Issue 105
arc Aug/Sep 2018 – Issue 105
Remember, remember the 19th and 20th of September. Making lighting specification an integral part of London Design Festival...
The preparations for darc room, London Design Festival’s lighting destination, are now well under way and we’re very excited with the event that we have put together. With 50 brands participating (see www.darcroom.com for the list so far) and a great educational workshop (darc room : workshops) and live streamed seminar programme (darc room : live) being curated by our friends, Light Collective, this year’s event promises to be bigger and better than the critically acclaimed inaugural launch. This year we have moved darc room to Shoreditch High Street in the heart of the Shoreditch Design Triangle as we continue to make lighting specification an integral part of London Design Festival, something that has been neglected for far too long, to promote cross-discipline discussion and knowledge-sharing.
It will be a two-day event on 19th and 20th September with social activities on both evenings including the launch of our Inspirations book in collaboration with Light Collective and sponsored by Delta Light. If you can’t get away during office hours then come along for a drink (exhibitors will also be hosting stand parties) and a chat from 6pm until the close at 10pm.
The entry period for darc awards / architectural closes on 28th September, just after darc room ends and I hope that you will all participate. Our awards is the only industry programme that involves peer-to-peer voting so it’s a great way to get your projects and products the exposure that they deserve. This year’s event will take place on 6th December at MC Motors, London. We have all mourned the demise of the industry Christmas party so this year we decided to organise our own! As usual, all independent lighting designers and light artists who vote in the awards get a free ticket to come to the party. Suppliers have to pay a hefty fee so why not become a sponsor to really benefit from the exposure you get from creating your own installation with a top lighting design practice? There’s just a couple of sponsorship slots remaining.
I hope that you will participate in both our events this year. They promise to be two great (and fun!) dates in the lighting and design calendar.
Paul James
Editor
arc
SLV Group announce new CEO
(Germany) - Eric Lachambre becomes the new CEO of SLV, having previously held roles at Schneider Electric and Hilti.
SLV Group has appointed Eric Lachambre as its new Chief Executive Officer. The move comes as part of an overall company strategy to consolidate and expand SLV’s position in the European lighting market.
Originally from France, Lachambre brings outstanding technical and economic expertise to the role: following his management activities for Schneider Electric and Hilti, and contributing significantly to WILO's success as a board member.
Lachambre is focused on his primary tasks at SLV Group; accelerating the digitilisation of the company, optimising sales and marketing processes, and expanding market share around the world: “I look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to SLV Group, modernising and strengthening what is already a successful international brand, whilst maximising the many opportunities we face to reach our full global potential.”
ILP’s ‘How To Be Brilliant’ initiative expands to Edinburgh
(UK) - The Institute of Lighting Professionals has announced it is expanding its ‘How To Be Brilliant’ initiative in Edinburgh on 3 October 2018.
The How To Be Brilliant series is aimed at new comers to the lighting profession such as students, interns, apprentices and career changers and offers a variety of fun, free, friendly and accessible events.
As one of the first independent professional bodies in the lighting industry, the ILP approached renowned lighting designers, who students wouldn’t normally get to meet. These designers agree to give a talk about something that wouldn’t tend to be covered in formal education and stay for the evening to talk to attendees on a one to one basis. The initiative has been running in London since 2014, with the support of acdc, and has created a diverse community interested in lighting design.
The Edinburgh session will be given by Malcolm Innes from the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University, and is entitled ‘True Colours: Explorations in Art, Design and Research’.
All are welcome at the event and free places are bookable at: www.theilp.org.uk/brillianted
For more info, contact: Jess Gallacher, ILP Operations Manager: jess@theilp.org.uk
Targetti celebrates 90 years by looking to the future
(Italy) - Targetti is marking its 90th anniversary with a renewed focus on innovation, growth and technical-design partnerships.
Italian manufacturer Targetti is celebrating 90 years in business by focusing on future growth following last year’s buyout by 3F Filippi.
The consolidation, which took place in December of last year, allowed for the development of a series of strategic synergies from a business and trade perspective, thanks to 3F Filippi’s position in the technical and high efficiency lighting industry.
Part of one of the five largest Italian groups in the lighting field, Targetti is celebrating its 90th anniversary by marking a new phase in its history and focusing on innovation, growth and prestigious technical-design partnerships.
