Archinect - News

Snøhetta designs hemp-based lighting product inspired by 1970s ateljé Lyktan line

2024-03-13T12:02:00-04:00

Snøhetta has designed a line of lighting products for Swedish lighting manufacturer ateljé Lyktan.

The line, named Superdupertube, sees a revision of the manufacturer’s 1970s Supertube product, which was given a “contemporary makeover through extensive material research.”

Image credit: ateljé Lyktan

Image credit: Jonas Lindstrom

“When ateljé Lyktan challenged us to create a new technical office luminaire, we rediscovered their iconic Supertube from the 1970s,” said Snøhetta Partner Jenny B. Osuldsen about the project. “Our joint decision was clear — let's update and elevate the Supertube to a 2.0 version, guided by our commitment to sustainability and cradle-to-cradle thinking.”

Image credit: ateljé Lyktan

The project began as an exploration into how ateljé Lyktan’s products could be reimagined using locally sourced materials with a smaller ecological footprint. Initial experiments with pine cones and coffee grounds led to the choice of hemp fiber, which the...

From lighting design to custom millwork, a background in architecture creates room for alternative job opportunities

2022-02-08T16:22:00-05:00

Following January's look at architecture's relationship with furniture and product design, we're taking another look at alternative career paths an architecture education can provide. This week, we highlight a selection of exciting job opportunities listed on Archinect Jobs involving wood floor/millwork and architectural lighting at MADERA and L'Observatoire International.

The new Editions de Parfums boutique in Paris. Image credits: Roland Halbe and Maxime Hibon/Courtesy of L'Observatoire International.

When designing any building or structure, several factors come into play, however, an often-overlooked element when designing a space is the power of lighting. While we aren't negating the importance and value of natural lighting, indoor lighting setups play essential factors when illuminating an area and creating an overall mood and tone. For the New York-based L'Observatoire, the firm's passion and expertise started in 1993 with French lighting designer Hervé Descottes.

Since its ...

Architecture helps memorialize basketball legend Kobe Bryant

2020-01-27T16:43:00-05:00

Many are shaken by the recent news of the tragic deaths of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 other people in Los Angeles over the weekend. As fans grieve the loss, the city of Los Angeles mourns for Bryant. With the number of accolades and championships Bryant has won during his 20-year career, the impact he's had on the sport and the city of Los Angeles is insurmountable.

Coverage of the heartbreaking incident sent shockwaves through the media, and curiously, during this time of widespread grief, Los Angeles took to its built environment to honor one of the city's most esteemed athletes. On Sunday night, several LA buildings sported the Lakers' trademark purple and gold team colors. Fans across the nation also shared photos of cities repping Laker purple and gold.

Nice tribute! The Gores Group in Beverly Hills lit up their building tonight too. #RIPMamba pic.twitter.com/TGPbmycGai
— ACF in LA (@ACFinLA) January 27, 2020 From @HoustonTX too- our bridges lit...

Incandescent light bulbs live on as Trump Administration rolls back more energy efficiency guidelines

2019-12-23T15:22:00-05:00

The Trump administration announced Friday that it would block a rule designed to phase out older incandescent bulbs and require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. In announcing the move, the secretary of energy, Dan Brouillette, who is a former auto lobbyist, said the administration had chosen “to protect consumer choice by ensuring that the American people do not pay the price for unnecessary overregulation from the federal government.”

The rule in question was set to phase out the use of inefficient incandescent light bulbs on January 1, 2020 through the imposition of stringent energy efficiency standards initially crafted in 2007 under the administration of President George W. Bush.

Regarding the measure, The New York Times quotes President Donald Trump as saying, “The new bulb is many times more expensive, and I hate to say it, it doesn’t make you look as good,” adding, “We’re bringing back the old light bulb.”

SPF:architects' "Rainbow Bridge" is now open in Long Beach, CA

2018-02-08T20:13:00-05:00

SPF:architects' new pedestrian bridge, named "Rainbow Bridge", is now open to the public of Long Beach, CA. The bridge provides a connection between Long Beach's Convention Center and Performing Arts Center.

Rainbow Bridge by SPF:a located in Long Beach, CA. Image: SPF:a.

Previously, moving between these spaces required navigating loading docs and HVAC equipment on a stretch of the Seaside Way. Initially conceived of as a simple elevated sidewalk, the walkway developed into a much fuller project. Visitors can now not only easily connect between these two spaces, they can also enjoy an architectural experience along the way.

