Tag Archive: lighting technology and controls

1. Meet the Makers: Media Designer Miguel Chevalier

   December 20, 2016 12:02 am Comments Off on Meet the Makers: Media Designer Miguel Chevalier

   In this Meet the Makers blog series, we will feature an artist that, quite simply, makes something. Drawing inspiration from custom works handcrafted in various media, we travel beyond the pieces by diving into the minds of the creative makers themselves.

   Today for our last blog of the series, we feature our interview with Miguel Chevalier, the creative designer of Voutes Celestes 2016 and many other avant garde projects. Miguel utilizes different media techniques to craft still or animated 2D imaging in a way to present his work. These projects are displayed in many impactful spaces all around the world, and he creates these works out of his studio in Paris, France.

   

   GPI Design: What (3) words best describe your work?

   Miguel Chevalier: Virtual – Generativity – Immersivity

   GPI: What compels you to create with this particular medium?

   Chevalier: My feeling was that the avant-garde had explored all of the possible fields of graphic representation in the world of painting at the end of seventies, and for a young artist in his early twenties, creating a new pictorial approach with oils was very difficult, without repeating what other artists have already created.

   When I entered Paris’s School of Fine Arts in 1978, my father drew my attention to the fact that, in each era, artists have always used the means of their time. Computing was becoming increasingly present in the media and people began to talk about the information society. It was this still-virgin territory, yet to be explored by contemporary creative artists, that I wanted to go deeper into. I understood that computer tools were going to be, for me, the basis for a structurally original approach whose stakes had to be grasped right away. These possibilities seemed unlimited and the transformations unending.

   

   GPI: What is your biggest constraint in the creative process?

   Chevalier: In 1980’s, it was nearly impossible to get access to powerful computers in order to create artistic works. All those machines were basically monopolized by scientific laboratories or television networks. Consumer computing simply didn’t exist at all. I could produce only still or animated 2D works on photographic media or record my work on magnetic tape. The appearance of microcomputing in the late 1980s allowed me, little by little, to have some equipment of my own at home and thus to create simple programs on my own.

   Now the other constraint is financing the research and softwares developed by programmers for the artworks as well as the acquisition of equipment to present the works which are sometimes expensive (screens, video projectors, computers, leds, etc.).

   Indeed , the great difficulty of working with computers is that these techniques are evolving all the time. I realized that I couldn’t continue to work any longer alone. That is why I am surrounded by a team of specialists with technical skills. For example, for Fractal Flowers, I asked Cyrille Henry to develop the software. It took two years for the development and the test of a software. I collaborate with Nicolas Gaudelet/ Voxels Productions who is the interface between my artistic ideas and adapting software. It’s like in the past with artists’ studios as Rubens, which had more than twenty people working on these artworks.

   One last constraint is to make the digital works last and sustain and to develop them according with the new technologies.

   

   GPI: What would your 5 year old former self say about your work now? And what do you hope your future 90 year old self will say about your current work?

   Chevalier: My 5 year old former would say about my current work that I had the opportunity to create really unbelievable installations in sumptuous heritage areas like King’s College Chapel in Cambridge and that I was on the right track by exploring immersive and multi sensorial installations.

   At 90 year old I hope to say that digital art is now considered as a legitimate art and thanks to my art works I would have participated in this appreciation which was at its beginning when I started my art. I would be under the impression to have been in tune with my time creating a new poetry and universe able to lift emotions.

   

   GPI: What other maker would you most like to collaborate with?

   Chevalier: I would like one day to imagine a specific installation with Marc Fornes that creates complex structures both architectural and monumental sculptures. He works from simple geometric forms, which it decomposes using 3D modeling software, on which he intervenes directly by modifying their programming to design new shapes. These creations are then assembled with one another using rivets, following a complex pattern.

   For Marc Fornes, each project has an experimental dimension that allows it to advance in its research and push the boundaries of digital production, resistance of materials, the notion of equilibrium, to non-standard and spectacular in which I can imagine an immersive virtual reality installation. It would be a beautiful collaboration.