“Technological innovation is and will always be increasingly relevant to architectural lighting,” commented Gianluca Cricchi, General Manager of Targetti. “This is the reason we are an avant-garde company that is able to take advantage of the potential provided by new technology by anticipating the needs of designers.”
Enormous focus on Research and Development therefore continues to be one of Targetti’s ambitions. This is shown in the many partnerships the company has started with large architecture and design firms to develop innovative lighting solutions. For example, recently Targetti’s Zedge range of step lights and floorwashers, designed in collaboration with Gensler, was extended.
To confirm the renewed dynamism of the company, investments have been planned to create new “Targetti spaces” for the headquarters in Florence and branches in Paris and Shanghai.
“The development of these spaces stems from the desire to provide the company with places for dialogue and confrontation with our natural counterparts, i.e. architects, interior designers and lighting designers,” explained Giovanni Bonazzi, Managing Director of the 3F Filippi – Targetti Group.
“More than focusing on the past, we are using the 90th anniversary to bear witness to the renewed enthusiasm of a solid, young company that focuses greatly on the future,” Bonazzi continued.
“A future to be faced bolstered by the prestige that we have acquired at an international level and are supported by some recent high profile projects such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Luis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the Torre Costanera Center in Santiago del Cile, the Salone dei Cinquecento and the Zeffirelli Museum in Florence and the Rialto Bridge in Venice.”
Speirs + Major unveil plans for London Design Festival
(UK) – The lighting designers have designed the lighting for a special pavilion created for this year’s London Design Festival.
Speirs + Major has unveiled its lighting design for Framework for Exchange, a collaboration between Universal Design Studio and The Office Group (TOG) created for London Design Festival 2018.
The project is a temporary pavilion in Shoreditch designed to encourage interaction, openness, collaboration and community.
Standing at 7.4-metres high, the structure is intended for use throughout the day and evening. The pavilion features open sides and a polycarbonate roof. As daylight fades, the lighting approach transforms the façade into a dynamic lantern, attracting attention from people passing in the street.
Cool blue light floods the interior volume, saturating the grid wall, floor and staircase, creating a translucent screen that is enlivened by shadows from the interaction within. Contrasting warmer light cuts through this cool backdrop, providing visual focus, while accentuating the architectural elements that facilitate the process of exchange and encourage social interaction.
Part of the core design philosophy is that the pavilion should have the potential for social impact through the creative ideas generated and shared in the space, yet leave no physical trace post-residence. In respect of this, the lighting design is executed entirely with rented equipment.
Mark Major, Principal of Speirs + Major, commented: "We were thrilled to be invited to work on this project with UDS, which has allowed us to explore how skilfully integrated light could reinforce the narrative of ‘exchange and collaboration’ while delivering a clear and visually enticing identity for the pavilion after dark.
“It was a real treat to work with this cutting edge design team on such an innovative project, and to be able to see our ideas come to fruition in a comparatively short time frame has been immensely rewarding."
The pavilion will host a programme of activities and workshop events running concurrently throughout the week. More information on the events can be found at www.londondesignfestival.com/event/framework-exchange-0.
www.speirsandmajor.com
www.londondesignfestival.com
Amsterdam Light Festival announces seventh edition
(Netherlands) – The full lineup of artists and installations has been announced for the seventh annual Amsterdam Light Festival, beginning on 29 November 2018.
The Amsterdam Light Festival will return to the Dutch capital for a seventh year in November, with 30 artworks in place to illuminate the city centre.
For this year’s edition, artists, designers and architects from sixteen different countries will share their interpretation of the central theme: The Medium is the Message, the famous statement made by Canadian scientist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan. The idea behind his statement was simple: the way we send a message is at least as important as the message itself.
The participating artists focused on questions such as: what role does light play as a medium or a message? And how can light create spaces that would otherwise have remained invisible?
The city of Amsterdam as a medium for telling stories is also a central part of this edition. On behalf of the festival, art historian Koen Kleijn went in search of remarkable stories about the city and from October onward they will be released as a ten-part series on the festival website. In his stories Kleijn identifies the connection between the city and the central theme.
