Let there be light. And there was light. At least on a fairground like the one in Frankfurt. Trade fair Light & Building took place first week of March and gave us bright things to look at. Here is my report.
Light & Building gave us a world record (longest light in the world) and plenty of exhibitors. There were officially 2 169 exhibitors and 151 000 visitors. Light & Building is a fair that people like. They talk positively about almost all aspects.
The fair is busy and technologically driven. There was a lot of talk about monotoring and controling your light with an app or device.
There is usually a lot of talk about the mystery of light. Can it be something else than just working against darkness? Looking back at my reports from Light & Building before the pandemic, I could see that there were discussions about lights as carriers of wi-fi. Not so anymore. I don’t think it really worked…
I found this enormously interesting. A brand from Lithuania claim that their lights give you vitamin D. Really?? I asked for proof so we will see. Should we wear sunscreen indoors now? Is there proof that the ligh actually is absorbed by the body?
Light is enormously important. It makes products stand out and improve atmosphere. The conversation on this is not so present at the fair. Again, much more talks about technology.
Light & Building is not only about indoor light. Also outdoor. Outdoor light is also interesting. It should make you feel safe, give directions and othet things. Here a solution that kind of frames the outdoor. Perhaps make it as homely as possible?
Some brands talked about light in connection to our new behaviours. I thought it was interestering with the squares with movies of sky and clouds at one supplier (Alphabet). Also this table lamp is for the work-at-home situation when you need good lighting for your Zoom or Teams conference. From Komot.
There was very little conversations about sustainability. The shift to LED has of course made it easier to have sustainable lighting. But you could always ask for more. Here are lamps made of corn starch. From IQLux. When you are tired of the lamp, just throw it on the compost. I liked this because it wasn’t a “student project”. This is commercially launched.
There were some talks about having lights that had components that were easier to repair. Even “open source”. That would increase the lifespan of a lamp. But overall, not so much talk about sustainable lighting.
Light and Building is not necessarily the playground where you find “out of this world”- lighting. I think this wall of lights were pretty amazing. Also they shifted so it was like a movement in here. By Olev Light. I could absolutely see this at a cool hotel or nightclub.
Two quick things before we start talking about trends. We seem to have a “cluster trend”. Hang many lamps together. It is absolutley more decorative than functional. Brand is Zava.
Slowly but surely new technology. This is a prototype from Martinelli Luce. You can play around with the c-shaped pieces and build your own cluster.
Straight lights
First trend. Something very evident were these kind of light rods. Straight and hanging. Can of course be hung diagonally. Works also for corners. Again, more decorative than functional.
Why not make them softer and bendy? Here at Deltalight.
Add other symmetry. Brand is Maytoni.
At Design Luce
By Blank Design Studio for Linea
Carlotta de Bevilacqua for Artemide.
Straight lines but in a different way. We have seen visiable cords before and it continues. Here actually outdoor lights from Artemide.
Metall
Trend 2. I must say I saw a lot of metall. Especially together with glass. Kind of difficult to photograph, but here are two pieces (one glass and one metal) put together. By Loftlight.
Glass cubes with metal sides.
Large metal slabs and then light. From Anour.
I think this ceiling lamp is nice where you have the frosted glass almost like a reversed photo. Martinelli Luce.
Organic shapes
The third trend. There were a lot of uneven shapes. Organic.
The two lamps above from Artemide. I guess they should look like soap bubbles.
Two organic shaped lamps from Bomma.
Again a bit difficult to see but this lamp from Artemide is all organic shaped.
Marcantonio for Cangini and Tucci
I really liked these handmade wall lamps. Hammered by hand and all unique. And quirky shapes. By Knikerboker.
More textile lamps by Forestier.
Flat lamps
Not sure what is driving this trend, but I absolutely saw a lot of these lamps with flat shades. Here Schätti.
Flat shade with uplight from Martinelli Luce.
Also a flat shade with uplight. I liked how this lamp gave the pattern in the ceiling. By Olev Design Lab.
The last two from Swedish brand Zero.
Pearls
Maybe we need more romance? Plenty of brands worked with these kind of pearls or necklaces. It’s like jewellry for the room. Or bringing the romantic summer light from outdoor to the inside. It is all very likable. Here from Martinelli Luce.
Karman
A jewel
Nova Luce
Vintage
Final and last trend is of course about the vintage thing we see all over the world. It is colourful and whimsical. Emotional and decorative rather than functional.
I love these lamps by Ebb&Flow. They are partly inspirered by something art deco and also the 70s. Love.
Of course lots of colours. Brand is Elements Lighting. Look how nice this works with the wallpaper.
This blue as we saw at Zero is interesting.
Almost the same hue. And with that wallpaper it gets very retro. Also at Elements Lighting.
These cluster lamps. Should be Baulmann.
Ceramics lamps by Ferroluce.
Bomma.
Both sets of lamps from Siru in Venice.