   

   GPI: What do you think the future of creation/creativity holds (for you, and the artistic world as a whole)?

   Chevalier: I think that 3D printers is a revolutionary process that should drastically alter the world of sculpture, of industry and of our everyday life.

   It has been several years I am interested in 3D printing. 3D printing allows me to materialize my virtual-reality artworks. With my virtual artwork Fractal Flowers for example, I can stop flowers at any time during their growth in order to obtain a 3D file which allows me to “print” small sculptures in resin, by powder sintering with 3D printers. A new virtual aesthetic, which mixes pixels with materials and abolishes the borders between real and virtual, is just being born. The artist here is a sculptor of the virtual.

    

   GPI: What does your work space look like right now? Send us a selfie of you in your creative arena!

   Chevalier: My work environment looks like a curiosity cabinet with a lot of objects (exotic plants, fossil, optical illusion toys etc.) found during my travels, that are inspirations. My studio is also a sort of laboratory where I experiment my new installations thanks to a large screen projection curve setup.

   

   ______

   Many thanks to Miguel Chevalier for his experience and insight of his works of art. We would like to thank all of our Meet the Makers for participating in this year’s blog series, it has truly been an inspiration that has us redefining what it means to create.  Stay tuned for new blog series coming soon.

    

   View this maker’s work:  http://www.miguel-chevalier.com/

   Voûtes Célestes 2016, Miguel Chevalier

   Generative and interactive virtual-reality installation

   Nuit Blanche, Saint-Eustache Church, Paris (France)

   Softwares: Cyrille Henry and Antoine Villeret

   Technical production: Voxels Productions

    

    

    

    

2. Meet the Makers: Lighting Sculptor Simone Chua

   August 2, 2016 12:01 am Comments Off on Meet the Makers: Lighting Sculptor Simone Chua

   In this Meet the Makers blog series, we will feature an artist that, quite simply, makes something. Drawing inspiration from custom works handcrafted in various media, we travel beyond the pieces by diving into the minds of the creative makers themselves.

   Today, we feature our interview with Simone Chua, the creative maker of Affinity; a large-scale lighting sculpture of interconnected neurons of the human brain. Simone designed and installed this sculpture, which is inspired by the electrochemical activity of the brain by simply allowing viewers to explore the effects of Alzheimer’s on memory.

   

   GPI Design: What (3) words best describe your work?

   Simone Chua: Tactile – Bold – Experiential

   GPI: What compels you to create with this particular medium?

   Chua: Being installation artists is in a way, akin to being entertainers. We love playing on the audience’s curiosity, and making our works accessible and engaging to the public. Light is perfect for this. It’s exciting, and immediately stimulates the audience’s senses. As industrial designers, this also means that we can leverage imbedded technologies and interactive lighting design in a way that is explorative and experimental, keeping us entertained in the process!

   

   GPI: What is your biggest constraint in the creative process?

   Chua: The biggest constraint has to be budgets and timeframes.

   GPI: What would your 5 year old former self say about your work now? And what do you hope your future 90 year old self will say about your current work?

   Chua: I hope my 90 year old self would look back on my work and think “why isn’t the audience standing on hover-boards?” and “where are all the hydrogen suspended cyborgs?”. As an artist, especially those fascinated with new technologies, the aim of the game is to keep on evolving. So with another 60 or so years under my belt, I hope I can still appreciate the relevance of our work now, complemented by a whole new insight into the possibilities that were still before us.

   

   GPI: What other maker would you most like to collaborate with?

   Chua: At the moment, kinetic movement and light are our two primary obsessions. There are so many artists that we would love to work with, and so much exciting stuff happening in the technological interactivity space. However, if we had to choose someone right now, we are fascinated by the work of Reuben Margolin, and would love to incorporate light and interactivity into his work.

   GPI: What do you think the future of creation/creativity holds (for you, and the artistic world as a whole)?

   Chua: Wow, tough question. I can’t say for sure what it holds, but I know it’s exciting.

