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In Stockholm, AF Lighting has designed a media facade that reflects the weather, and helps build the brand of a major insurance company. The head office of Swedish insurance company If sits directly above a busy motorway just north of Stockholm. It has always been an imposing building – but rather an anonymous one, with an unlit facade. ÅF Lighting was asked to do something about that. The resulting solution is characterized by a soft, welcoming light, which matches the recently updated visual guidelines of the insurance company, and its concept of being “close to the people”. For many years, the one distinguishing feature of the building was an old digital clock sitting on top of it, which also displays outside temperature, as a service to passers-by. ÅF Lighting kept this in mind when creating the lighting concept, which involves LED strips being fitted to the entire facade, with a dynamic light flowing through them like changes in the weather. The lighting scheme also reflects actual local weather conditions, enabling the public to experience the façade lit according to natural conditions such as wind, snow, rain, sun and clouds as well as the seasonal changes. The work also included to update the old clock with a new design and new media logo. Apart from conveying a message about the weather, the lighting also gives the building a lighter, more dynamic feel, and provides an aesthetic experience for car-borne commuters on an otherwise eventless motorway. ”The project has presented challenges to which we have found innovative solutions”, says lighting designer Francesco Guastella. ”As part of the creative process, we worked closely with the customer to develop mood boards, inspired by their brand message about closeness to people. Eventually we decided that nature and its changes is something that everybody can relate to. Who has not gazed into the flames of an open fire, for instance, or at the waves lapping at a shore? This is what inspired us when creating the lighting programme that now flows along the facade.” Installing the light rods proved to be the most challenging part of the project. As the façade faces a motorway, building cranes could not reach to all the necessary installation areas. Instead, climbers were hired to perform the work. ”It looked absolutely terrifying, but the results are extraordinary”, says an evidently pleased Francesco Guastella. Now commuters are met by a beautiful façade each day, reflecting the weather in that particular moment. In other words, the lighting helps communicate the If brand, and adds value to people in their everyday lives. Source: af-lighting

RGBW Smart LED Panels Aurora Siri Voice Control With so much visual stimuli passing by our eyes every day thanks to social media, many people are finding that committing to static pieces of artwork is more difficult than ever. If you're looking for something to spruce up your walls, but feel that a single painting or photo isn't enough to capture your ever-changing moods, the new Nanoleaf Aurora offers an interesting solution. Described as "living paint" by the Toronto-based lighting design company, this modular system of energy-efficient LED panels is fully customizable, and can be controlled by remote, smartphone app, or even your voice. Composed of nine lightweight, triangular LED lights that can be fit together in different configurations, the Nanoleaf Aurora can light up your wall (or any other flat surface in your home) using a palette of over 16 million colors. It can go from a soothing white light in the morning to a blaze of energizing purples, blues and greens during the day to a relaxing warm light in the evening–or pretty much any other type mood lighting you can imagine. The Nanoleaf Aurora Smarter lighting kit was made for DIY installation and includes 9 RGBW Smart LED Panels, 9 Panel Connectors, 9 Mounting Stencils, 28 Mounting Strips, 1 Power Supply Unit, and 1 Controller Unit. Because the panels weigh so little, there’s no need to drill any holes in your walls, making the Aurora ideal for renters as well. While the Aurora does come with a controller, the panels can also be configured using the Nanoleaf Smarter Series app or with your voice through Siri and Apple HomeKit. Because the Aurora is tunable white, it can also be used to mimic daylight, meaning it can double as a mood-enhancing light for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or for anyone who could use a bit more natural light in their lives. Nanoleaf says they also plan on releasing a ‘sunrise’ function soon that will allow the Aurora to gradually get brighter each morning as a gentle way to help people wake up. Original: nanoleaf, inhabitat

