Arabesque Earth
VG pays tribute to The Earth, where transparency of the ocean is reflected in Asfour crystal glass and the mainland in Corten coloured steel. The lamp is available in four sizes with diameters of 30, 40, 50 or 72cm and is height adjustable. It comes in three finishes: glossy chrome, 24k gold and Corten steel.
Chlorophilia
A scenic, yet light suspension appliance that unveils a contrast of delicate shades interacting with space. The suspended central body emits indirect light, filtered and refracted by three clear surfaces that recall natural elements arranged in a sunburst display and partly overlapped to multiply the shadow contrast, generating a scenic effect.
73
Glass is blown into heat-resistant ceramic fabric, giving the glass a permanent textural expression as it cools. A flat LED lamp fills the resulting volume with diffuse light. Each is unique in proportion, size and shape. Intended to nestle together in groups, 73s create increasingly complex compositions with each added form.
Lateralis
Artisan crafted glass seems to pour upwards and outwards following the breath of the glass blowing artist, producing a honey-coloured dome with a similar syrupy consistency. It collects in a pool of dark timber below. At the heart of the table light, dark ripples of wood reflect off polished brass.
Elisa Giovannoni
This year’s Euroluce saw Elisa Giovannoni’s latest collaboration with SLAMP uncovered.
Winner of numerous prizes and competitions, Elisa Giovannoni, born in Pordenone, Italy, is an industrial and interior designer and founding member of Giovannoni Design with partner and husband Stefano.
As well as running courses at the Domus Academy and Polytechnic School of Design in Milan, Giovannoni collaborated with numerous companies such as Alessi, Magis, Millefiori, Bisazza, Veneta Cucine, Bertazzoni, Marzorati Ronchetti, Viceversa, Tubes, Vondom, Maletti group, Haier, Deborah e LG maniglie and Slamp.
At this year’s Euroluce, Giovannoni’s latest collaboration with Slamp was debuted. Her Liza range of suspension, table and floor lamps sees the poetry of light meet the recollection of crystal lamps. It is a range of luminous presences that extends from the table version with courtesy LED lights to the articulated floor lamps for reading. The unvaried element is the Lentiflex shade that wraps one layer over the other, modelling the suspended pleats in colourful fabric, creating a kaleidoscope effect that floods the surroundings with reflections.
www.stefanogiovannoni.it
www.slamp.it
Benjamin Hubert
As part of the Glass is Tomorrow workshop, which took part in this year’s Milan Design Week, the Benjamin Hubert Studio celebrated purity of form through its Beacon range of lamps.
British designer Benjamin Hubert established his London-based studio in 2007 having graduated from Loughborough University in 2006 with a (BA) first class honours in Industrial Design and Technology. Ever since, it has been his passion and the ethos of the studio, which specialises in industrial design across furniture, lighting and other product sectors, to challenge the everyday application of materials, traditions of construction and ideas of context. The studio works on a diverse range of projects including both mass / batch produced consumer products and limited editions / one offs.
The studio also focuses on sustainability as an integrated part of each project, whether it’s creating products that will last a lifetime, both from a quality and durability perspective, or from a recyclability and more holistic infrastructure approach.
Inspiration comes directly from the studio’s network of factories and workshop environments where the products are made, with the brand creating timeless objects that do not respond to trends or fashion but rely on usability analysis, interaction, materiality, sustainability and a process of visual reduction.
Beacon - on show during this year’s Milan Design Week - is a pendant and desk light from Benjamin Hubert, designed as part of the Glass is Tomorrow workshop held recently in Denizli, Turkey, which aims to establish an exchange of knowledge between glass and design professionals across Europe.
Designed to explore how traditional glass working techniques can be adapted to contemporary use in lighting, and how light itself can be used as an integral element to the design, the Beacon lamps celebrate purity of form and comprise two simple and elegant blown glass components - the pendant and desk lamps have the same internal component, but differ in their external component.
The common interior component is hand-blown and then cold-worked using a traditional technique known as battuto, in which the surface of the glass is hand-cut on a girding machine to create a pattern of grindings of variable shape and depth. Light is then projected through the internal component, creating decorative caustics caused by the shadow and highlights of the battuto pattern on the external blown glass component.
The external component of both the pendant and desk lamp is then sandblasted on the interior to better capture the caustic effect and to diffuse the light. There are four different battuto patterns in the Beacon collection, each creating a different pattern of light and shadow.
www.benjaminhubert.co.uk
Carlotta de Bevilacqua
A major player in contemporary architecture and design, we take a look at the woman behind Artemide’s latest decorative offering on show in Milan.
Designer, entrepreneur and university lecturer, Carlotta de Bevilacqua is a major player in the world of contemporary architecture and design. Having graduated from Politecnico di Milano in architecture in 1983, today she has her own architecture and design office and is Artemide Vice President and General Manager for brand strategy and product innovation.
With a wide range of experience and appointed Art Director of Memphis and Alias from 1989 to 1993, she has expounded important research on lighting design and investigates aspects of light related to physiological and psychological well-being, by offering new qualitative standards in life.
