Category: Creative Manufacturers

Creative Manufacturers, Future Lighting, Lighting Technology

osram’s “airabesc” oled + led fixture

Brad Koerner

OSRAM launched a stylish combination OLED + LED pendant fixture called the “Airabesc” at the recent iSalone/Euroluce show.

OSRAM has been experimenting with OLED technology for well over a decade now (I personally saw back in 1999 an early OSRAM prototype OLED while at Harvard’s School of Design ).    Its nice to see OLEDs finally reaching the output levels needed for general illumination.  And the fixture is  definitely following the du jour architectural trends of biomimetic, swoopy styling enabled by digital design and fabrication.

Continue reading “osram’s “airabesc” oled + led fixture”

Creative Manufacturers, Lighting Technology

modular lighting: scotty

Brad Koerner

I’ve discussed previously how sci-fi movies of the past provide terrific guidance as to the future of lighting, but this might be taking that a bit too literally:  Modular Lighting has introduced “Scotty“, a recessed “downlight” version of their highly innovative “Spock” fixture (which I covered in this post).  I put “downlight” in quotes very purposefully:  This fixture is nothing like the downlight your grandfather used.

Continue reading “modular lighting: scotty”

Creative ManufacturersLeave a comment

interlam wall panel systems

Brad Koerner

interlamTOUCH

You know you want to:  Go ahead, reach out and touch the walls.

Interlam is a Virginia-based fabricator of three-dimensional, cut-to-order wall panels.  Using thick sheets of various fiberboard products, they CNC router-cut panels with a variety of patterns of varying depth and relief.    It is really amazing the impact one new tool, such as large-format CNC router tables, can have on the abilities of designers to infuse their spaces with new forms of visual richness.

All of these products are complemented nicely with linear grazing light sources, positioned just a few inches off the surface, such as Color Kinetics’ Graze fixture or Focal Point’s Mini-Grazer.

Continue reading “interlam wall panel systems”

Creative Manufacturers, Future Lighting, Interactive LightingLeave a comment

philips lumiblade

Brad Koerner

hannesKoch_bulb2_650

Lumiblade is Philips first major foray into commercial OLED products.

In short, Philips is really just selling sample kits right now for design explorations.  The samples are expensive, not very efficient (20 lm/w), and with only 10,000 hours at 50% dimmed output, the lifetime isn’t that great.

However, it is promising to see a technology that has been in development for over a decade finally, even if just tentatively, reach some level of commercial potential.

Continue reading “philips lumiblade”

Creative Manufacturers, Future Lighting, Lighting TechnologyLeave a comment

thin-film light sources

Brad Koerner

continua-light_hp_sfondo1

Thin-film light sources have been around for awhile, despite how futuristic they seem to be.  Their adoption has been relatively slow for two reasons:  First, they have fairly limited light ouput, which restricts them to mostly decorative applications.  Second, they are more difficult to implement in architectural designs, usually requiring a lot of custom design.  Not that that are difficult to use…they are just not as simple-minded and quick as copying yet another downlight symbol on a reflected ceiling plan.  Lifetime varies, depending on how bright they are driven, which is another consideration.

Yet still, the opportunity for creative new explorations of lighting is obvious, such as our previous post on a concept for light emitting wallpaper.

Continue reading “thin-film light sources”

Creative Manufacturers, Future LightingLeave a comment

corian: not just your countertop anymore

Brad Koerner

low_17_Corian_Nouvel_Lumieres_Photo_LeoTorri

Dupont, with their Corian line, has seemingly done more in the past few years to promote creative new approaches to lighting than any of the major lighting conglomerates.

Corian has a few major advantages:  Its malleability allows it to be formed in a myriad of shapes and continuous surfaces; its durability and repairability allow it to be used a primary finished surface; and its translucency allows designers to integrate lighting features seamlessly into surfaces.

Continue reading “corian: not just your countertop anymore”