Slack Toronto Office / Dubbeldam Architecture + Design. Image Courtesy of Alcon Lighting
Lighting has evolved remarkably throughout architectural history, driven by significant technological advances. Despite these changes, its central purpose of enhancing aesthetics, functionality, and safety has remained consistent. In this evolution process, a milestone can be traced with the transition from fluorescent lighting to LED lighting, marking a turning point that has reduced costs and energy consumption. Furthermore, it has fueled creativity, thanks to the versatility of LED lighting. These new design possibilities are evident in organic lighting layouts, which mimic linear patterns of lighting arrangements on walls and ceilings, whether suspended or recessed.
In this context, as architects and designers have moved away from symmetrical, rigid, and parallel mirror patterns, Alcon Lighting has detected a trend where linear lighting highlights asymmetrical architectural features and lines. In this way, layouts that do not appear to follow a rigid design pattern are being adopted.
https://www.archdaily.com/1015184/exploring-linear-lighting-design-for-creating-luminous-pathsEnrique Tovar
The Sphere at the Venetian Resort, previously known as the MSG Sphere, opened to the public with a series of concerts headlined by Irish rock band U2 on September 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Designed by stadium specialist architecture office Populous, the project was first announced in 2018. Measuring 34 meters in height and 157 meters in width, the venue, whose building costs rose to $2.3 billion, is labeled the world's largest spherical structure, with its exterior clad in a high-resolution LED screen. The project, located east of the Las Vegas Strip and connected to the Venetian resort complex, is designed to host various events, including music, film events, and even some sports. To reveal the complete experience of this venue, new interior images showcase the intricate details and immersive atmosphere within.
By emulating manual manufacturing techniques, 3D printing utilizes digital models to create customized three-dimensional objects through an additive production process. This tool enables architecture to explore innovative forms, structures, and materialities, providing new paths for creative thinking. Progressively expanding its limits, 3D printing is integrating other existing technologies to unlock new uses and typologies. Such is the case with the work of Philipp Aduatz, which combines 3D printed textured structures with LED lighting, adding a new layer of complexity to enable the creation of the world's first 3D printed film studio.
We are all experienced and we have all done it! I am referring to one's reaction to less than good lighting of course. Think about it.
We have all experienced architectural spaces wherein something about the lighting is not quite right. It could be any of the following issues, to name a few: appearance, color quality, controllability, emphasis or lack thereof, flicker, harshness of shadows, lack of shadows, illumination levels on horizontal and/or vertical surfaces, luminaire placement, proportions, and/or scale. Any of these issues can be perceived as bad lighting.
Using and controlling light can change the perception of a place; users perceive and feel the space differently depending on factors such as the type of light switch, color variations, and combinations. When used in temporary installations, light can break the boundaries between art and architecture, and also between tangible and intangible, transforming the elements of the project and creating new shapes and patterns.
With the aim of creating immersive environmental experiences in interior spaces, the design studio Aqua Creations has developed Manta Ray Light, a lighting installation built with responsive RGB LED technology that mixes the colors red, green, and blue to generate more than 16 million light tones. By presetting its color spectrum, offering a range of brightness settings on a scale of 0.1 to 100%, and even loading images and videos into its internal memory, the system allows its user to add color and movement to expressive spaces, or deliver a feeling of warmth and concentration to intimate and private rooms.
Choosing the right lighting for any space can be a complex decision. Considerations need to be made with respect to the purpose, form and function of the lighting application. Design and aesthetics also play a role in the equation. With so many options for lighting on the market, it takes specialized knowledge and understanding to determine the best fit for your space. Even more challenging than finding lighting for a generic space, an art gallery or museum application can be difficult and even overwhelming to light properly. LED lighting has simplified a large chunk of lighting for art display.
https://www.archdaily.com/927023/the-art-of-lighting-artDavid Hakimi
Carefully designed or relegated to its mere functionality, lighting can be a determining factor in the quality of a space, influencing the way it is perceived and inhabited by the user.
Although it has been considered an object independent of most architectural elements, lighting often interpenetrates walls, ceilings, and floors, disappearing almost entirely to make its radiance appear only when the user needs it. How do you subtly illuminate a structure, while simultaneously creating an impressive atmosphere?
