Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Paolo Crepax’s KUK Light for Leucos

In Finnish, “kuk” refers to the unique ice forms that crystallize into flowers, a common winter site on snow-clad Scandinavian fields. Crepax—an old-school Italian glass artist who learned his trade in Murano—took these bloom-like shape as inspiration for the line of wall, ceiling, and pendant lights he created for Leucos. Each fixture is created by hand from transparent crystal glass, so like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. The chrome-plated metal structure of each also can be decentered for further customization. The wall and ceiling versions come with an anti-glare, silk-screened platinum diffuser, too, to ensure you won’t be blinded by the light.

Kuk pendants hovering like snowflakes.

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

Menorah by Brad Ascalon

Brad Ascalon's Menorah follows a family tradition

As a lapsed Catholic who married a Jew, I am learning the ways of the Menorah. However, as a fan of contemporary design, I have a problem. The Menorah we have—a wedding gift—is anything but my style: It’s a glass oval decorated in a rainbow of colorful squiggles. Kinda like a fiesta on the table. Fortunately Menorahs have been hot n the design world for the past few years, with heavy-hitters like Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind to Karim Rashid and Jonathan Adler taking a go. But Brad Ascalon‘s version for retailer Design Within Reach is less pomp, more circumstance. Crafted out of solid Carrara marble, the piece features eight facets corresponding to the eight days of Chanukah, with the left and right diagonals creating an 18 degree angle: a number that, in Judaism, symbolizes chai, or life. Designing Menorahs is somewhat of a family affair for the New York-based Ascalon, whose grandfather and father created metal and large-scale ones for clients and synagogues around North America. A kosher design meant for the table, the younger Ascalon’s Menorah—his first—is smaller in size. It has eight candleholders arranged in a straight line on one level, and one shamash (the candle used to light the others) slightly raised.

A side view of the Ascalon Menorah

The Menorah in action

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

CMMNWLTH’s Seltanica Pendant Light

As a sneak peek of next week’s Product Placement, we present Seltanica. The undulating folds inside this LED pendant are inspired by landscapes, moonscape, and the fragility of aging skin, while the lamp’s outside is smooth and cool to the touch. Shaped via “Mudbox,” a modeling software normally used to create animal membranes for animation, the Seltanica’s interiors are as much a product of technological experiment as they are of classic craft. Indeed: The piece’s Brooklyn-based designers, Zoe Coombes and David Boira, produce these innards by hand using a wet machine. As such you could say they blur they line between industrial and organic design, just as their finished object is both strangely erotic and lifelessly mechanical.

The Seltanica's undulating interior folds

The first production run, with the fixtures fresh out of the molds

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Discovering New Things in an Old Town

If you appreciate modern furniture and stunning scenery, a trip to Hudson, New York, is highly recommended. A thriving port city in the early 1800s, Hudson fell into decline for most of the 20th century, but has experienced a revival through antiques. Running through the center of town, Warren Street’s stately old townhouses and former warehouses now host shops whose wares range from Louis XIV to Poul Kjaerholm and Paul McCobb (with a healthy handful of rustic Americana and salvaged industrial objects too). On a recent trip I wandered into Ad Lib Antiques, drawn by the display of chandeliers and pendant lamps. I inquired about a particularly spiky fixture made of metal, and discovered that the charming older gentleman behind the desk, Lou Blasingame, was not only the proprietor (he owns the shop with partner Don Friday), but was also the designer of the piece, which he creates in his studio space behind the shop. Lou has been making metal sculptures for decades, and his signed artworks from the 70′s and 80′s can be found on auction sites, under the shortened name of Lou Blass (yes, he is related to that other designer, Bill).

Lou Blass Sculpture from 1972

Lou Blass "Supernova" from 2011

The “Supernova” chandelier that drew me in is created by Lou out of steel rods, some of which are accented with bronze at the tips. Each fixture is custom-made, and so can be done in a range of sizes (and other materials, for an upcharge). When asked about the inspiration behind Supernova, Lou said that one of his clients compared it to a sea urchin, and his personal moniker for the piece is “Ouch.”