   Technologies are incredibly fast moving, and we as a cohort, navigating through what this means for our generations, are open to so many interesting ideas and conversations. For example, collaboration is booming as a result of the internet, as is sampling and referencing. The paradigm shift about what it means to be an artist and ‘original’ in this space, naturally follows. Questions that flow from these un-chartered waters, should be responded to with conversations, not ‘answers’, and this is where art becomes such an important medium.

   Art is perfect in this space, because it compels people to have individual ‘responses’ and can often help people to consider other views in a way that isn’t dictated or forced. Art is always an open ended conversation, and that’s one of the things I love most about it.

   So, to come back to the question, I think the future of creation/creativity is unknown, but that art will be an important tool to in helping us to navigate our way through these rapid changes in a considered and reflective manner.

   GPI: What does your work space look like right now? Send us a selfie of you in your creative arena!

   

   ______

   Many thanks to Simone Chua for the insight into her craft. Stay tuned to our next Meet the Makers interview coming up in two weeks! The interviews will publish every other Tuesday throughout the remainder of the year, focusing on a wide variety of makers, which has us truly redefining what it means to create.

   View this maker’s work:  Simone Chua

    

3. Meet the Makers: Motion Exposure Photographer Stephen Orlando

   May 10, 2016 12:01 am Comments Off on Meet the Makers: Motion Exposure Photographer Stephen Orlando

   In this Meet the Makers blog series, we will feature an artist that, quite simply, makes something. Drawing inspiration from custom works handcrafted in various media, we travel beyond the pieces by diving into the minds of the creative makers themselves.

   Today, we feature our interview with Stephen Orlando, a photographer who captures motion through time and space in a single photograph. Orlando combines LED lighting with custom color patterns and long exposure technique to tell a story of movement. He captures these landscapes near his home town in Waterloo, Ontario Canada.

   

   GPI Design: What (3) words best describe your work?

   Stephen Orlando: Motion – Light – Information

   GPI: What compels you to create with this particular medium?

   Orlando: I love using long exposure photography to show things that are otherwise unseen. I like the combination of technology and art that can be used in light painting photography. My background is in aerodynamics and I see a lot of similarities between my photography and the streamlines I use to analyze fluid flow. I see my photography as half art and half visualization of data. Whenever I setup a shoot, I not only try to make the result aesthetically pleasing but also to show how objects move and tell the story of movement.

   

   GPI: What is your biggest constraint in the creative process?

   Orlando: The biggest constraint in my photography is light! I’ve done a lot of long exposure photos of LED lights attached to moving canoe and kayak paddles. They are all single exposures and need to be taken at a very specific time of day for proper exposure. I’m constantly balancing the intensity of the LED lights and the ambient lighting conditions. Most of the time the window where ambient lighting conditions are perfect is only 20 minutes. There’s a lot of preparation for that 20 minutes of shooting.

   

   GPI: What would your 5 year old former self say about your work now? And what do you hope your future 90 year old self will say about your current work?

   Orlando: My 5 year self would like the cool colors in my photos and be excited about all the cool canoe trips that I’ll be going on in the future. I hope my 90 year old self will be proud that I’ve developed a unique body of work that will be remembered for years to come.

   

   GPI: What other maker would you most like to collaborate with?

   Orlando: I really admire the photography of Darren Pearson, and Eric Pare. We all use light painting in very different ways and I would love to work with either of them in the future.

   GPI: What do you think the future of creation/creativity holds (for you, and the artistic world as a whole)?

   Orlando: I’m planning on doing more photography where I delve even deeper into the technical side of the LED lights. I want to start photographing lights that are changing dynamically based on inputs from their surroundings. I can see other artists incorporating connectivity into their art more and more.

   

   GPI: What does your work space look like right now? Send us a selfie of you in your creative arena!

   

   ______

   Many thanks to Stephen Orlando for the insight into his craft. Stay tuned to our next Meet the Makers interview coming up in two weeks! The interviews will publish every other Tuesday throughout the remainder of the year, focusing on a wide variety of makers, which has us truly redefining what it means to create.

