Awards in European Design Competition
Awards in European Design Competition
The winners of the European "Lights of the future" competition
were announced at the Euroluce lighting exhibition in Milan, Italy, in
April 2000. The competition was launched in April 1999 by the European
Commission and a number of energy agencies to stimulate innovative and
attractive lighting fixture designs for the residential market, dedicated
to pin-based compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
This competition was the first pan-European, large-scale activity to promote pin-based CFL luminaires. A number of US programs promote such luminaires, especially so-called torchieres (or halogen uplighters). In the UK, the Lighting Industry Federation and the UK Energy Saving Trust have also been active in similar programs. The US and the UK programs use various types of financial incentives for consumers to achieve increased market penetration for these products.
The European design competition, however, is not linked to such incentives per se, although in some European countries such activities are planned to help promote the luminaires that emerge from the competition. Instead, the competition relied on designers and luminaire manufacturers to focus on key features of the products that would make them attractive for consumers: decorative appeal, aesthetic lighting, reasonable cost, and practicality of manufacture.
The competition, open to European professional designers, design students, and luminaire manufacturers, covered five product categories for the residential market: ceiling, wall, floor, table, and outdoors.
COMPETITION RESULTS
The competition had a good response, with more than 200 projects participating. The judging panel - consisting of a group of ten designers and retailers - selected the best 60 entries, which were exhibited at Euroluce. From these, the jury selected 27 winners, who will be free to use the excellence design logo of the competition in marketing or advertising. The jurors' judgment was mainly concerned with the aesthetic result, which was - they said - "the major challenge because of the poor aesthetics that characterize the low-consumption lamps today." In the designer category, the winners were those who could best take advantage of the possibilities offered by these lamps, such as the low heat produced, the fact that the lamp can be placed directly on any surface, or the peculiar shape of the light bulb itself.
Among the student entries, invention and experimentation were the winning features, and feasibility was not considered important.
The manufacturers' designs, however, were rewarded for showing great market potential: for instance, by fitting CFLs into products that already have a well-established position on the market, such as halogen uplighters (or torchieres), which today use high wattage halogens and ceiling fixtures.
EMERGING TRENDS?
The winning designs can be grouped according to the main theme explored by the designer. Some of these solutions may also be representative of interior luminaire trends to gain ground in the future:
- Many projects took advantage of the low heat produced by CFLs to locate
their lighting part, without any support, directly on tables and floors.
- Screening was another major theme. Because of the high intensity of
the light produced by CFLs, many designers used the folding screen idea
to control intensity and direction of the light. Light screening is
not a new concept, of course, but CFL features allow one to obtain slimmer
luminaries.
- Some designers explored CFLs' indirect light by using only its reflection
on different materials, or refraction through rough surfaces or through
polycarbonate foils, plexiglass and metacrylate. The colored effects
of refraction on the sides of these foils were exploited in various
ways.
- Fully luminescent hand torches take advantage of being completely sealed, needing no air pockets for the lamp, even when made of plastic materials, and hence are suitable in bathrooms, outdoors or in children's rooms. However, such designs may need more costly amalgam lamps to prevent significant reduction in light output due to the higher operating temperature.
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"Mushroom Delight" is a completely sealed plastic Òtumbler-luminaireÓ. (Design 100% Licht) |
"Mireille" from Luxo Italiana uses a circular T5 lamp. (Design R Lanciani) |
"E-Light" from Artemide uses a cold-cathode lamp integrated in the fixture. This lamp is less efficient than a CFL, but has a very long life, at least 20000 hours. (Design E Gismondi) |
Links of "Lights of the Future":
www.etsu.com/eulightdesign
www.federlegnoarredo.it
www.cosmit.it
Christophe Marx, ETSU: christof.marx@aeat.co.uk