There will be one exhibition, in the historical centre of Amsterdam, which can be experienced in different ways: by boat, by bike or on foot. This year, for the very first time, visitors can vote for their favourite light artwork. The Public Award will be presented to the artist of the winning artwork in the last weekend of the festival.
A selection of the participating artists and artworks for this year’s festival includes Ivana Jelić and Pavle Petrović of Serbia, who found inspiration for their work Starry Night in Van Gogh’s famous painting of the same name. Since the beginning of the 21st century, as a result of the increase in light pollution, starry nights are less and less visible in urban areas. With the installation Starry Night, the Serbian duo will give Amsterdam its starry night back, reminding visitors of what they are missing out on.
Elsewhere, French artist collective Groupe LAPS has designed Spider on the Bridge: 80 spiders of two metres each, which together form one gigantic spider on the bridge between the Herengracht and Amstel. Light effects will give the illusion that the creatures are crawling all over each other.
Other participating artists include Australian duo amigo & amigo with their Parabolic Lightcloud installation and Israel’s OGE Group, whose Light a Wish installation is a clear example of the powerful way in which light arouses emotions.
Dutch visual artist Jeroen Henneman is guest of honour at Amsterdam Light Festival 2018-2019. Well known for his sculptures that look like 'standing drawings', he has designed exclusively for Amsterdam Light Festival Two Lamps, two gigantic lamp sculptures that will have their own stage between the streetlights in the famous 'Golden Bend' along the Herengracht. By day, the lamps form a graphic, dark silhouette, by night a 'drawn' line of light.
Amsterdam Light Festival will run from 29 November 2018 to 20 January 2019.
www.amsterdamlightfestival.com
Phoscope launches a lighting initiative in Puerto Rico
(USA) – Think tank on light PhoScope is launching Recreo de Noche in Puerto Rico, a model that will rapidly deploy solar lighting in community playgrounds.
Recreo de Noche is a replicable model for the procurement of a set of solar lighting products to community groups who will distribute and install them in collaboration with teams of volunteers. These teams will assist the process with public discussions and participatory workshops on light and lighting.
PhoScope partnered with Lighting In Action (LIA) and Concepteurs Lumière Sans Frontières (LSF) to implement a pilot project in San Juan with the Corporation del Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña (ENLACE) and the local communities in Autumn 2018. The model will then be replicated in Puerto Rico.
The pilot project for Recreo de Noche was made possible through donations from Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY) and the New York City Section of the Illumination Engineering Society (IESNYC). PhoScope is now fundraising to launch more projects and to create a Volunteer Training Programme with free downloadable resources for Recreo de Noche’s volunteers and local communities.
For more information, visit: http://www.phoscope.org/phoshaping/recreo-de-noche/ or contact Nathalie Rozot +1 347 387 7119, nrozot@phoscope.org
Increase in visitor numbers for GILE 2018
(China) – The 23rd instalment of Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition saw an increase in visitor numbers on previous editions.
More than 165,000 visitors descended on the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou from June 9 ‒ 12 for Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition – a five percent increase on 2017.
A total of 2,602 exhibitors demonstrated the latest in lighting and LED products and solutions across nineteen halls and 195,000sqm of exhibition space. The main thoroughfare at the exhibition – The Pearl Promenade – was also a hive of activity as the THINKLIGHT: Embracing Changes Forum enticed visitors to a programme of talks from some of the world’s leading authorities in lighting concepts, technology and design.
Adopting a theme of “Embracing Changes”, the 23rd edition of the fair showcased a plethora of innovative lighting and LED products and solutions as the show reaffirmed its position as the most comprehensive and influential lighting event in Asia.
Commenting on this year’s exhibition, Lucia Wong, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai), said: “Embracing change has never been so important for the lighting industry and I am truly pleased to have seen such earnest and forward-looking ideas and approaches on display at the fair.
“The rise in visitor figures demonstrates the renewed industry-wide confidence and positive future outlook for the lighting community. The global transition to connected lighting has the potential to improve the quality of our lives and it will undoubtedly bring previously distinct industry sectors together. GILE will continue to serve as platform that supports these innovations and nurtures future developments.”
www.light.messefrankfurt.com.cn
University of Wismar Master’s programme to offer increased specialisation
(Germany) – The Architectural Lighting and Design Management Master’s programme now includes a specialisation in ‘Heritage Lighting’.
