New Light.In Logo

OUR NEW LOGO has been created by one of the most talented graphic designers and our friend, Alexis Dernov. Merci beaucoup, Alexis! Thanks to you, nos cœurs sons toujours à Paris!

Waste Wood, Fuselage Cupboards... and Bestlite

ARTEK SHOWROOM, Helsinki, Finland

Alvar Aalto, the legendary Finnish designer and architect, has created some unsurpassed pieces of furniture, now manufactured by Artek. In the frameworks of Helsinki Design Week 2009, we were lucky to visit the Artek showroom and find there an exhibition of Piet Hein Eek, a Dutch designer, whose work of wood and alluminium challenges the bravest imaginarium. Fantisizing about an aluminium kicker in St. Petersburg (kickers are very popular in this city, we have one at our office. Corporate kicking is stress-releasing, you know :)...

Actually, we never miss an opportunity to drop in there, it's one of our savoured places in this awesome city. The showpieces are objects to die for -- including Bestlite, the favourite Winston Churchill's lamp, he was no amateur, eh? (below, right)

What else? The lighting is quirky and yet it's another "object" to contemplate: first of all it's old, seems that it's purely functional and there's a feeling that different types and kinds of fixtures have been picked up and placed all over the place without any concept or design in mind... Cool hodgepodge!

Programming - Neighbourghood Invited!

THE VIDEO ROBOTS of the Russian alternative artist Dolphin brings to a focus the topic of a big city rythm transforming at some point into a chaotic routine, the Brownian movement that turns us into robots. Scary picture! 

Our focus is on how the big city lights dominate the urban landscape. The rythm of switching on/off makes housings act as big screens. This way, we all contribute to the lighting scene. 

PS. Trying to figure which pattern we could make on OUR big Finnish housing... out to ask the neighbours :)

Lighting Trends As Seen By Light.In'

AS EVERY AUTUMN the world starts to sum up, analyse and make prognosis, we couldn't stay away and decided to jump on the fortune-telling bandwagon. And the figure 2010 looks quite futuristic itself so... Here is the future lighting as we see it, the decorative and techno sides of it.

1. BIG BADA BOOM

In recent projects (recent übercool projects, that is) there's a tendency to apply gigantic lighting fixtures, the bigger the better: they may constitute the whole wall, functioning as fake windows, or create an illusion of a ceiling opening up and letting the light flood the room. The scale of pendants is also getting bigger, thus turning the fixtures into modern statues in themselves.

Uniqlo Megastore/ Curiosity, Japan Photo - courtesy: ArchDaily.com

2. BESPOKE. SUPERIOR FIT!

Made-to-measure - oh, we love the cut! We all want to look unique (maybe, looking unique drives us to the next step - being unique). Customization helps us to position in another way. The staple product doesn't satisfy anymore. Of course, we continue to admire and use the design items that scream "Ingo Maurer" or "Louis Poulsen" but sometimes even a big designer name is not enough. The lighting garment constructed to fit each customer, each room individually - forget standartization!

Moomin Store, Vantaa Airport, Helsinki: Cloud-shaped fixtures.

More>> Palais De Tokyo, Paris

3. DISCREET

Architecture and lighting merging - the daydream of evvvvvery arch! Lighting being one of the raw materials and not a focal point in the interior, lighting built-in geometric figures, non-existent lighting supporting architectural details of a room, abstract lighting helping to single out goods in a retail environment. You don't see it!

Patrick Cox Shop/ Sinato, Japan Photo - courtesy: ArchDaily.com

4. STROKES OF LIGHT

We've made several posts on this trend (Paris Stripes A New Trend, Stripe-y Trend Update, Marimekko Graphic Line) - linear fluo tubes used for "lighting sketches". Simple shape, unlimited abilities. And such a graphic result! We couldn't control ourselves and have tried our hand(s) at making a story board for the luminaire PEN (the name is a derivative from "pendant").

5. LED COLOUR DIET

It's all about new technologies. And it's all about inner-child who has got the new toy and tries to make or break. Diods are providing vast possibilities, and we seem to go far'n'beyond. This DMX colour changing chaos, this sparkle and Christmas Tree effect - maybe it's not a prediction but a desire to see something truly stylish. So, LED applied unobtrusively and to the point. Let it be!

