|
 FAGERHULT
OPEN BOX
Open Box has stolen the march for yet another Red Dot design award for Fagerhult - this time even better, with 'Best of Best'. It is a lighting illusion that turns conventional luminaire design on its head. 'We wanted to create an impression of air and lightness. A luminaire can easily be perceived as enclosed and heavy - as a lump suspended from the ceiling. The first step was to open the casing,' says Gustav Nordr at Propeller AB, who together with colleagues Casper Asmussen and Filip Sauer has designed Open Box.
Open Box takes a different approach and uses contrasts between open and enclosed. Instead of enclosing the light sources in a conventional luminaire housing, the space between them is accentuated. The eye is enticed away from the light sources, through the luminaire and out into the room. 'In all honesty we started the design process by literally abandoning it.' Added Gustav.' We have worked from a product perspective and since we tackle many different product categories, the solutions frequently cross-fertilize each other. It is then easier to question established attitudes and "attack" from a different angle. For example, luminaire design quite often is focused on the ends - we chose to give the long sides character instead, as it is these you usually encounter.'
To utilise the luminaire's "own space" the trio decided to perforate the lower long side. The light forces its way through as small elements and illuminates the whole of the inner space. Depending on the louvre choice, graphic patterns are created with different brightness. A further contrast is the body which emphasizes the design - the open and the enclosed. The strength of the contrast is determined by the colour of the luminaire: grey or black.
'Our ambition was to describe the design of the luminaire with light. The onlooker should not have to think too much about where it comes from. You should only see the consequences, not the technical solution. Many people are bewildered, and wonder where we have hidden the light sources. How the luminaire can be lit up from within and on all sides at the same time. It is a small illusion.'
Open Box is the third luminaire in Fagerhult's Art of Light series and is being launched in the UK in May at Fagerhult's London Light Studio. Previous members of the family are Claesson Koivisto Rune's minimalistic Wall and Olle Lundberg's curvy Orosso, which in 2006 took home the prestigious Red Dot Design Award.
|
|