From 1999 to 2001 Bevilacqua was a workshop lecturer and project leader of innovative products within the Strategic Design Master (Mip) program. In 2000 she acquired Danese, the leading company in Italian design during the 60/70’s and in a very short time revived the business, gaining new market shares and a new leadership. From 2001 to 2004, Bevilacqua was lecturer in the Design Master Program at Domus Academy in Milan and today frequently lectures at Bocconi University and Politecnico di Milano. More recently, in 2013 Bevilaqua became a member of the Board of Direction of Fondazione La Triennale di Milano.
Bevilacqua’s presence is very much appreciated at conventions and seminars with the aim to explore the changes in contemporary society, the new boundaries of the international markets and the evolving needs of the environment in terms of energetic sustainability.
For both Artemide and Danese she has designed new generation LED products, recognised with several patents, introducing constant new technological scenarios. One of her most recent designs - Incalmo, featured as part of this year’s Euroluce presentation. Incalmo refers to a glass-blowing technique refined in Murano, Venice during the 16th Century aimed at obtaining multiple areas of different colours on the same surface.
Incalmo, together with another of Bevilacqua’s creations - Incipit, operates in perfect harmony, as horizontal, alternating stripes of transparent, white or grey blown glass, transforming its decorative body into a screening element reaching the areas below its narrower angles and diffusing light into the space.
Incalmo is a metaphor for combining the evolving LED technological innovation with ancient craftsmanship skills deeply rooted in Artemide’s history.
Arik Levy
Visitors to Vibia’s Euroluce stand had the pleasure of seeing Arik Levy’s latest lighting experience - Curtain. Here, darc takes a look at the man behind the design.
Artist, technician, photographer, designer and video artist, Arik Levy’s skills are multi-disciplinary and his work can be seen in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide. Best known for his sculptures (such as his signature Rock pieces), his installations, limited editions and design, Levy nevertheless feels “the world is about people, not objects”.
Hailing from Israel, Levy moved to Europe after his first participation in a group sculpture exhibition in Tel-Aviv in 1986. Following studies at the Art Center Europe in Switzerland he gained a distinction in Industrial Design in 1991 and, after a stint in Japan - where he consolidated his ideas producing products and pieces for exhibitions, Levy returned to Europe where he contributed his artistry to another field - contemporary dance and opera, by way of set design.
The creation of his studio in Paris, which he still works out of today, meant a foray back to his first love - art and industrial design, as well as other branches of his talents.
At this year’s Euroluce, one of Levy’s latest designs made itself known on the Vibia stand. Curtain, is a new lighting typology - a light fitting and partitioning system combined; a light fitting that is equally functional in the off position as it is in the on position.
The system is more a lighting experience than a traditional light fitting and can be used in a myriad of ways depending on the different applications of the various versions: as a suspended chandelier of assorted hanging light planes; a feature light fitting above a dining table; an installation within a reception or public space; or equally as a floor to ceiling partition system for office and professional spaces.
There are three different variations of the Curtain system, which combine the same elements in slightly different ways; there is a top rail LED fitting, a bottom rail LED fitting and both top and bottom rail LED fitting which is most suitable for use as a partition system.
Each version reacts with the reflecting qualities of the hanging fabric, which in turn is specific to each of the different versions, playing with the tonal shadows and patterns of the textiles. The system is manufactured in different widths and lengths, adjustable in terms of the suspension cables used to support the fitting from the ceiling. Curtain also makes an impact when used as a partitioning system within large open plan spaces, such as offices where architectural design and character is an important consideration.
Considering himself now more of a ‘feeling’ artist, Levy continues to contribute substantially to the interior and exterior milieu, his work including public sculptures, as well as complete environments that can be adapted for multi-use.
“Life is a system of signs and symbols,” he says, “where nothing is quite as it seems.”
darc awards sponsorship now complete
(UK) - Lumino completes the line up of manufacturer partners who will be involved in lighting installations during darc night in London on September 24th.
Lumino is the last lighting supplier to become a partner of the darc awards, which will culminate in the darc night awards ceremony in London on September 24th. There are now no more sponsorship slots left.
The British manufacturer joins eleven other progressive companies who have pledged their support to the innovative new architectural and decorative lighting design awards programme. They are: Cooledge, Concord, Griven, Innermost, KKDC, L&L Luce & Light, LSE Lighting, Lucent, Megaman, Reggiani and Zumtobel. XL Video is the Technical Partner who will be helping to make darc night unlike any other lighting awards ceremony in the past.
Paul James, awards director and publishing editor of mondo*arc and darc, commented: "This is fantastic news. To have filled all the sponsorship slots five months before the awards ceremony is a great achievement and is a massive endorsement of the darc awards. I look forward to the sponsors involvement in the twelve lighting installations at the awards ceremony, darc night."
Each partner is teaming up with a lighting design practice to create a dozen inspiration spaces at the specially selected darc night venue in London next September. The practices involved are: Speirs+Major, dpa, Light Bureau, Michael Grubb Studio, Elektra, Paul Nulty Lighting Design, BDP, Design In Progress, LDI, Troup Bywaters + Anders, Arup and Electrolight.