Golden Ring Hotel, Moscow, Russia Photo: TripAdviser.com

6. LIGHT IN MOTION

Check out iTune Store, there's a number of a pocket programming applications for iPhone (Pocket LD, for example). They let a lampie (theater jargon for a light designer) create a couple of efx on the go. In our times of techno-savvy divas, who would wave aside an opportunity to make up a light scenario at home or in an office turning it into a stage (using a phone or a wifi device, for divas are rolling stones)?

Software for DMX control screenshot Picture - courtesy: Synthe-fx.com

7. ELECTRO>>NICS

Future of lighting industry is going to be defined by electronics companies. Light sources as we know them pass away, giving the floor to solid state lighting (aka LED) with incredible possibilities for programming, design and application. A common "lighting device" will have its own interface (no doubt, user friendly; farewell too-square-too-techno, hours of figuring out which button to push). New G power sources will let mains roll back and free apartments, offices, stores of wiring.

No limits. Close your eyes and see the light.

Light.In'

Marimekko Graphic Line

MARIMEKKO STORE, Helsinki, Finland

Is it a token of a cool shop? Or great minds think the same and catch the zeitgeist? Either way, it seems that the trend for light lines and patterns made of our fav fluo tubes spreads all over the world. Like pencil strokes, the linear lines can create whatever print you choose - provided you have space and imagination. Eaaaaasy!

Above, the Finnish company Marimekko that manufactures clothing, textiles, bags and accessories and is famous for it's super-cool graphic prints (ah, stripes for T-shirts are symbolic of the Marimekko brand) uses stripes for drawing with light. Spiral rays for clothes and bags floor, asymmetric lines for the moving staircase walls. 

...and one more stripey T-shirt for me :)

Illuminati

TALKING ABOUT FUTURE? How about colour-changing photochromic threads for a costume or a dress? Calvin Klein's take on transformation concept is featured in the latest issue of Vmagazine (digging the name, BTW :). Innovative materials, creative designs, striking results!

Visionaire 56 SOLAR, a limited edition fashion and art album, has taken the concept even further and developed photochromic inks for prining photography. Black'n'white artwork issue changes from all-white to pastels when exposed to direct sunlight. Collaboration with the today's most talented artists from Peter Lindbergh and Mario Sorrenti to Yoko Ono has turned the issue into a masterpiece of art and technology.

Image - courtesy: Vmagazine, Visionaire 56 Solar.

Mirrors of the Past

SVENSKA TEATERN, Helsinki, Finland

When in Helsinki, it is impossible to miss the Swedish Theater or Svenska Teatern. If not for a show, then for an apperitif, if not for a drink, then for a Marimekko messanger bag. You pass it when wandering via Esplanaden to the Harbour. One of the Finnish capital wonders has a 1860s interior created by a Russian architect Nicolai Benois and a 1920's functionalism envelope by Eero Saarinen and Jarl Eklund.

Coming out of the Theatteri Grill we saw these vertically placed mirrors on the walls. Their role is to reflect wall luminaires and spill light on the terrace, and, probably, help the restaurant's stuff to watch so that no guest slips away. And your variant?

Perfect Symmetry

Yes, indeed. That was the perfect symmetry of the best music, amazing band, incredible atmosphere and... stage lighting! 

The Keane concert in StPetersburg was superb! We found ourselves in the midst of a crowd, dancing and singing and waving our hands, captured completely and utterly until the lighting nerd worm inside us cried: Look up guys! The light effects! That lilac! And that succession of changing scenes!

The stage lighting is all about creating emotions and leading the audience throughout the show, from one song to another, from sadness to exaltation, from feeling the dramatic unity and empathy with the band to clearly realizing the greatness and god-like quality of the performers... to catharsis.

All this and much more was created at that concert. The LD behind it - Matt Arthur (Matt, thank you!), the show was designed and programmed by Rob Sinclair. And this is a perfect inspiration for us, those in professional lighting, for only adding emotion we can spice up a still life of an interior.