    View this maker’s work: Motion Exposure

4. Impactful Entry Space: Four Seasons Hotel Toronto

   July 21, 2015 12:01 am Leave a Comment

   In this Impactful Entry Space blog series, we will feature a designer or artist that has created an attention-grabbing design for the main lobby space of a building. Drawing inspiration from completed entry spaces around the world, we travel beyond the image by diving into the design process and concepts behind it.

   Today, we feature our interview with Gary Thornton of Neo Light Design about the lobby design of the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto.

   

   GPI Design: What did the lobby space mean to the building as a whole?

   Gary Thornton: The Main Lobby’s impressive double height central space serves as a welcome entrance portal and space to the Flagship property for Four Seasons, as well as providing a physical link to adjacent areas.  The central lobby feeds to the grand reception desk, waiting areas, and break out seating areas for relaxing near the bar.  A central space providing a plethora of options for the guests.

   

   GPI: What were your functional and conceptual goals for the lobby?

   Thornton: The lighting was designed to complement both the architecture and the interior design, as well as the overall client vision.  This included the expected standard of a Flagship property for the Four Seasons hotel group as the operator.

   Simply put, it was to set the standards for luxury hotels in the city and the world.

   Careful consideration was taken with the detailing to ensure that our lighting was incorporated into various elements of the architecture and interior design.  Hidden light sources were heavily used so that you see the lit effect, and not the light fixtures themselves.

   In a double volume height space maintenance of a busy hotel was always going to be difficult and inconvenient.  LED and long life efficient light sources were used to ensure that this would be kept to a minimum over the coming years and would reduce any impact on the running of the hotel.

   In particularly awkward spaces fibre optic light sources were utilised to provide the illumination at high level to reduce any potential maintenance issues here.

   

   GPI: How did you use specific design tools (such as color, form, materiality, lighting) to create the space?

   Thornton: Significant sculptural artworks suspended above the reception and within the centre of the space are carefully lit to bring them to life, highlighting their forms to create depth and interest in the large volume.

   A warm white colour temperature was generally used throughout the lobby during the day, with the low voltage AR111 lamp sources warming slightly towards 2700K as they were dimmed on the control system for a more intimate feel during the evening and night.

   Large metal screens that help form part of the hotel’s identity are made up of 50,000 individual pieces and lit with both in-ground uplights and downlights to add sparkle and drama.

   The screens on the raised platforms that flank either side of the lobby space are lit using linear LED lights hidden within the form that shimmer as you walk through, helping to create the feeling of privacy to the seating areas below.

   High efficiency cold cathode is concealed in coves to create an overall softness to the lighting with high output lamps on a timed scene set system being used to then focus on art and various other features within the space.

   

   GPI: What was the biggest constraint in turning this design into a reality?

   Thornton: One of the biggest hurdles was ensuring that we were compliant with all of the local codes and varying regulations that are present within Canada.  There was a lot of initial concern over which regulations were the exact requirements to be followed, ranging from Canadian (national), through to Ontario (provincial), Toronto (city), or Yorkville (district).  National codes set the minimum values for some aspects, whilst some others are superseded at district level.

   With a limited budget for light fixtures that was further value-engineered, we worked extremely hard to ensure that we complied with all of the necessary documentation without comprising on the design.

   Being able to meet and sign off all of these requirements was a huge milestone for us as the responsible consultant, and for Four Seasons to ensure that the hotel could open on time.

   

   GPI: What makes this space impactful?

   Thornton: The fact that it is just the first impression of the wider guest experience.  The lobby serves a stunning welcome point, yet offers multiple functions subtly linked together.  Carefully considered aspects of the interior design are brought to life with specially focussed lighting, and an automated scene set system ensures that the hotel looks as good as possible at all times.  The lighting gradually shifts throughout the day from a bright and airy space to read a newspaper in the morning to a more intimate and ambient space to meet for drinks or dinner.

