Star Palace - Taiwan

A grand realization from UNStudio. The firm itself specializes in architecture, urban development, and infrastructure. The department store known as Star Place, resides in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and specializes in “ohh’s” and “ahh’s.” Take note of the building’s most obvious feature: the entire side of the structure creates a false moiré pattern, attracting the eye, preparing the shopper for the void inside.

Some words from UNStudio:

Technically acting as a sunscreen and weather barrier the curved façade is fully glazed and combines the curtain wall glazing with horizontal lamellas and vertical glass fins. The position and size of each of the façade elements are derived from a twisted frame system, which is related to the interior organisation of the building. The concave front of the building displays different fluent forms when seen from varying distances and directs the visual field of the customers traveling on the spiraling escalators.

The concept for the interior organization of the department store reacts to the ambition to develop a luxurious store on several floors with multiple access points. Therefore the central circulation space is designed as a continuous floor space merging in to one vertical space, the void space. The geometric principle of the vertical void space is the allocation of the elements of vertical circulation around the central zone of the store.

Statistics:

Client: President Group, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Location: Kaohsiung Talee Plaza, Kaohsiung
Program: Luxurious shopping center

Design of exterior: Façades and lighting, related exterior spaces

Design of Interior: Circulation zones and Public spaces

Building surface: 25.500 m2 + 11.100 m2 for parking levels
Building volume: 135.000 m3 + 38.000 m3 for parking levels

Building site: 28050 m2
Status/Phase: Realization

Credits
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, Christian Veddeler, Mirko Bergmann, Albert Gnodde, Sebastian Schott, Freddy Koelemeijer, Katja Groeger, Jirka Bars, Andreas Brink

Advisors:
Lighting Design: Arup Lighting, Amsterdam
Wayfinding Design: Bureau Mijksenaar, Amsterdam

Executive Architects:
Dynasty Design Corp, Taipei, Taiwan
HCF Architects, Planners & Associates, Taipei, Taiwan

As it is with all giant projects, there’s LOTS more info to be had. Please feel free to ask questions and explore [similar projects] on Yanko.

Do you live anywhere neat this structure? I imagine it’s a site to behold. And with a giant space in the middle of the giant, I suppose people with fears of heights and such would be prone to avoiding it’s magnificent interior.

Leaky Roof Brightens Your Day

The art of lighting design is finding ways to articulate glaring light out over surfaces without inefficiently wasting too much of the lamp’s power. Daniel Becker accomplishes that in his “Melting Light” by hanging an LED packed ‘raindrop’ below a rippling plastic reflector. The brilliance of Daniel’s light is in the rippling shape; by spreading the otherwise harsh reflection out over three concentric circles, the glare and shadows are softened and become pleasing to the eye.


Designer: Daniel Becker

Flower Filament

Here's a neato way to combine nature with human technology. The Flower Filament only lights up if there's a flower in it. Yes designer Ha-Na Yeom some how managed to use the flower as a switch to lights up the hollowed out design which just so happens looks like a light bulb.
Designer: Ha-Na Yeom

UNIQLO Soho Store in New York City

UNIQLO Soho Store
546 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

The Project
Dropped into Manhattan's stylish SoHo neighborhood in 2006, UNIQLO's flagship U.S. store is a virtual walk-in closet for urban trendsetters and cost-conscious fashionistas. Affectionately dubbed "The Japanese Gap," UNIQLO is Japan's leading retail clothing chain, with over 750 stores in Asia, Europe and North America. Inside the loft-style SoHo store is a polychromatic panorama of perfectly-stacked sweaters, ocean blue denims, and shiny down vests straight from Tokyo's hippest fashion districts.
To greet shoppers, UNIQLO's entrance features a stellar centerpiece: a giant glass box sheathed under a canopy of dazzling blue LED lights. Inside the display, cosmos-ready mannequins clad in colorful fleece and space-age visors pose on and dangle over an illuminated glass floor – an inspired diorama for customers ready to take a quantum leap into fashion!


It is world's largest UNIQLO with custom LED Net lights that drape over the store's central display like ice-blue bars on a glass cage. Walk further into UNIQLO's hardwood floor interior and patrons can spy more chicly-dressed mannequins -- modish models poised like space cadets in front of gradient panels studded with pinpoints of blue LEDs. This innovative application of custom Net lights mixes futurism with fashion in a synergy of LED previously unseen!

Products Used
Custom LED net lights (Blue)

Luminescent Fiber Optic Wallpaper by Camilla Diedrich

What if we could light our homes with glowing wallpaper rather than having to rely on electric lights? Swedish designer Camilla Diedrich has asked this exact question, and in response, created a stunning line of luminescent wallpaper that is lit by fiber optics. Her Nature Ray Charles Wallpaper features a delicate assortment of floral motifs that shine through in lucid lines, adding a touch of energy-efficient ambiance to any room.
Available in 8 different colors, Nature Ray Charles Wallpaper is part of Ms. Diedrich’s ‘Walls‘ product line. Speaking about her working process Ms. Diedrich says, “I have been searching for light without light…I was drawing as usual and slipped on the keyboard the drawing went extremely light and I just stared and thought wow this must be how blind people see and I thought of Ray Charles, the musician. His name is Ray, doesn’t that mean light?”
Its not clear from Camilla’s website where the light source is set up, or how much light this wallpaper can give off, butthe images are spectacular. We’re envisioning an ambitious green project that involves hooking up this fiberoptic wallpaper to solar light collectors on the roof and then pumping natural daylight through the wallpaper into a space below. If it was possible to use these wall coverings as accent lighting, they might provide significant energy savings in addition to their innovative beauty. “My mission at first was to make the wallpaper with real light,” Ms. Diedrich says, “but then I didn’t want to build in too much technology, and when I by coincidence could make a sort of illusion of light I was happy. Now I am developing the first idea too, to build in real light for those who need and like that.” Not exactly sure what that all means, but an exciting innovation nonetheless.
Camilla Diedrich

Lighting Design–Change the way you look at light

Lighting design is all too often overlooked by homeowners. Plenty of us think about the furniture that we will put in our new home, the colour scheme of the decor, and even the carpets we will have laid. Some of us will even consider which kind of lights we want. Sadly though the actual lights we choose tend to be ones that we have seen in magazines or on TV.

