MATSYS is an San Francisco-based design firm established in 2004 by Andrew Kudless, an assistant professor at the California College of the Arts. Kudless is also a member of the Digital Fabrication Alliance. Many of the biomimetic forms they have created provide great inspiration … Continue reading matsys
modeLab is the applied research effort of Studio Mode, a design firm based in Brooklyn, New York. According to their website: Studio Mode/modeLab is a Brooklyn-based design studio and research collective founded by Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos. As a studio committed to design as a form of applied research, Mode engages in practices that have a requisite and deep connection to material and the processes by which it is formed and informed. While we are interested in intense iterative design processes, we believe the evolution and contextualization of these procedures in a broader social and cultural domain is both … Continue reading modeLab: Screening Workshop
Ninja Blocks are a fun little Kickstarter project focused on the “Internet of Things” trend. Ninja Blocks may not seem directly related to the lighting industry, but I propose that this system actually serves as an excellent model for the … Continue reading ninja blocks: the future of lighting control?
The follow video just made my day…. Alex George, a freelance videographer and concept artist, put together what I always dreamed of making as a kid: A fully functioning scale model of Disney’s Main Street Electric Parade. The parade floats … Continue reading main street electrical parade in miniature
From thingm, I found this interesting little “technology sketch” for a simple interactive luminous home decor element called “Glowpull“. “Glowpull is a cabinet handle that lights up when touched, adding decoration, utility and a little bit of enchantment … Continue reading glowpull: “domestic digital jewelry” from thingm
Interesting little LED unit called the blinkm, targeted for the “maker/hacker” community. Each tiny unit has an RGB LED and integral playback processor and memory, plus works with Arduino, Processing or has its own Java sequencer software. I love the … Continue reading blinkm from thingm + technology sketches
Update: Mia Antonia from T-Bar contacted me, stating: “We are currently adding a company profile to our website. JLC-TECH was founded in 2010 by Silvio Porciatti, who has nearly 20 years experience in the international lighting industry. JLC-TECH is based in … Continue reading t-bar LED lighting
LEDs have jumped many hurdles over the past decade. Output, quality and price have all hit the marks needed for widespread adoption. Socket and module standards are quickly evolving. So what’s next? The next great revolution in the LED business will be miniaturizing the driver components and lowering the cost of advanced control and communications features. As the industry adds a glut of LED capacity, the price of the actual LED chips continues to plummet. This is increasing the percentage of total fixture cost that is related to the driver and power conversion components and, as they say, “the sharks are … Continue reading lucept roundup: 5 tech-focused lighting startups
My “first love” in lighting and the reason I’m in architecture and lighting design is Disney’s Parks and Resorts. Disney’s environments derive techniques from both theater and the movie industry, using a combination of rich details, scenic compositions, and spatial … Continue reading disney california adventure lighting updates
Came across this on Tumblr: Michael Taylor Photographer. “An abstract approach to photography involving light and humanity.” His “Wave” series is a beautiful use of projections on human bodies. His “Light Trace” series uses long exposures and what looks like … Continue reading michael taylor photographer
For a project concept I’m working on, I pulled a bunch of random images of Peter Zumthor’s work. Too many sites to credit, but I left the original file names in place for searching, if you want. Enjoy. Continue reading peter zumthor
Designpanel from Nuremburg is a resin panel manufacturer for architectural applications, including a series of translucent colors, panels with decorative adders (such as meshes, organics, air bubbles, etc) and CNC-milled textures . They have a small series edge-lit LED panels … Continue reading designpanel
3form is a manufacturer of decorative resin panels, primarily for architectural use. Several years ago they launched a line of lighting fixtures and customized lighting fabrications called LightArt, and since then they put together an impressive collection of standard and … Continue reading 3form lightart
Saflex is a manufacturer of PVB (poly vinyl butate) interlayers and laminates for glass. Saflex’s Vanceva product line is a decorative line aimed at architectural installations. I especially like the color selector tool, that shows how colors and transparencies can … Continue reading saflex vanceva
The Black Pearl is an office building/research lab in Taipai, Taiwan, designed by Shin Takamatsu Architects. According to the Solutia World of Color Awards blog: Cross-shaped LED lights mounted at the intersection of each window sash create the effect of … Continue reading black pearl
Georg Bechter Licht is a small startup by an Austrian architect turned product designer. I’m giving them the unofficial Lucept award for “Superb Tiny Booth Design“. In a show like Light + Building, filled with massive booths and endless gorgeous … Continue reading l+b: Georg Bechter Licht
UPDATE: Thanks to a contact from the company, I corrected my original post to clarify that these particular fixtures are by LTS, not Fagerhult, even though the two companies are related. German manufacturer LTS had some nicely detailed LED pendants, flat … Continue reading l+b: LTS
I LOVED this graphic from Barcelona-based decorative company Modiss. It completely hooked me into their booth. Their affiliated brand, Plightster, has some interesting and unique plaster-integrated fixtures. Lots of trick details, some of these really help bring a futuristic feel to … Continue reading l+b: Modiss + Plightster
Audi’s LED headlights available on the 2012 A6 are quite stunning, especially when viewed in real life. I find the intricate detail and styling of the fixture to be very architectural in and of itself. Continue reading 2012 audi A6 LED headlights
I ran across this almost-crazy design project and research model from Zurich’s CAAD Institute at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich: Phototropia is part of an ongoing series on the application of smart materials in an architectural context and was … Continue reading phototropia
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