Lighting

Let's play a game of word association. If I said to you "LED lighting", the chances are the first thing you'd say would be ... well, honestly, I have no idea. But if I were to guess, I think a lot of people would say bright, or efficient, perhaps cool, or possibly colorful. I would too. My hunch is that the word beautiful would be used much less frequently. But that's a perception that might soon change, if London design studio Troika has anything to say in the matter. Which it does. Its mechanized, kinetic and grand LED chandelier, named Thixotropes, is, quite simply, a beautiful vision of the lighting of the future.  Read More

Pin Lights are an innovative camping concept from a group of designers. The lights are essentially large pins that take the place of tent stakes. Not only do they keep your tent stable in the wind, but they light up your campsite ... so that wee-hour pee doesn't have to be a life-risking affair.  Read More

Artist Berndnaut Smilde may use simple smoke machines to create his indoor cloudworks, but to achieve such dramatic results requires meticulous experimentation with both lighting and interior atmospheric conditions.  Read More

Night snowboarding usually equates to grueling pre-dawn slogs up backcountry routes or short, icy turns under stadium-like lights at small resorts. Nowness.com has put a new spin on those traditional forms of night riding. In this stunning piece of film, a unique LED suit is employed to turn the subject into a powder-slashing apparition.  Read More

Despite the continuous advances being made in lithium-ion battery technology, many cyclists still prefer to use dynamo-powered lights on their bikes – there’s no having to remember to recharge the batteries, no subsequent forgetting to put the light back on the bike, and no worrying about the batteries unexpectedly giving out mid-ride. Dynamos, however, have their own drawbacks. Friction-powered sidewall units slow the bike down and wear out the tire, while dynamo hubs must be built into the wheel, and add to the bike’s revolving weight. Now, however, German inventor Dirk Strothmann has created what he claims is a better alternative – a small, no-contact, self-contained dynamo bike light.  Read More

Most of us have faced the problem of trying to light a candle that sits right at the bottom of a glass beaker or vase. I invariably burn my fingers, fumble the match, or just drop the whole works on the floor. Fortunately, a design studio in Sweden has come up with a clever candleholder design that could save lots of fingertips from being singed.  Read More

"Garden and the Tower" is Atelier Thomas Pucher's winning design for the headquarters of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The design is envisaged as "a global sign, made of light." The tower, very much the centerpiece of the design, will have a textile skin which, if we understand the design intent, will not only let sunlight and daylight in by day (an environmentally friendly way of illuminating the interior) but intentionally let artificial light out by night, to dramatic effect should the visualizations prove remotely accurate. The designers' approach to managing heat gain suggests that there's beauty in the function too.  Read More

So how do you show off the fact that you are Russia's largest private bank and at the same time curry a little favor with Moscow's ruling elite? You entertain 800,000 Muscovites with a world-record 25,500 square meter (275,000 sq. ft.) audio-visual projection show to celebrate Moscow City Day, of course.  Read More

It baffles me that some people enjoy shopping. There’s not much that I like about it, but I particularly dislike searching through the aisles, trying in vain to find the product that I’m looking for. While I’m not adverse to asking a store employee for assistance, it seems that in many big box retailers, employees are either non-existent or are already busy with other customers. A new system is in development, however, that would allow customers to find the locations of products via the store’s overhead LED lighting.  Read More