eco-friendly

Designed by David Trubridge, the Coral Pendant (2004) is a response to echo patterns found in nature. The pendents are created using the minimum amount of materials for the maximum effect. The designer wants his footprint on earth to be like a sailboat that slips through the water but leaves no trace after it is gone.
The lamps are made of Australian sustainable plantation growth hoop pine untreated plywood. The lamp arrives unassembled to limit the amount of packaging.

Gray Architecture

Gray Design Studio is a small firm that opened in 2003.  Ryan Smith, the owner, graduate from the University of Southern California Architecture Program in 1995.  He opened the architectural design studio to design for smaller commercial and residential projects. 

His work includes an 11' fixture for a large residential foyer.  He also converted a small prototype into a fixture that uses a dimmer to dramatically enhance the over all design.  

I was just overtaken by his 11' lighting fixture.   The pictures make the form feel like a piece of cloth that is floating in the air.  It reminds me of a massive gown where millions of sheer square fabric pieces have been sewn together and draped along a fragile form.  I just love the way he displays the light within the form in may different positions.  Thus making each piece a unique commission.

The site is much better then the image I was able to pull so please check it out!

Interactive Architecture

SCI-Arc presents, Quasar, a new site-specific installation by LA/NY based design/media firm slap!, found by architect Jean-Michel Crettaz.  "Quasar is an immersive light and sound space made from prototype membranes realized as an interactive light/sound object and comprised of a dense array of interlinked elements describing an intricate three-dimensional structure."

ArchLight

What is greater then a massive light box that you can actually put yourself in and become on display to the world.  I think this is what the architects of the Apple store were trying to create when they decided to place an entire glass structure lit from beneath emerging from the ground in the middle of NY.  

I mean what is more fitting.  NY is a city of display from fashion to art to architecture....and even further to people, events, images, and sayings.  It is a meca of trends and we are the followers.  The Apple store is actually a light box that glows the "apple" logo to the world.

Changing Glass

Light and materials. Bloomberg's headquarters features a product that not only combines architecture, art, and space but adds in technology. Bloomberg's office culture emphasizes transparency so designer John Blazy created an interactive material called Dichrolam. Dichrolam is the first glazing and surfacing architectural glass and plastic panals that has dichroic, color changing technology built into the material. The panals actually change color in full spectrum according to the viewing angle. It is like looking at the way light reflects off water.

Perceptions

I was reading a very old issue of Metropolis Magazine when I came across a rather interesting exhibitionist. His name is Spencer Finch. He is fascinated with the interaction of the physiological and the psychological aspects of perception. He views perception as the way our inner world casts a veil over the outer.
His installations are a mixture of art and architecture. The work he did called Matrix XIV - a wall of LED's and hand-cut fiber optics interact with the viewers by appearing to dim as they walk the length of the place. It creates an engaging atmosphere within the space. Finch's vision is an act of projection as much as apprehension. Darkness and light, blindness and insight, nature and science are all dichotomies that arise in Finch's work.

Transforming Light

light and architecture are two very fascinating concepts. I become amazed with how architects manipulate light through structure. One architect that blows me away is Jun Aoki. He takes simple geometric forms that are stripped of color and transforms them through the use of light. His structures are not only breath taking but intricate, peaceful, and mesmerizing.

He describes his work as "serene, silent, solemn, and supreme." I have added some images for you to understand how light can become a form within architecture.

WHITE CHAPEL 2006

XEL-HA BY AFLOAT 2005

LOUIS VUITTON HONG KONG LANDMARK 2005

LOUIS VUITTON GINZA NAMIKI 2004