Lighting Inspiration: Tron Legacy
Disney has been promoting its Tron reboot for what seems like several years at this point. I’m not a sci-fi geek, but this movie has caught my attention for its crazy, intrinsic use of lighting effects to achieve the movie’s overall aesthetic.
My contention has been that the future of lighting is clear: just look to past sci-fi movies to see what the environments of the future will look like. Star Wars and Blade Runner are two prime examples of environmental lighting visions that have already come to pass.
modular lighting/couvreur.devos
Belgian-based Modular Lighting Instruments have released two stunning fixture designs by the Belgian design duo Couvreur.Devos.
novaled OLED prototype fixture
Inhabitat has a post showing a snazzy OLED fixture prototype from Dresden, Germany’s Novaled. Continue reading novaled OLED prototype fixture
gaga for zhaga
In the realm of plain ol’ white light, there is a desperate need in the industry for basic standardization of LED lamp modules. This would be akin to ye olde Edison screw base…but the 2010 version. Without such standardization, the adoption rate of LED technology for general illumination will be stifled. Who wants to install expensive fixtures that use flavor-of-the-month LED technologies, custom circuit boards and drivers, non standard geometries, and “disposable” non-relampable fixture designs. Most specifiers that I’ve spoken with certainly don’t want to…and that is why you are not seeing many projects using LEDs for general illumination, even though the LEDs … Continue reading gaga for zhaga
christie’s microtiles
Launched back in November 2009, Christie is selling an innovative back-lit display system called MicroTiles that combine DLP + LED technologies in a unitized 12″ high x 16″ wide x 10″ deep block.
foscarini’s digital tunnel
I just picked this up from Foscarini’s website: As part of their “Inside” installation for Milan Design Week back in April, Foscarini created a tunnel with digital projections on the walls and ceiling. Check out the videos on their site. … Continue reading foscarini’s digital tunnel
the problem with reps and distributors
This a great quote, nicknamed “The Shirky Principal,” attributed to Clay Shirky. “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.” If lighting reps (or better yet, the actual manufacturers) simply posted lighting costs and markups openly, poof…no more reps. If lighting manufacturers simply took money directly from…OMG…the actual customer, there would be no more need for wholesale distributors. Continue reading the problem with reps and distributors
ny times: vintage light bulbs are hot
The NY Times has a piece on the resurgance in popularity over the past decade of Ye Olde Filament Bulb. I especially love that the conclusion of the article is to use candles! I often remind people that LED hotshot … Continue reading ny times: vintage light bulbs are hot
Flexible OLED screens: for real
Ecouterre posted a very interesting piece on Sony’s development efforts for flexible OLED. Such “wearable” concepts for OLED screens have, frankly, been around forever and are getting quite tired, but what is notable is the embedded video finally showing an … Continue reading Flexible OLED screens: for real
hp lobby installation
Designboom has posted yet another rockin’ lighting installation, this time at HP’s Palo Alto office lobby. Designed by installation artists Tronic, a series of vertical video panels include sculptural back panels, and each panel automatically rotates to add a kinetic dimension to … Continue reading hp lobby installation
sculpture + projection = awesomeness, part two
Yet another sculpture + projection installation: Designboom has a post on installation called “Morphology“, which employs simple white cubes as projection surfaces. Melbourne artist Kit Webster projects extraordinary digital kaleidoscope effects on the cubes, some of which really distort visual space perspective in amazing ways. The video … Continue reading sculpture + projection = awesomeness, part two
sculpture + projection = awesomeness
Core77 posted an installation called “Augmented Sculpture” by German artists Grosse8 and Lichtfront. Consisting of an angular wooden sculpture surrounded by four precisely registered video projectors, Lichtfront seamlessly projects a dazzling sequence of patterns onto the sculpture. These guys should get T-shirts made up that say: “Trigonometry rocks my world!” Continue reading sculpture + projection = awesomeness
starbrick by olafur eliasson for zumtobel
I found this older post on Design Boom: Sculptor Olafur Eliasson from Copenhagen created an interesting configurable geometric system prototype for sculptural pendant fixtures. Continue reading starbrick by olafur eliasson for zumtobel
draw the lights
Yanko Design posted a nice concept by designer Seo Dong-Hun for an adjustable ceiling lighting system with individually remote-controlled LED pixels. Completely doable with current technology…just cost prohibitive. Continue reading draw the lights
electroland
Electroland is a Los Angeles firm that focuses on interactive lighting installations for public spaces.
SEED Magazine: The Evolution of Illumination
SEED Magazine has an interesting piece on bioluminescent organisms. One paragraph in particular reads like Mother Nature’s version of interactive lighting control: “Their lights have a variety of purposes: Camouflage, attracting mates, attracting (or distracting) prey have all been observed. In animals with nervous systems, in most cases, neural activity initiates the bioluminescence. But in the velvet belly lantern shark, Lynn says, researchers found that the glowing was not caused by nerve cells. Instead, it seemed, certain hormones controlled the glow: Melatonin and prolactin turned it on, and a hormone called Alpha-MSH turned it off. This makes some sense, as … Continue reading SEED Magazine: The Evolution of Illumination
ipad concept wall
Australian architects ClarkeHopkinsClarke have generated a fun concept rendering for an “interactive library wall” made out of iPads. The concept as literally expressed is impractical, but the idea is clearly supporting a trend for future architectural systems: A unitized, tiled, … Continue reading ipad concept wall
simple wooden pendants
Adam Brackney is a designer in Minneapolis with a small storefront called Workerman. He has for sale a refreshingly simple pendant: A walnut block, Edison socket, and retro carbon-filament incandescent A-lamp. Ahhhh….the good old days. Incandescence: We Salute You! via … Continue reading simple wooden pendants
lighting inspiration: jason brooks
Jason Brooks is a London-based graphic illustrator that has done work with numerous companies across the genres of fashion, lifestyle, and interiors. Besides making me wish I was a young, rich and fabulous hipster-globe-trotting-party-animal, his illustrations are fantastic lighting inspiration: They … Continue reading lighting inspiration: jason brooks
dubai fountain
WET Design, the designers and fabricators of the most bad-ass fountains ever, have a snazzy new full-screen Flash website that includes a new video of the Dubai Fountain. 6,600 submerged lights, 25 color projectors, hundreds of submerged robotically-controlled nozzles and enough compressed … Continue reading dubai fountain
Lucept 