25.01.2012 Light+Building 2012: New design freedom

• From industrial charm to naturalness, from luxury to humour – lamp design as a reflection of technological change

Technology as daily bread, design as cake and candy
The so-called "ban on incandescent lamps", the EU Directive which provides for the step-by-step extinction of traditional lamps, also her-alds the era of the LED. Although it was, at the beginning, viewed with scepticism by many consumers, the technological development of light-emitting diodes has progressed at breakneck speed during the intervening period. Today, LEDs can be obtained in many differ-ent colours and in different shades of white. High-end LEDs also get the quality of the light right, so that this form of lighting has now fi-nally arrived in the living room, too. Whereas, just a few years ago, these tiny dots of light served as definite design statements, recent lighting schemes now include LEDs as a matter of course, without having to pick them out as, in any way, an "exotic" light source. Technology must be both functional and offer the greatest possible comfort and convenience. This is also expected of luminaires. So, equipping lamps with the most modern technology has now become standard and the focus for the future once again falls on design.

Trends for lighting in the home promise, therefore, to become both exciting and extremely creative. And many new products in the field will be on show for the first time at the world's leading trade fair, Light+Building, in Frankfurt am Main from 15 to 20 April 2012; an overview of lighting trends for 2012/2013 can already be found here.

Traditional authenticity in times of technological change
Design is always also a reflection of the dominant spirit of the times. That is as true for furniture, fashion and technology as it is for lamps. We live in an age of technological change; modern communications technology makes both our work and our daily life easier. The re-verse of the coin is to be found in the increasing demands and stress, the speed of life, the stimulation overload. Rather like this ambiguous 'love-hate' relationship, we can discern two fundamental trends in lamp design: on the one hand, a commitment to technical and industrial design and, as a counter-current, a hankering for na-ture and naturalness. Common to both is a longing for things that are 'authentic' and 'hand-made'. The unadorned charm of the industrial manifests itself in mostly modern, functional interiors with luminaires made in aluminium, steel and sheet metal, bent, hammered, often preferably with a casual, vintage look. Technical components like cables, light sources, screws and hinges remain visible and are de-liberately used as design features. It is the bright red cable that represents the essence of Serge and Robert Cornelissen's table lamp in folded aluminium; lamp designer Ingo Maurer uses the sim-ple trick of putting the reflector on the exterior skin of the shade, made in curved aluminium leaves, so that the light hits the lamp from the outside. French designer Matali Crasset pays open homage to computer technology: the shade on her LED hanging lamp consists of four plastic plates, with more than a fortuitous resemblance to computer circuit boards.

Nature finds its way into the living room
The ever increasing speed of technological development in almost all areas of life also, however, gives rise to a wish for authentic val-ues, peace and cosiness – particularly in the home. This trend to-wards nature and 'naturalness' is reflected in lamp design, particu-larly in the materials used: wood, in its natural state, and light-weight paper, simple shapes paired with an almost Scandinavian concern for practicality and quality. Lamps, like those of Kai Linke, hang down from the ceiling in the form of raw blocks of wood and the Bouroullec brothers have designed a table-lamp collection with just two linked wooden components. The upper element produces the light, whilst the lower one provides a useful surface to stand things on. But nature appears in the living room not only in the form of natu-ral materials, but also as imitation: sparkling polycarbonate flowers twine round light sources, LED "leaves" shine forth at the end of in-terwoven "branches" made from fine metal wires; standard lamps curve in a perfect bow like a water fountain over a pond. Designers Ludovica and Roberto Palomba have even used a small "branch", which acts as a touch-control dimmer, "growing" out of a simple, tra-ditional table lamp.

Luxury and glamour
But the desire for natural inspiration in lamp design not only mani-fests itself as imitation; it also appears in a stylised form – objects that seem to flow in amorphous shapes and to which one is not, at first glance, inclined to attribute their function as lamps. Based on clouds or fluid metal and attached with almost invisible fixings, these luminaires are like sculptures in the living room, eye-catching talking points, an individual statement. As fluid as these shapes, too, is the sideways shift into luxury - after all, it is not only the light from the modern domestic luminaire that needs to shine. So the trend for lux-ury, elegance and glamour continues unbroken. Rather more classi-cal and understated in form, these luxury lamps positively glow with glossed and mostly black or shiny gold surfaces.

Table lamps – from accessory to useful little helper
Table lamps are enjoying a real field day: small, flexible and de-signer items, mostly indeed within reach of the average budget, they adorn domestic rooms with humour and a wealth of imagination, for all age-groups, lifestyles and decorative tastes. There are no limits to creativity in this area. They play their part as amusing little sources of light in the kitchen, as an accessory for creating atmosphere in the dining and living areas, not to mention as reading lamps in the bed-room. And there is no problem with things being a little more colour-ful. Some designers go even further and personify their little lamps unashamedly. With stylised shades, which look like little hats, many table lamps acquire a decidedly cute look.

In situations where large lamps can all too easily create dominant and imposing effects with bold and outlandish designs and gaudy colours, designers are having a field day of creativity with their mini luminaires. The coming season is set to bring a plethora of new models onto the market – with all conceivable shapes and colours, there has just got to be something for every taste. Yet that is not all. People also want multi-functionality: from telephones to smart phones, from computers to tablets, from lamps to designer items with additional uses. So there are reading lamps that no longer just provide light, they can be used simultaneously as book rests. And what at first appeared to be a side table, with its four feet, thick blue screws and bright overhang, is in reality a standard lamp. Except that it is also a side table. The limits are fluid, and humour is allowed. Long live this new freedom for design.

The Trend Forum will be providing exclusive information about the developments in interior design and trends for the home in 2012/13 at Light+Building in Frankfurt am Main. The main stylistic trends will each be presented in a home setting of their own. Responsible for the staging of these settings will be the well-known design consult-ants bora.herke.palmisano of Frankfurt am Main and Berlin. The Trend Forum can be found in the Foyer between Halls 5.1 and 6.1.