Abraham Hyman Feder (July 27, 1908-April 24, 1997) was an American lighting designer. He is regarded as the creator of lighting design for the theater and was the country’s leading consultant in architectural and urban lighting. He was elected to the Theater Hall of Fame.
Abe Feder was elected to The Lambs in 1951 as a Professional member.
Feder was an architectural and theatrical lighting design engineer, practicing in New York City from the 1930s until the early 1990s. He was born on July 27, 1908 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and studied architecture at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, but left after his sophomore year. Feder worked briefly for the Goodman Theatre in Chicago before moving to New York City in 1930, where he began to establish his reputation as an innovative designer in such theatrical productions as Virgil Thompson’s Four Saints in Three Acts and Orson Welles’ Dr. Faustus, the latter through the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project.
After World War II, he opened his own business, Lighting by Feder, in New York City and began to light built structures in addition to stage productions, becoming one of the most prominent architectural lighting designers in the United States. His projects ranged in size from small urban apartments to international airports, with many related bulb and fixture designs that are now standard in the industry.
Feder is recognized as a founder of the lighting design profession in the U.S. and wrote and lectured widely on the subject. Feder was appointed the first president of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and was named a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society of America. Feder was also inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996.
Among Feder’s best known architectural commissions were the lighting of:
The Prometheus Fountain, Rockefeller Center
30 Rock (RCA Building), Rockefeller Center
Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center
John F. Kennedy International Airport
San Francisco Civic Center
The JFK Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
The 1967 World Exposition, Montreal
University of Illinois’ Assembly Hal
Israel National Museum, Jerusalem
As well, he received numerous commissions to light department stores, fashion shows, and other temporary events.
His lighting designs for such noted theatrical productions as:
The Boy Friend
Camelot
Four Saints in Three Acts
Grand Hotel
The King and I
Inherit the Wind
My Fair Lady
Night of the Iguana
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Feder maintained close professional and social relationships with many noted architects, interior designers, and artists, including Max Abramovitz and Wallace Harrison; Cecil Beaton; Carson and Lundin; Emery Roth & Sons; Harper and George; Melanie Kahane; William Lescaze; Morris Lapidus; Loebl, Schlossman, and Bennett; Shreve, Lamb and Harmon; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Edward Durell Stone; Frederick P. Victoria; Welton Becket and Associates; and Wurster, Bernardi, and Emmons.
Abraham Hyman Feder died in New York City on April 24, 1997. He was 88 years old. The lights at Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building were turned off for one hour in Feder’s honor.
His papers were donated to Columbia University, Avery Drawings & Archives Collections.
Researched and written by Club Historian Kevin C. Fitzpatrick (2022).