as a medium.
Arbel trained under Enric Miralles in Barcelona and Patkau Architects in Vancouver before establishing OAO in 2003. His built work includes House 75.9 (winner of the World Architecture Festival Award in 2019), Bridge House 91 suspended between two rocky ridges over a fern gully in British Columbia's Gulf Islands, and Governors Point, a 16-home community on a protected coastal peninsula in Washington State. Large-scale installations from Bocci have been on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Barbican, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Lukas Peet practices his discipline with sophistication and fluidity that bears the mark of a Design Academy Eindhoven alumnus.
He has been recognized internationally in a number of awards and competitions, most notably as the winner of Canada’s Emerging Designer Award.
To A-N-D, Lukas brings a vast curiosity about objects, processes, materials, and production techniques; he brings a desire to challenge the familiar and the normative, and everything in between.
Curator, creative consultant and writer specialized in design, architecture and art. She studied semiotics with Umberto Eco at the University of Bologna. Beginning her career as a journalist, she has written about design and architecture for numerous publications such as Apartamento, Vogue, Dezeen, TL Magazine, D/ La Repubblica, Il Sole24ore, Living / Corriere, La Stampa, Klat, and Rodeo. For 10 years she was a member of the editorial staff at Abitare magazine under the direction of Stefano Boeri, where she wrote a monograph on the then emergent phenomenon Bjarke Ingels.
In 2016 she founded her own Creative Direction agency, Studio Vedèt.
At Studio Vedèt, Valentina works with a team of graphic designers, writers and web developers to provide design and creative strategies for companies and institutions. Operating as a design consultancy, curatorial agency and creative office, Vedèt has a range of clients including design and art galleries, fairs, festivals, design companies and start-ups.
In 2017 she co-founded Alcova, a platform for independent design that operates as an itinerant network of unconventional and ephemeral exhibition spaces in and around Milan. Following exhibitions at the Salone di Mobile, Alcova was credited as “the” space for emerging design” by The New York Times T Magazine and Wallpaper renamed the NOLO neighborhood in which it was held as the “Alcova Design District”.
www.studiovedet.com www.alcova.xyz www.nilufar.com www.nomad-circle.com www.volumnia.space www.trameparis.com
Joseph Grima is an architect, writer and curator based in Milan, Italy. He is the Creative Director of Design Academy Eindhoven and cofounder of Space Caviar, an architecture and research practice operating at the intersection of design, technology, critical theory and the public realm. In 2017, together with Valentina Ciuffi, he founded Alcova, an independent platform for future-oriented design which has today become one of the most visited destinations of the Milan Design Week.
Grima was previously the editor-in-chief of Domus magazine and director of Storefront for Art and Architecture, an independent gallery in New York City. In 2014 he was appointed co-curator of the first Chicago Architecture Biennial, and in 2012 co-directed the first Istanbul Design Biennial. He is also the artistic director of Matera European Capital of Culture 2019.
He has taught and lectured widely at universities in Europe, Asia and America, including Strelka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow, and has served on numerous international juries, including the jury of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010 directed by Kazuyo Sejima.
Chiara Ripalti is a Product Developer at IKEA of Sweden, where she leads lighting product development from initial strategic planning and design creation to production.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Product Design and a Master's degree in Design Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.
With more than 20 years of experience in design and product development, Chiara has built her career at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and industrialization.
Over the past decade at IKEA, she has focused on developing lighting products, translating design visions into products that combine innovation, functionality, and accessibility.
Among the projects she has contributed to are VARMBLIXT, BĂ„CKNATE, STOCKHOLM and the recently launched IKEA PS Floor Lamp and IKEA PS Table Lamp.
Chiara's lighting work has been recognized with a Red Dot Design Award and an iF Design Award, and she has been nominated for the prestigious Compasso d'Oro Award.
She believes that the positive impact lighting has on atmosphere, emotion, and well-being should be accessible to the many, without compromising on aesthetics, innovation, or attention to detail.
As a juror, she brings a global perspective shaped by extensive experience in concept design and product development, a passion for meaningful innovation, and an understanding of people's everyday needs.
She values creative ideas that challenge conventions and demonstrate the potential to create meaningful impact.
Want to share the Competition details with your College or University Program? Click below to download, print, email & share!
Where lighting design comes to shine..
Sparking innovation in illumination since 2013, L A M P is a small, independent organization dedicated to championing emerging talent and connecting designers to new markets in lighting design. Every submission fee and sponsorship goes directly into running the competition, prize monies and marketing our Finalists. For a fraction of the cost of a trade-show booth, L A M P puts your work in front of audiences, press, and industry players who matter. Being named a finalist is more than a credential; it's a launchpad. As a finalist, you'll receive:
Public recognition & cash awards for standout designs.
A dedicated feature on the L A M P website for a full year following the finalist announcement, and inclusion on our website for perpetuity.
Promotion of your design across our newsletters and social media channels.
The opportunity to be spotlighted by any of our Media Partners across their various media channels.
L A M P partners with leading voices in modern design and media, outlets at the forefront of architecture, interiors, furniture, art, and technology. Together, our Media Partners reach a combined audience of well over a million readers and millions more across social media, giving finalists exposure to a global, fast-growing community of design enthusiasts, buyers, and industry leaders.
by Jochen Lavéno Mangelsdorff in L A M P 2023: Manufactured