Jemena is an Australian infrastructure company that builds, owns and maintains a combination of major electricity, gas and water assets. The 15,000sqm project was delivered in 30 weeks and included the fitout of seven floors of internal connecting stairs, balcony landscaping, premium executive occupied floors including a commercial kitchen and dining room. Other key features of the project include a boardroom that can accommodate 24 people and 17 interpreters, meeting rooms, collaboration spaces, a roof top backup generator, fuel tank and pump room, main server room with sub server rooms on every floor and over 900 workstations. The project was executed in conjunction with Woods Bagot, NDY, Montlaur, Cinni Little, MBM, Philip Chun and WSP. Project Features Seven floors of internal connecting stairs Balcony landscaping Premium executive occupied floors Commercial kitchen Dining room Boardroom that can accommodate 24 people and 17 interpreters 900 workstations Specific details of the installation included: 1,000m of LED Strip and extrusion 30 new switchboards 120,000m of cat6 cabling 21 x 47RU Communications Racks 4,468 x Cat6 Outlets 99 x 48port patch panels 2,352 System ties Source: fdcbuilding.com.au

Testing of OLED Luminaires The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released CALiPER Report 24: Photometric Testing, Laboratory Teardowns, and Accelerated Lifetime Testing of OLED Luminaires, which is the first CALiPER report evaluating the performance of OLED luminaires based on independent procurement and testing. Among the findings: Overall, efficacy of the OLED luminaires was low compared to contemporary LED luminaires, ranging from 23 lm/W up to 45 lm/W. OLED panels range between 42 and 55 lm/W according to panel manufacturer data, and much of the efficacy reduction in the luminaire performance is due to very inefficient transformer and driver selections and combinations. The wider availability of dedicated OLED drivers should improve efficacies in the near future. Light distribution was consistent among the tested products – a soft, diffuse, roughly Lambertian emission, moderated only by the physical configuration of the luminaire hardware. This is expected to produce very soft shadows from objects in the path of the light, and patterns of light on surfaces with very soft gradients at the edges of the “beam.” The drivers for all four CALiPER luminaire types were different, with some luminaires using a single driver and others using a combination of electronic components for voltage transformation, conversion from AC to DC, and voltage/current control. The OLED luminaires performed very closely to the manufacturers’ published technical data, where available. OLED panels, drivers, and transformers are still in a steep curve of development. Goals are higher efficacy; longer life, before panel replacement on the jobsite is needed; better lumen maintenance over time; even better color quality and wider CCT options; higher-efficiency drivers; and robustness under high temperature, high humidity, and rough handling from shipping and installation. Improvements in these areas could make OLED luminaires more accepted in the architectural marketplace, and adopted as a trusted lighting solution. For a closer look at the findings, download the full report Testing of OLED Luminaires (3.68 MB).pdf Rubik from Mark Architectural Lighting Source: http://energy.gov, acuitybrands

Geçen zamanlarda ki araştırmaların sonuçlarına göre UVA büyük çaplı aydınlatmaları kullanarak ışığın ve boşluğun algısını değiştirebildiğini fark etmiştir. Fiziksel mekan içinde kesişen zaman beklenti ve farkındalık arasındaki ilişkiyi ortaya mekansal bir enstrüman olarak ortaya koymaktadır. Avustralya hobart karanlık mofo sanat etkinliği kapsamında sunulan bu bilgiler bir salıncakta sabit hızda sallanan bir sarkaç gibi betimlenmiştir. Bu fiziksel genişlik içinde, cihazlar tek bir zaman ölçümü uygulanarak doğa kanunları tarafından engelsiz görünmektedir. Ziyaretçiler UVA’ın sistemine çoklu-duyumsal sistemine girip kendilerini ışık ve ses ortamına dalmış bulabilirler. Sarkaçlar bir salıncak gibi her biri kendi ritmini dalgalı ışık yolunu izler ve ses neredeyse somut zamanın akışıyla yankılanır. Kaynak: lightworld