   The lighting extends out from the lobby throughout the rest of the public areas and guestrooms in a similar manner, linking areas and bringing people on a journey through the hotel.

   Overall the lighting is a subtle yet important element of the hotel and helps to create the feeling of stylish sophistication that the hotel delivers.

   ______

   Many thanks to Gary for sharing the inspiration for this lobby design.. Stay tuned to our next Impactful Entry Space interview coming up in two weeks. For more visual inspiration, follow our Impactful Entry Space board on Pinterest.

   Image credits: Jim Byers Travel, Yahoo, Neo Light Design

5. Illuminated Resin and Wood Project Wins 3Form Award

   November 9, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

   What a nice way to end a busy week here at GPI- we received our 3form award trophy for our work at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco!

   

   The backlit escalator walls at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco won the 3Form Best Public Space in Hospitality Award.  Designed by Indidesign and installed by the millworkers at Acosta & Sons, our Infuse™ LED Backlighting System was developed over many months and encompassed the surface characteristics, fastening details, and custom lighting controls.

   

   It’s not surprising that Indidesign’s stunning renovation treatment swept this category – to refresh these narrow escalator runs, the designers strategically used the wall planes to bring light into this long space.  Indidesign’s description of the project:

   Fumed Eucalyptus panels with embedded horizontal strips of 3Form Varia Ecoresin clad these escalator walls. The design was conceived and developed by Indidesign that researched materials and lighting solutions in the effort to create a strong and dynamic connection between the two levels of the meeting venue and visually shorten the length of the descent. The Acosta & Sons team crafted the custom panels using 3Form resin flush with the wood without exposed fasteners. Indidesign researched numerous lighting options and selected GPI Design’s Infuse™ LED Backlighting System as the most appropriate to render the panels in even illumination.

   We are honored and rewarded to be a part of a great project team with stunning results. A big thank you to 3Form for sponsoring the contest and kudos on your lovely award design! If you’re around the Bay Area, be sure to pop into the Grand Hyatt and take a ride down the escalators!

   

6. Glimpses of Our Process: Backlit Glass Floor Development

   October 24, 2011 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

   We’re working on illuminating a commercial lobby floor for a project in Perth, Australia.  To firm up our strategies, the specified glass panels were shipped to us so we could study their relationship to our backlighting. Creating even illumination for this highly translucent glass surface in a load bearing floor application presented a fun challenge for our team. Photographer and videographer Andrew Thames spent a few days with us capturing the process.

   Take a look at how we arrived at the final design – you’ll see hot spots and any distracting evidence of the light source slowly disappear.

7. On Our Desks: Chic Elevator Lantern Controls – Update From the Field

   June 30, 2011 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

   Original blog post:

   Contact closures, relays, Cue servers, DMX decoder units, din rails… if you’re a conceptual designer, you’re probably not too interested in what those mean, but when implemented through a thoughtful electrical engineering process, these items can add a whole new element of fluctuation to your spaces.

   Imagine synchronizing the vertical movement of an elevator with a lighting effect that “speaks” to the waiting patrons. At the renovation of 1828 L Street in Washington, D.C., lighting designers MCLA and architects DEP Designs envisioned a full scale elevator lantern that capitalized on the dynamics of time and movement (fitting for an elevator lobby). The elevator call lanterns take on a modern architecture with full height panels of backlit glass. Goodbye, standard call buttons!

   

   Standard elevator indicator buttons – small scale, appear “additive” to the architecture (Image Credit: robinsonsmay)

   
   Re-designed backlit lanterns – large scale, integral to the architecture

   The design intent was to have the elevator lanterns illuminated at a dim level at all times. When the elevators descend to the main lobby at the first floor, the lanterns slowly brighten up to 100%, signifying the arrival of the elevator cab.  Pretty cool visual reinforcement of movement!