Just like in the pages of mondo*arc and darc, we're not after the most efficient, the best money saving, the safe. We're after the creative, the clever, the brave.
The categories are:
1 Best interior scheme - low / high budget
2 Best exterior scheme - low / high budget
3 Best landscape / urban / streetscape / masterplan - low / high budget
4 Best decorative lighting installation
5 Best light art installation
6 Best architectural lighting product - interior / exterior
7 Best decorative lighting product
8 Best lighting concept
Every entry will be displayed online for full exposure and every company who enters will receive a free profile in the online darc directory. There are already a host of innovative schemes and products that have been posted.
darc awards and darc night are part of the IYL2015 (International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015) related activities program and will be promoted by the L-RO (Lighting-Related Organisations) to raise awareness for the lighting design profession and showcase the importance and beauty of light.
Paul Nulty's Flock of Birds installed in Crawley Mall shopping centre
(UK) - Paul Nulty Lighting Design (PNLD) has developed a lighting design concept entitled Flock of Birds, bringing art and light to Crawley Mall shopping centre and creating a grand sculpture within the impressive space.
Paying homage to the old English translation of the Crawley name, clearing frequented by crows, and acknowledging the centre's proximity to Gatwick, PNLD wanted the sculpture to portray the theme of light.
Flock of Birds captures the form and elegance of airborne birds using colour changing LEDs that add a wash of vibrancy to the sculpture, creating different glowing intensity throughout the day and across the seasons. The sculpture measures 125-metres long and draws the eye through the length and breadth of the flight path that meanders through the void. There are sixteen million permeations of colour across 400 individual LED birds.
The challenge for PNLD was to deliver an experience without creating a distraction from the retail brands inside the shopping centre, while still being low energy and delivering low maintenance costs. To deliver these requirements, PNLD used 30W LEDs. As a result, the sculpture requires the same amount of energy as ten kettles and can last up to 100,000 hours.
Zumtobel eleventh sponsor of darc awards
Zumtobel is the latest lighting manufacturer to become a partner of the darc awards, which will culminate in the darc night awards ceremony in London on September 24th.
The Austrian manufacturer joins ten other progressive companies who have pledged their support to the innovative new architectural and decorative lighting design awards programme. They are: Cooledge, Concord, Griven, Innermost, KKDC, L&L Luce & Light, LSE Lighting, Lucent, Megaman and Reggiani. XL Video is the Technical Partner who will be helping to make darc night unlike any other lighting awards ceremony in the past.
Paul James, awards director and publishing editor of mondo*arc and darc, commented: “Of course I’m absolutely delighted that we have eleven partners on board already with just one more to go to fulfil our brief of having twelve lighting installations at the awards ceremony.”
Each partner is teaming up with a lighting design practice to create a dozen inspiration spaces at the specially selected darc night venue in London next September. These include Speirs+Major, dpa, Light Bureau, Michael Grubb Studio, Elektra, Paul Nulty Lighting Design, BDP, Design In Progress, LDI and Troup Bywaters + Anders.
Just like in the pages of mondo*arc and darc, we’re not after the most efficient, the best money saving, the safe. We’re after the creative, the clever, the brave.
The categories are:
1 Best interior scheme – low / high budget
2 Best exterior scheme – low / high budget
3 Best landscape /urban / streetscape / masterplan – low / high budget
4 Best decorative lighting installation
5 Best light art installation
6 Best architectural lighting product – interior / exterior
7 Best decorative lighting product
8 Best lighting concept
Every entry will be displayed online for full exposure and every company who enters will receive a free profile in the online darc directory.
darc night will be part of the IYL2015 (International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 ) related activities program and will be promoted by the L-RO (Lighting-Related Organizations) to raise awareness for the lighting design profession and showcase the importance and beauty of light.
Liz West awarded commission at National Media Museum
Liz West's new light installation will take centre stage in a season of free events at the National Media Museum, celebrating the UNESCO International Year of Light.
Manchester-based artist Liz West has been commissioned by the Museum to create a brand new £30,000 installation inspired by the theme. It comprises a purpose-built ten-metre x five-metre room containing approximately 300 coloured fluorescent tubes combined with ‘infinity’ mirrors. Titled An Additive Mix, it takes the principle that white light is composed of different colours of the spectrum (additive colours) and places people in the centre of the phenomenon; saturating them in individual hues that collectively create an intense white glow in a seemingly endless space.
An Additive Mix, which is free to enter and designed to be enjoyed by all ages, builds on themes developed in West’s previous works - most recently the acclaimed Your Colour Perception, which was described as ‘walking through a rainbow’. The new work, West’s largest commission to date, turns this occurrence in natural science on its head; reassembling the diffracted colours of the rainbow and projecting them to ‘infinity’ as visitors explore.
Liz West said:
“This is a body of work that I have dreamed of being able to make for a number of years. To be given the opportunity as part of the Museum’s celebration of light is thrilling and very fitting.”
“Artworks I remember seeing as a child are the ones in which I was completely immersed, and that’s what I hope An Additive Mix will achieve: taking people out of the ordinary into the extraordinary, and staying in their memories for a long time."
