Virva Kokkonen Nilson is the Principal of Virvatuli Lighting Design Co. She has over twenty seven years of experience in architectural and lighting design.

With a M.F.A. in Architectural Lighting Design From the Parsons School of Design in New York, NY, Ms. Nilson has a specialized background in architectural lighting design. Her previous M. F. A. studies in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, Finland and four years of experience with architectural firms in Finland contribute to her understanding of architecture and design. Ms. Nilson brings innovation and clarity that reflects the Nordic aesthetics into her work.

During her three and a half years as a Lighting Designer with S. Leonard Auerbach & Associates in San Francisco, California, she worked on a diversity of commercial projects ranging from offices and museums to hotels and retail lighting design. See previous major projects list while working with S. Leonard Auerbach & Associates.

Before founding Virvatuli Lighting Design Co. in 1997, Ms. Nilson was a Senior Lighting Designer with Clanton Engineering in Boulder, Colorado, designing and supervising projects ranging from educational to commercial and residential lighting design. She also helped to cowrite the first Lighting Design Standards for the U.S. Army Commissaries promoting energy efficiency in lighting and participated in several goverment energy audit and retrofit projects. See previous major projects list while with Clanton Engineering.

Virva Kokkonen Nilson is an associate member of the International Association of Lighting Designers. She is also a member of the Designers Lighting Forum in Denver. The projects she has participated in have won many lighting design awards, Including the G.E. Edison Award of Merit, the International Association of Lighting Designers Citation for Lighting Design and five International Illumination Design Awards of Merit.