Lama Concept's LED-Integrated Carpet

Lama Concept of the Netherlands have created an LED-integrated carpet using machine-cut felt. The carpet has been used as flooring in Airbuses. I imagine the carpet would also serve nicely in places such as movie theaters and performance spaces. 

Molo Design's Softwall :: Color Me Smitten

 

Molo design of Vancouver have created a modular soft wall system of flexible paper and fabric that is lit by LED string lights.

 

These collapsible units are easily stacked and arranged to create ambient formations. I'm jealous of its simplicity and smitten over its texture, lightness and feel. 

 

If you're interested in this, you should definitely watch the movies they've made on their site showing how easily these structures can be created.

*Golf Clap* to Graypants

I give a little thumbs up to graypants of Seattle who have created these rather enjoyable pendant lamps from scrapped cardboard.

The concept, although simple in its invention, especially if anyone's ever had to build a landscape model out of cardboard, still provides an interesting glow due to the light being filtered through the corrugated structure of the cardboard. If you've read my blog, and seen some of my projects I've created, you know that I am a fan of reusing products. Kudos to graypants for their efforts. At their price point, however, I'd be quicker to make my own than buy theirs.

LightShow West Convention, Los Angeles

I attended my first lighting convention earlier this week. LightShow West in downtown LA's convention center is the only light show focusing on west coast specifiers for lighting products. Commercial, architectural and high end design lighting were all brought together.

I was proud to have a name badge with my well-known company in the industry, and even got to enjoy being misrepresented as a lighting designer. The convention featured free seminars, many in regards to energy efficiency and LEED requirements. The majority of fixtures and light types shown followed in trend with lots of examples of new highly efficient LED lighting sources. The progression of LED technology towards warmer, more natural feeling light was evident and only proved that LED lighting is inevitably the way of the future.

One of my personal favorites at the convention who had both an impressive booth and gorgeous lighting sources were the French Canadian/Italian partnered companies of Sistemalux, Lumenpulse and iGuzzini. I recognized some of their products from the Promenade Samuel-de Champlain project I had blogged about back in September.Their products were even more stunning in real life.

Nordwesthaus Boating Pavilion by Baumschlager Eberle

I'm definitely not the first to be blogging about this little Austrian "ice block" located on the Port Rohner harbor.

However, I can't help but admit that I am charmed by the lighting of the little joint. The facility from an architectural use standpoint might perhaps miss a few marks - serving as event venue for parties and workshops might prove cumbersome with its large concrete walls and relatively small size. No less, I found the marriage of the concrete with color-changing LED uplighting to be a harmonious one.

I am more and more on the fence lately with the rampant use of color-changing LED effects in architectural lighting that is currently popular. It seems a building can't be lit without it these days. Although I do appreciate the warmth that the design team Baumschlager Eberle of Lochau were able to bring to the space.

 

The design team had 125 custom LED spotlights developed by Baumschlager Eberle and the famed Austrian light group, Zumtobel. Placed at both the base and at all bottom sills of the voids, these specialty spotlights feature an asymmetrical light distribution as well as a randomized arrangement of LEDS. This asymmetrical light distribution was neccesary in order to cast light uniformly into the concrete voids as well as into the room and onto the walls.

 

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more examples of color changing LEDs and concrete. Seeing as photogenic as the two are together, I have a feeling it won't be the last time we see it.

Promenade Samuel-de Champlain

The first phase of the Promenade Samuel-de Champlain, completed in June 2008, is a public parkway that runs along the riverside in Quebec, Canada. The whimsical yet direct landscape lighting for the project was designed by Éclairage Public of Canada, who have an extensive portfolio.

The firm utilized various lights from Cooper Lighting, Lumascape, Sistemalux and WE-EF. The bollards by what I believe to be Sistemalux used to light the pathway I found especially intriguing. I appreciated the approach that was taken to graze the pathway, while spike the grass with a strip of light. After reviewing the company's website, I found that they also make a wall mounted version with the same aesthetic, and offer various versions of patterning of light emission.

The minimalist fountain and the equally minimalist lighting approach with its abstract paving pattern, is said to represent thawing river ice floes. And with six more miles of the Promenade yet to be completed, I'll be looking forward to their result.

Fiber Optic Ribbon

While flipping through a brochure from Visual Lighting Technologies based out of Lake Forest, California, I found a product that they've created called Ribbon Fiber made of flexible PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) made in the tradition of Japanese fishing net that can be used to wrap around the countours of trees. Utilizing high intensity light and a color changing wheel, this Ribbon Fiber offers a lot of, well, flexibility.

Here are some other images of this Ribbon Fiber product used in the Roppongi Hills area of Tokyo, Japan, for a Christmas theme where a series of 14 trees were wrapped.