Jul 26
Led there be light
2006 at 02.29 am posted by Veerle
In what seems like a never ending saga of building a house we were faced with the question what about lighting not so long ago. From what I understand most people don’t really think about light, but they should really. Light is no longer just an essential element that is needed when it is dark. Light and illumination can bring a personal, artistic or dynamic touch to your home. It sets a mood, so Geert and I both agreed that we needed some research on this matter. The best surprise of this research was that Belgium is blessed with some leaders when it comes down to light architecture/design.
We had no clue where to start
Luckily the Internet and Google became our partner in this investigation (aren't they always?). The outcome of the research was all the more surprising to be honest. According to our research two companies are at the forefront of light design and a coincidence or not both of them are situated in Roeselare. Roeselare seems it has a lot to offer design wise, you also have "'t Casteelken" there. You see work from designers like Antonio Citterio, Ame Jacobsen, Maarten van Severen etc. But back to the two light leaders, they are:
Deltalight
Deltalight was a name that rung a bell in my head. When visiting it came back to me that their Flash website had won a lot of prizes in the past. Despite the implementation to go full screen :) The negative effect of an all Flash site is that they aren't that visible on Google. They could benefit a lot from making their site up to par code wise. Deltalight's big catalogue is called the "Lighting Bible". I filled in a form to receive it and after like 14 days I actually got it. Could be faster, but I think it is not that bad for such a heavy and expensive well designed catalogue.
Wever & Ducré
Thanks to our electrician we had the privilege to visit their headquarters and get a tour in the showroom. It's great to get inspired and see all the possibilities with such a simple thing as light. Actually not that simple because to me it sets my mood and light is also the creator of all living things when you start to think about it. The big catalogue of Wever & Ducré is my favorite because it so well designed. The colors, the typography, photographs and placement of items makes this a winner. I'm not afraid to say that I couldn't do it any better.
Choosing was actually the hard part
When you have so much choice it becomes hard in finding just what you want. We had some basic ideas of the style that we want for the house but in these big books almost everything is not an afterthought but a well designed product. Let's say that we spend a decent amount of time in the catalogs to find what we want. But eventually we did and we ordered light from both Deltalight and Wever and Ducré. Light used up a big part of our budget but I'm 100% sure we won't regret it one bit if we are to relax in a cozy atmosphere in a few months time.
Led there be light
No the title is no typo :) I'm referring to the Light Emitting Diodes, the newest thing in architectural light. LED can be used anywhere in your home to add colors to your home decor or to accent some design elements. It's great for creating an atmosphere. Leds are energy efficient, emits no heat and last longer then regular light bulbs. RGB LEDs means 16 million colors at your fingertips to create any kind of lighting we desire.
We choose some led lights for our bathroom, just above the bathtub to be more precise. Another part of the house were we placed led light is in the wall of our stairs to illuminate them. Like with any design decision the clue is not to go overboard since kitsch is always looking around the corner :)
16served
1
You can’t discuss lamps without mentioning Poul Henningsen :)
2
Nice article :) The book is lookin very great.. Nice styles..
3
The “led” in the title may not be a typo, but I do think that “that ringed a bell in my head” is incorrect. “ringed” -> “rung”
4
Thanks Veerle. That was a good read. Inspiring catalogues. It does not surprise me that Belgium has one of the leaders in light design. F.e. I always loved eating in Belgian restaurants because of the lovely light. I am a Dutch person living in the USA. Most workspaces here are lit by fluorescent light and that is not quite ‘gezellig’ (cosy). In my last job I fought very hard to have individual lamps in our cubicles instead of the blaring overhead light, to no avail :(
5
Hi Veerle, You are definitely right! People do not think enough about lighting in their house, office, shop, etc.
I know a guy who’s job is to study and help people to create their lighting according to what they want… As he said, he simply considers light as something that can decorate a room just as paint can do it also.
you can have a look at his website: Mise en Lumiere sprl
Personnaly, regarding the material, I think Delta Light is the most known company but the quality is not that much professional regarding some brands like IGuzzini .
You will find a lot of very good links on the “mise en lumière website”.
I hope it will help.
6
Hi Veerle, I hope you and Geert are planning an “Open door event” ? :o)
7
You forgot two important brands, that is Modular and Waco.
Cheers,
Bart
8
Is it going to be some moodlight / color changing thingie?
9
Kind of reminds me of an episode of MTV’s Cribs I saw a couple of months ago. They were featuring Craig David’s house, he had placed leds every at ancleheight in every wall of the house that could be controlled by a home control panel to switch colour to his mood.
It just makes you realise how important lighting actually is, that house was one of the coolest I had ever seen and that was mostly because of the effect the lights had on the walls. They pointed upwards making a v-like fading shape on the walls.. Too bad it’s so pricy.
10
http://veerle.duoh.com/index.php/blog/comments/life_update_part_2/#c_7975
Indeed I mentioned this subject some weeks ago in my earlier post. Major importance but very personal opinion involved. I changed my ligh scheme twice to get it optimum for me. Only then i got productive :]
Picky ? maybe…
11
Absolutely right: People don’t think enough about light. Light sets the mood, and the mood determines if a place (or an image) is pleasant or not. In most cases even more than anything else. When I think of houses I’ve been in, or parties, or even cars nowadays, I remember the light and the mood. I’m a bit focused on light due to my profession, but l’m convinced that light communicates more directly than anything else. I would say: go for the light plan if/when they offer it!
12
I’ll add two names of Flemish lighting companies to your shopping list; Kreon (www.kreon.be) is well known for their architectural lighting and you’ll love the following company: Dark (www.dark.be). Their motto; ‘stop being serious’.
13
Your post struck me, as I read the typo in the first sentence. “Lightening” would indeed be a consideration in building a house. I agree that lighting should be considered, and “lightening” should be avoided at all cost. Duck and cover!
14
Light is a funamental element of design… natural and well, un-natural.
Begin to understand ‘how’ light travels across (and sometimes within) a material. Light (and so too does darkness) establishes the material’s rhythm - use these rhythms when designing architecture, ok?
I don’t really care about people and their moods - When composing Architecture I’m only interested in working with the same fundamental ‘design’ principles as Beethoven (as just one example) used for his music - stuff like crescendo/decrescendo - that sort of ‘design’ understanding.
I compose Architecture - for the sake of Architecture… and not for the sake of peoples’ perceptions. It’s more of an inside-out understanding… than it is an outside-in understanding - if that makes any sense at all.
Light establishes space and time - and those Architectural rhythms are somehow primal to you and me.
An interesting site I found to see what’s up and coming in the world of light is Koizumi International Lighting Design Competition
And, just to leave you with the darker side of Light - Shade and Shadow are of an equal importance. Try composing of shadows and notice how vibrant colours are in shade and shadow. I’m beginning to ramble…
Nice blog Veerle - I’ll try to drop by every now then :)
Take care…
15
Veerle, you do seem to have another W&D;catalogue than the one I have. Do you happen to know if yours has a set consisting of two wires running underneath the ceiling, on which you can connect lights by clipping them on?
16
@Itkovian: The catalogue that I have is the one for 2006. I wouldn’t know for sure since it is such a big book. But you can download the catalogue on the website as a PDF, so you can have a look yourself. Hope that helps you out.