On October 13, 2016, Boston mayor, Martin J. Walsh unveiled the new LED-based architectural lighting of Boston City Hall. The lighting debut was during this year’s final Beer Garden on the Bricks event, themed “Light Bright Beer Garden.” The city intends the new LED lighting to highlight and enhance the building’s original design and increase public safety. The exterior lighting installation is one among several ongoing initiatives to highlight City Hall and City Hall Plaza and make them more inviting for residents. “I am proud that for the first time in its 48 year history, Boston City Hall is going to shine,” said Mayor Walsh. “This state of the art lighting system will help make City Hall the civic heart of our city by livening up the plaza, while making the area safer and connecting us to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Bringing new light to City Hall is symbolic of a more responsive vision here at City Hall, one that is meant to be engaging, inspiring, and serve as a beacon of the city and our values.” New LED fixtures replaced the original Metal Halide exterior recessed lighting and the existing floodlights that illuminate the building’s lower levels and accentuate the entrances. The new fixtures cover the building in a warm white light, and they can produce a broad range of colors. Such color options can allow the City to light the building to acknowledge a variety of celebratory and public events. The mayor lit the building blue to recognize the police officers injured in East Boston, and as a further demonstration of its light changing capability, the mayor changed the color to pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink lights at city hall added to pink lighting of numerous buildings and landmarks around the city. The lighting highlights the original three-part design of City Hall. The lower levels house the public spaces of the building. The symbolic spaces including the middle sections hold the offices of the Mayor and the City Council, and the administrative spaces crown the building and house the administrative functions of government. According to the city, the new exterior lighting improves security lighting. The city says that the system allows for the floodlights and associated conduit added to the building over the years to be entirely removed. “By illuminating its iconic and bold form, City Hall’s interaction with Boston’s urban fabric may be reinvigorated,” said David Eisen FAIA, Boston Society of Architects/AIA (BSA) Vice President for Communications. “It’s a decisive step toward transforming one of the most internationally renowned buildings that make up our distinct architectural heritage.” The new fixtures are more energy efficient than the Metal Halide fixtures and the existing Flood Lights that they replace. The LED lighting is expected to save the city about 300,000 kWh of electricity annually compared to the replaced lights. The LED technology has a projected 20-year lifespan compared to the 4-year life of the metal halide lights that the LED system replaces. The City expects additional savings from the cost of maintenance and light replacement. Arcade lights have also been retrofitted with LED lighting to complement the new City Hall lighting. The same controller will be able to operate and coordinate both the arcade lights and the City Hall lights. “It is wonderful that the City is taking this opportunity to recreate its own home place – City Hall – as the keystone and central event in an ongoing pursuit of improved illumination for our city,” said Todd Lee, President of LIGHT Boston. Based on materials from boston.gov

2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of The Summer of Love. To celebrate, Illuminate founder and CEO Ben Davis wants to transform Market Street into a rainbow of multicolored lights from Embarcadero to Van Ness. From the same non-profit that brought us the Bay Lights, the new LED project, Lightrail, will consist of a two-mile long stretch of luminous cables that will run 18 feet above the street, reflecting the real-time movement of BART and Muni trains in the subway tunnels below ground. Strips of LEDs would extend from existing utility poles up the length of Market Street from the Embarcadero to the Castro, showing swiftly moving flashes of color each time a BART or Muni train exited a station underneath the street, with different colors indicating the different lines. The installation has already been approved to last for four years, with a proposed budget of $12 million. Illuminate hopes to raise at least $10 million in private philanthropy, much the same way they raised funds, twice, to install and then re-install the Bay Lights. "Once we've collected all the money, it would take six months to built the Lightrail" added Davis. Georges Zisiadis and Stefano Corazza are the local artists behind the installation. Davis met Zisiadis after a celebration for the Bay Lights and was amazed by the idea of LightRail. "This is as important as Bay Lights or maybe more important," said Davis at an event last week. "We want this to be a provocation to people to continue down Market Street." With Lightrail, Illuminate also plans to retrofit the historic Path of Gold streetlights, from the Ferry Building to the rainbow flag in the Castro, with new energy-efficient LED bulbs that will cut energy use by 80%. // To know more about Lightrail and ask for a private demo visit illuminate.org or lightrail.org