WILLIAM LAM (1924 - 2012) was an American pioneer of architectural lighting. Born in Honolulu, Lam moved to Massachusetts in 1941 to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After serving in the Army Air Corps during WWII, Lam finished his architecture degree in 1949. Unintentionally, his entry into lighting design stemmed from an interest in the work of noted Finnish architect/designer Alvar Aalto, who has been considered a master of functionalism and also taught at MIT during Lam’s time at the university.

Lam founded Lam Inc. in 1951 (now Lam Lighting Systems) to manufacture glare-free floor lamps and other products that immediately won a number of Good Design Awards from the Museum of Modern Art. Lam championed the inclusion of lighting at the start of the design process, and the integration of lighting, daylighting, and building systems long before such an approach was the norm. As put by Lam, “lighting is about design and not engineering. Engineering is the last thing you do… If you know what a good environment is, you can create it. Lighting is applied perception psychology”.

After eight years as company president, Lam resigned to return to his original calling—architecture. He founded the firm William Lam Associates, Consultants—Coordination of Lighting with Architecture and Urban Design in 1959 and for the next 40 years, won acclaim for notable projects including the Tennessee Valley Authority Headquarters complex, government centers in Quebec and Vancouver, Union Station restoration in Washington D.C. and the San Diego Convention Center.

(Source: Architect Magazine)