Designed by David Svensson, a total of 400 meters of a neon resembled warm white LED from GE is a work of art representing the pulse of city life in busy Stockholm station.
The project, a piece of suspended light, is built by metal profiles and a ceiling where the warm and white light of a series of LED strips is projected, in the quest to represent the basic visual language of the line.
This modular design developed by the students of the Department of Architecture Sciences at Ryerson University proposes a public space to sit and relax that works as an extension of the walkway, appropriating and giving a new meaning to the parking spaces in the streets of Toronto.
The project, with a natural wave form, is built by a series of Accoya wood modules, which allow easy storage, reuse, and reconfiguration.
Japanese designer Michiru Tanaka has released a new product partnering with lighting manufacturer Kaneka to create a stainless steel tile that doubles as both an OLED and a mirror. A graduate of Tokyo’s Musashino Art University, Tanaka pursued a career in architectural lighting and her projects range from commercial installations, lighting at museums as well as product design. Coined “Kumiko,” the tiles come from a fusion of inspirations, ranging from traditional Japanese architecture and woodworking techniques to Manhattan’s gridded cityscape.
Cocoweb - a lighting source that combines classic design with modern, energy-efficient technology.
As environmentally-conscious design becomes more and more sought after in the fields of architecture and interior design, the use of LED lights becomes an essential part of an eco-friendly building’s creation. Southern California-based lighting company Cocoweb, inspired by this notion, offers all their products integrated with LED technology. The classic light fixtures that the company started with are all customizable, so the colors of the shades, bases, and arms, as well as the arm and shade styles, are interchangeable.
In this video, members of the engineering team behind the the world’s largest LED screen explain the process behind its installation on the facade of the Burj Khalifa last year. The massive screen required 72 kilometers of cabling and 10,000 connectors to cover a total area of 33,000 square meters.
“We faced sandstorms, we faced rain, we faced heavy wind, so quite often we had to wait until we had a good slot in terms of wind to go out and do the installation,” says Senior Project Manager Kris Vloemans.
The screen has been utilized for a range of different shows since it was first used to ring in the New Year in 2015. Earlier this year, the Burj Khalifasent out an open call to artists to submit their own dynamic designs to be displayed on the building facade.
Also check out some videos of the screen in action, below.
BIG Architects has designed an inflatable mobile pavilion to be displayed at three Danish events, including its original site at the Roskilde Festival 2016. Known as SKUM (Danish for foam), the structure met the challenge of creating an installation that has the ability to be both permanent and fully transportable by creating a whimsical, bubble-like form that can be blown up in just 7 minutes.
Three decades ago the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) Headquarters by Norman Foster emerged onto the architectural seen as an exemplary product of industrial design. The open layout with its exposed steel structure generated a powerful corporate identity for the bank. But the restrained atmosphere of white architectural lighting and the lack of distinctive façade lighting has lost its attractiveness after sunset. Now the colorful and dynamic relighting presents a remarkable example of how an architectural icon has shifted from a productivist ideology towards a scenographic image. To the western observer the multicolored light language may give off a playful impression, but to the local culture the transformation evokes grandiosity.
The Burj Kahlifa has been the world’s tallest building since 2009, and last year the Dubai-based supertall broke another record by implementing the world's largest LED-illuminated facade. Building on these accomplishments, Minus5 Architects in collaboration with Studio Mr. White, has proposed using LED technology to create scale silhouettes of architectural monuments from around the world on the facade, including the Empire State Building, Beijing's CCTV Tower, London's Shard, Toronto's CN Tower, Taipei 101, the Petronas Towers, and others.
Though it was once an essential element of all classical structures, the frieze has largely been left behind by architects looking for contemporary façade systems. But at the recently-opened addition to the Kunstmuseum Basel, designed by Swiss architects Christ & Gantenbein in collaboration with design group iart, the frieze returns with an eye-catching, technological twist, as hidden pixels within the facade light up to display moving images and text to those below.
How will our buildings change when your mobile device can receive huge amounts of data flowing from the luminaires above you? Not only has LED brought us a highly efficient light source, but a promising instrument for visible light communication (VLC) as well. Therefore light will not only be a medium to support vision, but it will also be an essential means of data communication. With the low energy consumption of LED one can even set up luminaires without mains cables for the power and just install Ethernet cables. Welcome to the world of digital lighting.
