Diverse group of team members stand on a rooftop in NYC
Hervé Descottes

In 1993, Hervé Descottes founded the lighting design firm L’Observatoire International in New York City after eight years of design practice in Paris, France. Descottes personally creates the lighting concepts for all projects designed by L’Observatoire International and oversees project development through project completion.

Descottes has been recognized numerous times by the lighting design and architectural community. He has received awards from the International Association of Lighting Designers, the Illuminating Engineering Society and the New York City Illuminating Engineering Society, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, D&ADAD, the Municipal Art Society of New York City, and the GE Corporation. In 2008, Descottes was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. In 2020, Descottes received Interior Design’s Best of Year Award for Best Lighting Designer.

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Hervé Descottes

Principal

Melissa Fraietta

Business Development Director

Headshot of Jenny Ivansson

Jenny Ivansson

Project Director

Project Director Wei Jien (Taiwan) grew up in Brisbane, Australia. She is a registered Architect in Australian and earned a MA in Urban Design from Queensland University of Technology.  Wei joined L'Observatoire Int. in 2012, as part of the team that worked with LVMH and their luxury retail projectsm.  Wei's role evolved into a project lead and is responsible for a variety of project types and scale - such as Facebook offices with Gehry Partners, New York restaurant The Grill at the Seagram and various projects with Steven Holl Architects including the expansion at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Glassell School of Art and the Nancy and Rich Kinder building.  
 
For Wei, the most rewarding and most challenging part, is finishing a project, “Focusing and final scene settings is when we see the concepts come to life. It can be a small project like the Frederic Malle perfume store in Greenwich Village or a large project like the REACH at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. - the result is a balance between science and art that is really magical.”

Wei Jien

Project Director

Carlos Garcia Portrait

Carlos Garcia

Senior Associate

Leah Xandora

Senior Associate

Mint Kamolnadda Thumrongluck

Mint Kamolnadda Thumrongluck

Senior Associate

Carrie Chang

Carrie Chang

Associate

Billy Wong

Billy Wong

Senior Designer

Christina Hébert

Senior Designer

Esteban Varas

Senior Designer

Gianni Franceschi

Gianni Franceschi

Senior Designer

Jacinda Ross

Senior Designer

Luis Carrasquillo-Alicea

Senior Designer

Senior Designer Wen Y. Lin (Taipei, Taiwan) completed the Lighting Design Master Program at Parsons School of Design in New York in 2001. He is fascinated to see how light establishes a psychological hierarchy and drama for people’s experience in indifferent spaces. Wen joined L’Observatoire Intl as a Lighting Designer in 2016. Ever since he has worked on great projects like the Necropolis in Tawain, Le Jardinier in New York, the Yale Schwarzman Center and the Brown Performing Arts Center.

Wen Y. Lin

Senior Designer

Akito Aiba

Akito Aiba

Designer

Daniel Reinhard

Designer

Diksha Wahi

Designer

Iam Chen

Designer

Ke Shi

Designer

Anna Muslimova Portrait

Anna Muslimova

Architectural Renderer

Maren Berger portrait in black and white

Maren Berger

Executive Assistant

Anna Jolia

Accounts/Office Administrator

Elaine Greer

Business Development Coordinator

Etienne Gillabert

Senior Manager

Solenn Borchers

Solenn Borchers

Senior Manager

Francesco Secone

Francesco Secone

Associate

Elie Nespoulous

Elie Nespoulous

Senior Designer

Martina Durcekova

Designer

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