The University of Wismar, alongside Wings Lighting Design, has added increased specialisation to its Architectural Lighting and Design Management Master’s programme.
The ‘Architectural Lighting and Design Management’ programme is a design-based Master’s in lighting design for students and professionals from interior design, architecture, exhibitions and theatre as well as electrical, environmental psychology backgrounds.
The combination of ‘Lighting Design’ and ‘Design Management’ provides students with the creative and technical knowledge to manage lighting design projects as well as the economic and marketing aspects necessary to manage offices professionally.
Starting in October 2018, Wings Lighting Design and the University of Wismar will be offering a specialisation in ‘Heritage Lighting’ to interested students. The specialisation will offer students the possibility to delve deeper into issues like lighting for heritage sites and buildings, lighting for protected sites, conservation, techniques and strategies for such sites and so on. This specialisation is part of a long-term plan to introduce similar specialisations in the field of ‘light’.
The professional study programme ‘Architectural Lighting and Design Management’ was started in September 2012 and is based on more than fifteen years of experience in teaching the Master’s programme for Lighting Design in the Wismar University.
The deadline for application to the Master’s programme has been extended until September 30 2018
www.wings-lightingdesign.com
www.hs-wismar.de
David Morgan Review: Lightly Technologies Hikari SQ
Since their appearance at last year’s darc room, Lightly Technologies’ ultra-thin LED Hikari SQ panels have been gaining a lot of attention. Here, David Morgan casts his eye over the slimline sources that will be on show at darc room this September.
When a small start-up company manages to raise more than £400k of equity investment by crowdfunding to develop and market a ‘Post It’ note-sized light panel I was intrigued and wanted to know more about the technology and the team behind the company.
The two founders, Matt Hanbury and Brian Charman, met in 2012 while they were both working at Philips Lighting. Matt started at Philips on its engineering graduate scheme and was sent to its OLED factory in Aachen, Germany to work on mechanical engineering for OLED modules. At that time Brian was manager of the Philips Lighting Experience Showroom, where he introduced new lighting technologies, including OLEDs, to customers and specifiers. After leaving Philips, Matt worked in Japan for Apple on the production engineering and development of iPhone displays, which introduced him to a wide network of suppliers in Asia. Both of these experiences gave him tremendous exposure to the detail design and mass production of thin illuminated panels. On moving to Dublin, Matt decided to start his own company to create a new light source that would fulfil the initial promise of OLED light sources but without the associated high costs and their inadequate performance.
After some months of frantic development work, a prototype of a panel was ready, and with patent protection for the design in place, Brian joined as joint founder of Lightly Technologies in June 2016 to help commercialise the concept. After self-funding the company for the first year, an initial round of Angel investment with family and friends was completed by mid-2017 to allow the company to continue to invest in development and tooling.
The first modules, in pre-production form, were unveiled at darc room in London last September and were branded Hikari SQ. Hikari is Japanese for light and the modules were square, hence the SQ addition. Matt and Brian were encouraged by the positive reaction at the show from both lighting designers and luminaire manufacturers and embarked on a second round of fundraising, which completed in early 2018. The investment raised has allowed the company to invest in production tooling, stock and most importantly sales and marketing activity.
When I first spotted the company at darc room I was impressed by the thinness of the panel, the even lit surface and the high level of light output.
My immediate impression was that it was another version of an OLED panel but after realising that the technology was based on traditional LED sources combined with advanced optical design I purchased a developer kit and we have been investigating how to incorporate the Hikari SQ into our luminaire developments.
The design of the Hikari SQ is based on a thin side-lit, injection-moulded micro prismatic controller. The quality of the optics ensures that the panel is evenly lit across the surface, allowing uniformity, and there are almost no telltale signs of LED dots around the edges.
The Hikari SQ is 100mm x 100mm and 3.5mm thick, and provides up to 400 lumens with an efficiency of 80 lumens per Watt. Surface brightness is up to 10,000 nits, which to my eye is on the limit of comfort for a small light source, although it is in fact lower than a T5 fluorescent lamp.