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Product Placement 3.3: Milan 2011 Insights – April 27 at 6.30pm

We’re back from Milan, and before it all becomes a dream, we announce:

Product Placement 3.3: Milan 2011 Insights from a Designer, a Retailer, a Publicist, and a Journalist

This is going to be a little different than our other PPs, as clearly we can’t talk about one product for five minutes. Instead, you’ll get five minutes of trends, observations, and musings from four presenters with very different roles in and perspectives on the industry. The featured speakers:

Barry Richards, Principal and Studio Leader, Rockwell Group

Kari Woldum, Vice President, Merchandising at Design Within Reach

Kimberly Oliver, Associate Director, Camron PR

Julie Taraska, Senior Editor, Gilt Home and Contributor to Fast Company, Details, Wallpaper*, and Metropolis

All will be happening :
Wednesday, April 27, 6.30-8.30 (Presentations begin promptly at 7)
Rockwell Group
5 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003

Seating is limited, with RSVP mandatory for building security. To attend, please send an email with your name and the number in your party to thisisproductplacement@gmail.com.

See you there!

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

Product Placement 3.1: Lighting – Feb. 23 at 6.30PM

Yes, it’s on: Product Placement 3.1. – Lighting

Featuring:

• Lindsey Adams Adelman
• Matt Gagnon
• Jason Miller
• David Weeks

Wednesday, Feb. 23, from 6.30-8.30 (presentations begin at 7)
Rockwell Group
5 Union Square West
New York, NY 10011

RSVP to thisisproductplacement@gmail.com is essential for three reasons:

1. The lineup is stellar, so you’ll need to secure a seat in advance
2. Space is very limited
3. Security will not let you into the building if you we don’t have your name at the door

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Roll & Hill, Jason Miller’s Contemporary Lighting Company for the U.S. Market

Miller's Modo Lights, one of the debut pieces for Roll & Hill.

Miller's Modo Lights, one of the debut pieces for Roll & Hill.

As a designer of contemporary furniture and lighting, Jason Miller has experienced the lack of opportunities for American talent firsthand. So he’s done something about it. Last week he officially unveiled the first collection for Roll & Hill, his New York City-based company that manufactures high-end contemporary lighting products for, as he puts it, the underserved U.S. market. The first batch of pieces—from such homegrown designers as Miller, Lindsay Adams Adelman, Paul Loebach, Rich Brilliant Willing, and Sara Cihat and Michael Miller—intend to appeal specifically to American consumers in their use of familiar cultural references and materials. Costing between $2,000 to $10,000, the fixtures are made on demand in Brooklyn with a lead time of two to three weeks (as opposed to the usual two to three months). And unlike most contract goods, the lights will be available to the public directly through the company’s web site, rather than through a third-party agent.

The Agnes Chandelier, by Lindsey Adams Adelman. The design is also available as a candelabra.

The Agnes Chandelier, by Lindsey Adams Adelman. The design is also available as a candelabra.

Paul Loebach's Himmeli pendant light. Chandelier and floor versions are also in the works.

Paul Loebach's Himmeli pendant light. Chandelier and floor versions are also in the works.

The Excel by Rich Brilliant Willing, available as a sconce, a table lamp, or a floor lamp (as shown here).

The Excel by Rich Brilliant Willing, available as a sconce, a table lamp, or a floor lamp (as shown here).

Miller's Superordinate Antler chandelier, which was the inspiration for forming Roll & Hill. The company has several new versions of the light, including as a sconce and in a fetching bright red.

Miller's Superordinate Antler chandelier, which was the inspiration for forming Roll & Hill. The company has several new versions of the light, including as a sconce and in a fetching bright red.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Ribbon Light by Eric Chan for TBT

A bevy of Ribbon lights.

A bevy of Ribbon lights.

The first domestic lamp to incorporate Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lighting technology, hitherto used to backlight flat-screen TVs, the Ribbon is a technological marvel wrapped up in an unassuming plastic package. boasts bulbs that can last for 15,000 hours—twice as long as CFLs and 15 times puny incandescents. The Ribbon’s light can be dimmed without flickering (a hazard of LEDs) and its color adjusted to any custom mixture of warm and cool. The lamp’s bendable, elbow-like arm also means its can do triple duty as a task, ambient, and night light. And all for about half the price of a comparable LED model.