The downsides of this are twofold: one, we tend to end up fitting lights that are mass-produced and aesthetically dull; two, these lights do little to add any beauty to our homes and do nothing to accentuate the design of the home itself.

Choosing some downlights from your local light store and having them fitted to your ceiling is NOT lighting design. In fact it is no more lighting design than splashing paint on a canvas can be considered painting.

It’s quite bizarre when you come to think about it. For our wedding day (which for most is an event that happens on one only day of our lives) we take it for granted that professionals will need to be employed, whether it is for making the dress, baking the cake or planning the catering. Yet when it comes to something that affects us virtually every day of our lives we pay it no attention whatsoever.

Light is fundamental to existence – very little would exist without light – yet all too often we ignore the effects that bad lighting can have on our health and sense of wellbeing. Employing a lighting designer to improve the lighting in our homes need not be about showing off to the neighbours – choosing the correct lighting for a room is about helping us to get the most from that room.

Rooms in which practical work is done, for example kitchens and home offices, need to have lighting that is bright but unobtrusive – anyone who works from home and has tried to find the right lighting for their work area will be well accustomed to the challenges involved. Bedrooms and lounges on the other hand often benefit from lighting that is subdued and gentle. Sometimes a room will have more than one function and for these rooms the lighting will need to be flexible, perhaps incorporating some kind of dimming controls. A lounge for example could be used by one person for reading and at the same time be used by a partner for watching TV or listening to music. Achieving this kind of balance is the kind of challenge that all professional lighting designers should be well versed in.

Of course it’s not only the light that is given off that we must consider but also what the lights and lamps themselves actually look like. This is where it is well worth leaving the electrical shop alone and seeking out a few specialist lighting and look around some lighting showrooms. Many retailers have access to a much broader range of lighting manufacturers than the high street shops do. Some of these manufacturers are really pushing the boundaries of home lighting with some stunning innovative designs.

So whether you’re planning to build your dream home or simply buying your first property, don’t just think about the curtains and the carpets – make sure your home really is a home and not just a house you live in by paying ample attention to lighting design.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Close the Blinds and Turn Your Love Light On

You might not be a romantic at heart or even that great at planning a memorable dinner party. Regardless, it is well known that the ambience of your surroundings can make or break that memorable moment-Some nice mellow tunes, great friends and most importantly lighting. Unfortunately lighting requires electricity which means a high electricity bill. The result is a need for a change in our thinking and adopting a more economical way of using light for our environment. Imagine if you will, closing the blinds and immediately having the perfect lighting effect that you are trying to achieve.

The Solar vertical lamp can give us that and so much more. With the blinds closed during the day blocking the rays of the hot sun, little solar pads are being charged on the back of the blinds and once the sun goes down, your mood lighting shines. The Solar Vertical Lamp is created by Korean designers Yoon-Hui Kim and Eun-Kyung Kim and available in a floor/table lamp or a stylish chandelier. Add one to each window in your home and at night, you have a beautifully lit home and a much lower electrical bill. Frugality and environmental friendliness at its best.

Designer: Yoon-Hui Kim & Eun-Kyung Kim

With LEDs shaping the future of light....It becomes so much flexible for designers to design the product.

Very Nice Concept... What do you think? Imagine turning the entire blind into video led screen or interactive wallpaper.

Whenever you cross it changes or works by Touch Panel with Annotation or has dmx controller with SD card which can store your favourite pictures or video.

MADE OF LIGHT

Light enables us to see; it stimulates us, informs us and excites us. There can be no visual form without light. It conditions both the way we see our world and the way we feel.

Light has many sources. The sun, moon, fire and electricity all light our world. Differing kinds of light cause us to see and respond in different ways. Light is constantly changing - from dawn to dusk, from season to season.

Light reveals shape, surface and colour; it informs our individual perception of the world and provides us with a common language.

Light is integral to architecture: it reveals beauty function and form. It defines the image, colour and texture of buildings, cities and landscape. It determines our visual boundaries and our understanding of scale. We design the built environment not only to provide light but to be experienced in light.

Whatever we are doing in our lives light plays a part. Light is a communication tool, light is energy, light is magic. Light is life.

Our world is made of light.


Light Greener , Light Better

"WELCOME"

Dear Readers,

This blog is about all of about light , lighting design, fixtures, new technologies & gadgets. My friends call me gadget freak so after thinking a lot I said why not spread my knowledge & views of lighting & gadgets. Being an Electronic Architect & Lighting Consultant by profession, I want to spread the knowledge of lighting among common people & beautify their places & at the time save energy.

The future of the World is more in our own hands than ever before and I am committed to providing sustainable lighting solutions.

As a population, we are all growing increasing aware of our obligations to reduce our carbon footprint, both in the workplace and at home.

By embracing the latest lighting technologies, we are able to enhance an architectural space without compromising the environment around us.

Lets make our planet greener.

Light Greener , Light Better

Tejas