The technical characteristics are familiar ones for LED sources with a lifetime of 50,000 hours. The initial range of colour temperatures will be 2,700k, 3,000k and 4,000k with a CRI 90 and R9 over 60. Uniformity across the surface is 85-percent and the beam angle is 100-degrees. It is understood that no extra heat sinking is required but when run at full power it should be mounted onto a sheet metal base of some form.
Apparently, the greatest interest in the modules so far has come from the retail and hospitality sectors, where potential uses include statement chandeliers in entrances as well as decorative and high-performance luminaires for these applications. The first luminaires incorporating the Hikari SQ are likely to be launched this autumn.
The plan is that once the 100mm x 100mm module is fully launched other shapes and sizes will be introduced. Dynamic white versions are also likely to be introduced soon, with colour changing following later on in the product pipeline.
As a luminaire designer, my first questions to any supplier offering a new light source are what the primary lighting applications are, where it can be used and how this source will help me to create novel, attractive, functional and commercially viable luminaire designs.
One of the key issues for me is whether the Hikari SQ can be used as a naked light source. The OLED sales story that large areas of evenly lit panels are attractive always seemed somewhat questionable. It is one thing to experience and enjoy the perfectly flat light effect of Anthony Gormley’s Blind Light fog installation, but most lighting projects require a mixture of accent lighting and indirect lighting with the light sources hidden from view as much as possible.
My reaction to the Hikari SQ has oscillated from initial enthusiasm to a more considered concern that there may be insufficient specific applications to generate volume sales. However, it may turn out that the Hikari SQ will have many niche applications rather than a few killer uses and that these will be sufficient to give the company the critical sales momentum needed to thrive.
We worked on a project some years ago with Joe Geitner of George Sexton Associates where the Hikari SQ would have been the perfect light source. We ended up making a custom LED panel that worked fine, but the overall depth of the luminaire could have been reduced significantly if the Lightly source had been available then. Joe Geitner’s comments on the Hikari SQ were positive for use in cabinet lighting but he felt that the 100mm x 100mm size might be a limitation for other uses. As the product range develops, the offering will become more attractive as it will offer more uses, for more applications.
If Lightly can gain sales growth with the initial module and go on to create a full range of ultra-thin LED modules in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours then the future will most certainly look bright for Lightly Technologies.
ABB joins new partnership programme with Signify
(Germany) – ABB enters a partnership with Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) by unveiling a new range of smart light switches at the IFA trade show, Berlin.
Aimed at encouraging companies to develop devices, applications and systems that interact with its smart lighting ecosystem Philips Hue, the Friends of Hue programme has attracted many of the market’s leading technology providers including Amazon, Apple and Google.
ABB’s new range of Friends of Hue smart light switches integrates with the Philips Hue lighting system via the Hue bridge. This allows users to set up their light switch in the Philips Hue app and control and personalise home lighting and ambience via an ABB Friends of Hue switch.
Paavo Tammisto, Global Product Group Manager of ABB’s Wiring Accessories said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership between Signify and ABB. Both of our companies share a vision for fully connected smart homes with the ability to control every aspect of lighting from a single remote access point.”
The new ABB switches can turn lights on and off, dim specific bulbs and recall stored light presets. A Friends of Hue-specific energy harvesting module is due to be integrated in to the ABB ranges carat, solo, Busch-axcent and future linear. The new Friends of Hue light switches from ABB will be available in Q1/2019.
Gamma Illumination opens new MENA office in Dubai
(Dubai) – Gamma Illumination, UK based designer and manufacturer of low energy lighting solutions, has expanded its operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with the opening of its first office in the region and the appointment of Arsalan Bari as Vice President.
Gamma Illumination has been active in the MENA region for the past five years and Bari will bring experience to the position with over ten years working for well-known companies in the lighting industry.
Bari, Vice President, commented: “I am delighted to be joining such a fast growing and forward-thinking company and look forward to helping the Gamma team continue its momentum in the MENA region. Gamma has already built a reputation for its fusion of high quality and great value, whilst providing industry leading turnaround times and a trusted service to its customers. I look forward to working with the team to continue to do this throughout the region.”
Cate Hickling, Sales Director at Gamma Illumination, added: “These are exciting times at Gamma Illumination and we are delighted to welcome Bari on board. Bari’s experience, regional knowledge, as well as his connections will enable us to continue to build on our presence within the MENA region.”