   
   Custom controls by GPI sync the elevator control system with our Flat-Lite™ LED panels
   

   Only one of the elevators descends to the basement; the designers wanted the lantern at this elevator to illuminate in a red color. At this area, GPI designed a dual-illumination red and white LED panel to backlight the glass. The colored and white settings were engineered to be controlled independently. When the cab is above ground, the lantern remains white like the others. The relay to the red LED string only fires when the elevator drops to the basement level, at which time the LED panel changes to its red hue.

   

   Flat-Lite™ LED panel on white and red settings

   This is just one job that goes to show the value of integration when it comes to backlit features. As you’ll often hear us advocate, to have a truly well-executed backlit feature, it’s much more about the LED panels themselves. In this case, the LED panels were properly designed to both seamlessly illuminate the surface and interface with the existing elevator control system, for a lighting effect that strengthens the architecture. The challenges of the project were perfectly suited for our team and we’re looking forward to publishing the final installation photographs soon!

   NEW: PHOTO/VIDEO UPDATES from the field at 1828 L Street

   

   Photograph of full height backlit elevator lanterns

   Video of brightening/dimming elevator call lanterns

   Video of brightening/dimming/color changing elevator call lanterns

8. On Our Desks: Urban Wallscape with Illuminated Graffiti

   June 19, 2011 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

   Check out this backlit graffiti wall that GPI provided for Marlite’s GlobalShop Booth! The wall is designed to mimic an urban alleyway, with continuous LED backlighting highlighting the vibrant graffiti graphics.  Graphics were spray painted on optical acrylic panels.  Custom controls animate the panels individually, reinforcing the concept that each panel is a brick in the wall.  The bold animation attracts visitors at the bustling tradeshow.

9. Creating Continuous LED Backlighting: 4 Types of Light Seams to Consider

   May 16, 2011 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

   Natural sunlight is a seamless light that provides enveloping spatial qualities, free from interruption. With designers increasingly turning to nature for design inspiration, recreating this smooth quality can be tricky with artificial lighting technology. How do you avoid choppy, spotty, discontinuous appearance within your artificial lighting sources?

   When translating your design from small samples to fully cladding an entire wall, don’t forget that the every material has its scalar limits. (Yes, even LED light panels are limited to 4’ x 9’ sheets!) This means that for a cladding a 10’ x 40’ backlit glass wall, you could have anywhere from 11 to 100 individual LED light panels, and probably only 8 glass panels. How do we make those seams in the lighting disappear? It depends on the specific condition and how the Flat-Lite™ LED panels are designed.  At GPI, we use these terms to qualify what type of light seam we are designing around:

   1. Non-powered field seam

   

   Non-powered field seam condition without diffusing methods or correct cavity

   This type of edge does not have LEDs located on it, but when light bounces off the edge of the panel, a slight bright spot still occurs. When non-powered field seams are located in the center (or “field”) of the surface panel, it can become apparent. Calculating the correct lighting cavity (situating the surface the correct distance away from the light source) typically mitigates the evidence of a non-powered field seam.

   2. Powered field seam

   

   Powered field seam condition without diffusing methods or correct cavity

   Powered field seams are the illuminated edge along which the LED light sources are located. These are the brightest and most susceptible of seams. When butted together and placed behind the center of a continuous surface panel (glass/resin/stone/fabric), powered field seams can create a very evident bright line. Without finish trims and edge treatments to disguise the bright line, their location within the center continuous surface makes them even more apparent. Diffusing panels and optic films are often applied to the Flat-Lite™ LED panels to disguise the evidence of a powered field seam.

   3. Powered perimeter

   

   In gray circle: powered perimeter without any diffusing methods

   A powered perimeter is an edge with LED light sources located around the perimeter of your feature (where it meets the wall, ceiling, or finish trim). The powered edge seam doesn’t fall in the middle of a glass or onyx panel, so it doesn’t appear as disruptive as #2, but can provide evidence of bright spots.

   4. Non-powered perimeter

   

   In gray circle: non-powered perimeter without any diffusing methods

   The non-powered perimeter is our best friend. This condition does not contain LED light sources and is usually tucked away.  When all of the other conditions are diffused, it typically fades away quietly into the background, with little attention needed.

