Lights From 100% Design

Continuing to look at the really fabulous lighting from the London Design Festival, 100% Design at Earls Court had a wide range from Europe, above from here in London is Ochre, with a wall of drops of glass.

 From the Czech Republic hand blown glass in traditional shaped pendents which looked so refreshing.

 From Holland Jacco Maris had a display of a stunning gold plated steel chandelier.

From an Emerging British designer pendents covered in feathers, giving a softness to the light.

All design, the furniture, fabrics, flooring, surfaces, were all excellent this year, I looked at them all, but my attention was drawn to the lighting for several reasons. I had attended a seminar on the topic and current projects all need new lighting installations. And light more than any other product or material will alter the space and mood, if the lighting is poorly arranged, the rest of the arrangement, colors, etc. won't be right. It is pivotal to creating a beautiful space.

Designjunction Lights

A selection of the stunning lights on exhibit at Designjunction.

This light, unfortunately I did not get her name, but it is made of old polystyrene boxes, stacked up, given a coat, I think of clear varnish, held up by wire and illuminated with LED. When I went to look at it and see what material it was made of, I tapped it, it felt soft, I touched it harder with my nails then someone came over and said don't touch it and explained what it is made of. It is beautiful, it had an atmospheric type of light, soft, shadowy. It had the extra attraction being made of material that is usually discarded but turned into sculpture. It almost looked like the paper lights by Frank Gehry.

Another piece of sculpture, a ribbon of veneer undulating and folding on itself, suspended by wire and illuminated with LED. All were at Designjunction.

Lights from Decorex

At the end of summer and early autumn you can feel the difference in light, there is a more golden quality and the evening is coming much earlier. Next month the clocks will go back an hour, then the evening will come in the afternoon.

With a new lighting project for lighting art and another which will require all new electrical and lighting plan, my attention at Decorex, Designjunction and other venues was particularly on lighting and here are some of the marvelous sculptural light fixtures and lamps from Decorex:

Ice Pendants pendant dish of blown glass by Cox of London, glass balls by Best and Lloyd,  glass pendants from Harlequin London, silver wire circular pendant.

 Circles like an eclipse or halos, a piece of silver birch illuminated by LED, Circles from Le Deun Luminaires from France.

 Translucent layers of porcelain back lit by LED by Boatswain Lighting

 Layers of gold leaves

Classical and sculptural table lamps from William Yeoward

A Cut Glass Light Bulb

Lee Broom has combined lead crystal and the humble light bulb and produced an attractive and sparkling new light fixture.

We have all come to love the iconic simple light bulb, the instrument that gave us electric light when the sun goes down. There was a time a simple exposed light bulb was considered gauche and crude. It was covered with paper, glass, silk even alabaster to disguise and diffuse it. Today we love it for it's simplicity and iconic image of light and illumination.

So to see the shape embraced in lead crystal and hand cut to give it the elegance of an old decanter is beautiful and charming, it lets the light sparkle.

As lighting designers we are always most fascinated by the effect of light, how it shines, its brilliance, it's dazzle and glow, how it fills the space or how it defines a mood.

To achieve this effect the type of light is important but what really helps is the material the light shines through and in this instance of lead crystal cut glass it gives a gentle spread of light with a twinkle. It is romantic and flattering to all.

These lights will illuminate many restaurants, clubs and cafes. This light will glow next to a bed or a row will give a dining table a chic elegance. It is a beautiful addition to our lighting palette.

This display is from Lee Broom's East London studio on Rivington Street that was transformed into a general store for the London Design Festival. These lights are hand made in Cumbria, the last producer of lead crystal in Britain, I hope he has thousands of orders.

Decode

One of the most interesting exhibits I saw this week was the retrospective of Decode, a collaboration of London based product designers who have challenged conventions. Their innovative use of materials and form... who would consider concrete for a lampshade or bending fluorescent tubes into a curving Celtic shape or using steel as a sinuous ribbon.

I attended the exhibit of their retrospective in a equally fascinating venue, a 19th century brick building in Shoreditch where I met with the designers and they showed me their designs.

The expanse of the space allowed the lighting to be shown particularly well, being able to exhibit the lighting grouped together.

Cast concrete pendant shades

Plumen lamps with glass shades

The slice box, a table that fits together like a Tangram puzzle, constructed of wood with 40 coats of lacquer.

Bell, a concertina side table and coffee table.

Ribbon, a continuous band of steel made into a coat rack of differing heights and a place for your umbrella.

Vessel series 01-03, this hand blown glass is made tin varying thicknesses to reflect the curves and form of the Plumen lamp, the best way to see this marvelous light. I must add I had several talks this week with other lighting designers and we had all said what a good design the Plumen lamp is, how well it looks when hung in multiples and indeed how well it looks in this glass vessel, a beautiful light.

One Year

One year ago they published Heart Home Magazine and each issue has been a treat. We look forward to many more years. All the best to Carol, Daniel and Ariana.

Elements

Some things I like

Silver on Silver

There is an alluring fusion of antique and contemporary in the bathroom mirror and sink, the straight lines of the sink and the antiqued mirror on the wall. The work was done by the team of designers and craftsmen at Rupert Bevan, a bespoke team that will fit and form according to what is needed... what a team to work with. A wall of mirror can sometimes make a place feel cavernous, but the antiquing technique gives it warm and a gentle recherche feel, a lovely room.

Another project I admired was the placing silver on silver a beautiful use of silver leaf wall paper and an antique mirror, it adds a touch of sophistication.

Rupert Bevan Furniture and Finishes like me is also a member of BIID, the British Institute of Interior Design, where the best designers are...

A Landscape

 

 A landscape in pen and ink, expressive, good perspective, good balance to the composition.

Pink and Blue

I was lured into the website of Carma a company of lovely wallpapers, each more lovely than the next. But the pink and blue, so pretty... it will be sunny and warm in London today, have a good weekend.

Tonal Subtlety from Toast

New plates, cups, bowls and pitchers by Toast House and Home collection. Paintings by Georgio Morandi

Strings of Lights

The humble light bulb hanging from a wire. There was a time when that was considered the crudest and harshest light...Think of Blanche DuBois how she had to put shades over all the lights in Stanley's and Stella's apartment.
  
Today with the sophistication of lighting, the humble light bulb is more an aesthetic and design statement. Elemental, early light technology, simple, effective and illuminates the evening so we can continue to work and play.

A closer look at these bulbs is some new and more efficient filament encased in the glass bulb we have come to see a design classic.

These lights are from the new collection of home ware from Toast.. have a look at their other lovely things for the autumn / winter. Like the light hanging over a lovely bed...

  
 

Work Spaces

A place to work, a room of one's own, where ideas develop into reality in words, on canvas, in sound and now more often on screen and sent off on the internet. There have been several books written with lots of photos of where great writers wrote, what the studios where like of great painters, where musicians composed and always I am amazed at the simple rooms, not fussy, often exposed materials, often a window to look out.

The space doesn't need to be large, enough for a table, a chair, shelves, for painters and designers a good wall space to view work and always a window for light.

Since I am working on my own space, my work room, I am thinking a lot about work spaces and was looking at a few:

And this space with full floor to ceiling plate glass views over an ocean,  a composer would make music, a painter would paint the color of light... but it is probably for a banker looking at spreadsheets.

Further Progress

Over the weekend I removed all the old insulation boards, behind are some very old bricks. The insulation boards trapped the moisture in the room and cause mold to grow... blah. But what I am finding is some very nice old bricks. The next two days is to give them a scrub and prepare for paint. But I think I will keep one wall of bricks. So looking forward to getting this space finished.