Taman debuts at Light + Building, Frankfurt
At Light + Building in Frankfurt, during VLDC’s Future Forum, Dean Skira challenged the lighting industry’s product-first workflow - and introduced Taman.
Frankfurt · Light + Building · VLDC Future ForumIn questo articolo
For decades, the lighting industry has followed the same workflow: select luminaires → calculate → install → adjust. At Light + Building in Frankfurt, during the Future Forum by VLD.Community, Dean Skira challenged that logic.
“We should calculate first.”
Start with context, not products
Instead of starting from products, the process begins with context - the space, the requirements, and the exact light that is needed. Only once the ideal light distribution is known does the search for a matching luminaire begin. It is a reversal of the traditional workflow: design driven by need, not by product availability.
This is the foundation of Taman
Taman is an AI-driven platform that optimizes urban lighting before a luminaire is selected. You input a 3D model of an area - anything from a single street segment to a broader urban zone - and the system applies the relevant standards and generates the ideal light-distribution curves for that site. Then, and only then, it searches a catalogue for the closest real product.
“Light where it’s needed. Darkness where it belongs.”
A tool for the whole ecosystem
While Taman is a design tool, its reach goes further: architects, urban planners, municipalities and manufacturers. Cities could predict energy consumption across districts, engineers could streamline compliance, and manufacturers could use optimized data to develop more targeted optics. The result is less spill, less waste, and more precision.
“Just right” - and dark
Dean closed with a linguistic detail behind the name. In Croatian, taman has a dual meaning: it can mean “dark,” but it can also mean “just right.” That duality is exactly the balance the software aims for - enough light where people need it, and darkness where it belongs.
The conversation is already moving. In the April 2026 issue of designing lighting, John R. (Randy) Reid reflects on this shift and the need to rethink how we design light in cities.
We’re opening access to a limited number of users who want to test the platform before the official release.
“Dean Skira Challenges the Lighting Design Process” - designing lighting, April 2026, page 74.
Next stop: Dean will present “Light Where It’s Needed, Darkness Where It Belongs: Rethinking Urban Street Lighting” at IALD’s Enlighten Europe in Paris on Friday, 19 June 2026.
Lighting designer with more than 35 years in architectural and urban lighting and over 50 international awards. Founder of Taman.