   –> Don’t think that testing with one small lighting sample that appears continuous in a small square means your design work is done.  Pay careful attention when translating the lighting design to full scale panels, with particular attention to how the lighting panels meet at seams and match up with your surface module sizes.

10. On Our Desks: Chic Elevator Lantern Controls

    April 18, 2011 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

    Contact closures, relays, Cue servers, DMX decoder units, din rails… if you’re a conceptual designer, you’re probably not too interested in what those mean, but when implemented through a thoughtful electrical engineering process, these items can add a whole new element of fluctuation to your spaces.

    Imagine synchronizing the vertical movement of an elevator with a lighting effect that “speaks” to the waiting patrons. At the renovation of 1828 L Street in Washington, D.C., lighting designers MCLA and architects DEP Designs envisioned a full scale elevator lantern that capitalized on the dynamics of time and movement (fitting for an elevator lobby). The elevator call lanterns take on a modern architecture with full height panels of backlit glass. Goodbye, standard call buttons!

    

    Standard Elevator Indicator Buttons – small scale, appear “additive” to the architecture (Image Credit: robinsonsmay) 

    
    Re-designed Backlit Lanterns – large scale, integral to the architecture

    The design intent was to have the elevator lanterns illuminated at a dim level at all times. When the elevators descend to the main lobby at the first floor, the lanterns slowly brighten up to 100%, signifying the arrival of the elevator cab.  Pretty cool visual reinforcement of movement!

    
    Custom controls by GPI sync the elevator control system with our Flat-Lite™ LED panels
    

    Only one of the elevators descends to the basement; the designers wanted the lantern at this elevator to illuminate in a red color. At this area, GPI designed a dual-illumination red and white LED panel to backlight the glass. The colored and white settings were engineered to be controlled independently. When the cab is above ground, the lantern remains white like the others. The relay to the red LED string only fires when the elevator drops to the basement level, at which time the LED panel changes to its red hue.

    

    Flat-Lite™ LED panel on white and red settings

    This is just one job that goes to show the value of integration when it comes to backlit features. As you’ll often hear us advocate, to have a truly well-executed backlit feature, it’s much more about the LED panels themselves. In this case, the LED panels were properly designed to both seamlessly illuminate the surface and interface with the existing elevator control system, for a lighting effect that strengthens the architecture. The challenges of the project were perfectly suited for our team and we’re looking forward to publishing the final installation photographs soon!

11. Backlit Granite: Transform Bar and Restaurant Spaces from Day to Night

    December 13, 2010 12:00 am Leave a Comment

    Backlit granite bars with the correct lighting controls allow designers to explore the furthest ranges of materiality. Granite is often associated with traditional countertops, but with advanced technology and the correct backlighting system, the flip of a switch can dramatically transform from day to night.

    For this backlit granite bartop application in Dubai, GPI developed DURA-Lite™ panels that consist of an ultrathin layer of granite laminated to glass backing. The glass backing provides reinforcement to keep the granite stable during production, shipping, installation, and everyday use.

    For this particular application, the design team chose the RGB LED backlighting system for its flexibility. The lighting system is kept off during the morning hours, with the white backlighting illuminating the granite bartops in the evening hours. On more celebratory occasions, the restaurant owners can change the backlighting to a colored arrangement.

    These photographs explore the range of aesthetics that thin granite panels with colored backlighting can provide. With adjustments to the illumination, the granite material is rendered in different moods, attracting different groups of people and completely altering the programmatic use of the space.

    
    Thin granite veneer panel (without backlighting)

    
    Granite panel illuminated with flat LED backlighting (cool white light)

    
    Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on red setting)

    
    Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on blue setting)

    
    Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on green setting)

    The bottom line? Designing color variation into your lighting schemes can completely redefine space and provide an important selling point to the property owner.  Controls for RGB backlighting systems might add a bit of cost, but the flexibility is priceless.

12. Backlit Glass Panels Form A Glowing Feature Wall in Lancaster: A Brief Case Study

    November 15, 2010 12:00 am Leave a Comment

    Bringing together fine art photographs of natural grasses, custom bent glass, and LED backlighting can be difficult – throw in a curved shape with a narrow lighting cavity and the stage was set for this example of custom integration at the lobby of Lancaster General Health Women and Babies Hospital.

    Architects Noelker and Hull wanted to bring soothing natural elements to the entrance lobby of this hospital in Lancaster, PA. Artist Henry Domke’s fine art images were commissioned, and Skyline Design fabricated the prints onto bent glass panels. The designers knew they wanted to showcase these artistic glass panels with seamless backlighting.

    1. Design Intent

    Rendering of initial design concept for the space

    

    2. Surface

    Skyline Design printed Henry Domke’s specified image onto optically clear film, which was then applied to the back side of Skyline’s bent glass panels.

    3. Lighting

    GPI analyzed the printed glass surface to calibrate the ideal diffusing method and lighting cavity.

    Below left: glass in direct contact with LED panel, without diffusers

    Below right: specialty diffuser between glass and LED panel plus small air cavity to increase light diffusion

    

    4. Structure

    Section detail showing the overall assembly – glass was run in channels on the floor and ceiling

    

    5. Detailing

    All wire exits were detailed in a staggered arrangement to avoid extensive gaps between panels.

    

    6. The Result

    Photographs of seamlessly illuminated dramatic glass feature wall (and see more in our portfolio)

    

    —> Here’s what we learned from working through this project. Keep these tips in mind when designing illuminated glass feature walls:

    • Make sure that your glass supplier and lighting supplier maintain direct communication so that each company can calibrate their product based on the given set of parameters.
    • Don’t skimp on physical mock-ups. Because flat LED panels emit varying brightness based on the panel sizes, each job must be analyzed individually in order to determine the ideal LED panel size, lighting cavity and proper diffusers.
    • Seams between flat LED panels are the most susceptible area.  Hot spots can occur when two LED strings are placed back-to-back. Seams can also create shadows if wire exits create large gaps that push the panels apart.
    • Printed glass can be highly translucent, with great risk of hot and cold spots appearing on the surface (regardless of what type of lighting you use). Check with your glass manufacturer to see if they can treat the back surface of the glass with texture or diffusion layers – or make sure your lighting manufacturer can provide the appropriate diffusing panels.

    Interested to see more details of backlit feature walls? Download our case studies from other backlit projects >

13. Choosing Flat LED Panels Is Only The Start: A Textbook Case

    August 31, 2010 11:00 pm Leave a Comment

    A pretty typical situation occurred here at GPI this week.  A lighting design firm had specified our Infuse™ flat LED panels for a large commercial project, and the contractor ended up making a substitution in order to try to save some money.  As it turns out, the substituted LED panel product looks absolutely terrible and the entire team, including the client, is very unhappy.  So, we received a slightly panicked email from the architect and lighting designer asking us to step in and solve the problem.

    We suspect that the substituted product was poorly made, but assuming that it wasn’t, there’s still a host of problems with the application.  Even if all flat LED panels are created equally, this particular LED company did not pay attention to the details, and ultimately wasted a significant amount of time and money.  The problems? Uneven illumination, panels sized incorrectly, bulky hardware that is interfering with the light, and absolutely no attention to light diffusion strategies… the textbook case for our integrated systems and process.

    Budget is indeed a critical issue in building construction.  Flat LED panels are typically used in feature areas of buildings, becoming main spatial focal points that are evaluated with a discriminating eye.  So if you’re looking to cut costs, it’s not always wise to do so in such high-profile areas.

    The lesson here: investing more money up-front in a system from a company that will perform as you expect will help avoid costly replacements and changes down the line.  Many of our designers, especially our repeat clients, realize this value, but it can be difficult to communicate this seemingly intangible value to their clients.  What strategies do you use to convince building owners to invest in high-end products?