Rainbow Bridge by SPF:a located in Long Beach, CA. Image: SPF:a.

The finished project is a 600-foot bridge consisting of 76 custom-welded bent-steel ribs framing the top, and approximately 1,200 cubic yards of poured-in-place concrete shaping the base. The bridge canopy features 3,500 color-changing LED node lights, which can be programmed and synched to music to...

Light artist Daan Roosegaarde gives 85-year-old Dutch dike a futuristic upgrade

2018-01-03T14:55:00-05:00

For the legendary, 32-km Afsluitsdijk dike's 85th birthday, the Dutch government commissioned creative designer and innovator Daan Roosegaarde to spruce things up and transform the famous Dutch causeway into something more than a flood protector and road link. Built in 1932 as part of the Netherlands' famed sea defenses, the dyke is one of the country's landmark engineering projects.

For Icoon Afsluitsdijk, as the initiative is called, Roosegaarde wanted to "enhance the innovative character of the legendary 32 kilometer Dutch dyke whilst highlighting its key functions: water protection & heritage, energy and mobility as an exemplary model of a smart landscape for today and tomorrow." Given a €13 million budget, Roosegaarde has turned the monumental site into a beautiful and sustainable art installation with three separate projects that celebrate the historical site and inspire the country towards an innovative future.

'Gates Of Light’ by Daan Roosegaarde

'Gates Of Light’ by Daan Roo...

The "tectonic bravery" of NBBJ's Nanjing Eco-Tech Exhibition Centre

2017-05-18T14:11:00-04:00

Symbolizing mountain ranges in architecture has the potential for a dramatic, iconic payoff, especially when the materials used to do so play an integral role in the interior experience of the building (think: the fabric peaks of the Denver International Airport, which allude to the Rocky Mountains and Native American settlements while providing ample natural light). NBBJ's Nanjing Eco-Tech Exhibition Centre manages not only to reference the Zhong and Stone Mountains with its eight-peaked, light cannon rooftop, but also represent the economic ascension of Nanjing itself.

Each peak drives light through the four principal floors of the structure, weaving instances of what the architects describe as "tectonic bravery" throughout. This bravery becomes the signature characteristic of the structure. While the Exhibition Centre lists a typical compliment of sustainable 21st century amenities (roof garden, integrated water retention and distribution, natural ventilation, responsive facades,...

Ground breaks on Frank Gehry's subtly lit, opened-up Philadelphia Museum of Art

2017-03-30T13:50:00-04:00

How do you transform a classical museum without dramatically altering the existing architecture? Frank Gehry and the hardworking crew at Gehry Partners have chosen to remove a few walls and increase the amount of natural and artificial lighting, creating a stronger visual connection between previously closed-off reception halls and the gallery spaces, as these before and after photos demonstrate:

The $196 million "Core Project" should be completed by about 2020, and will add 90,000 square feet to the public, including 23,000 square feet of new gallery space. After the Gehry Plan is completed, the galleries will have grown by an additional 55,000 square feet, for a total of 78,000 square feet.

Getting down with the LED grow lights to be used in NYC's Lowline

2017-03-02T19:51:00-05:00

Although still just a mock-up in the Lowline Lab, the LED grow lights designed by Lighting Science for use in the real Lowline are a promising iteration.

Combining everything that's great about glowing hexagons with three different settings ("soft-white light, one that mimics daylight, and one that includes Lighting Science’s patented VividGroTM LED indoor grow light spectrum technology") the grow lights are about 2 feet in diameter each, and will be coupled with solar installations designed to direct sunlight into the depths of the pioneering subterranean park.

One brick per Bible verse in Napp Studio's enormous, lightbulb-infused "Archive of Light"

2017-01-05T14:44:00-05:00

The imaginary realm of architecture frequently ventures off into scales that are improbable, if not outright impossible, on the politically and gravitationally constrained Earth (think Étienne-Louis Boullée, or Lebbeus Woods). In a similar if less secular vein, Napp Studio has conceived of an enormous, walkable brick wall that would feature every verse of the bible and/or other spiritual texts inscribed on titled, lightbulb-illuminated bricks. The idea here is to create the sensation of leafing through a book page by page, with each page being loosely represented by a brick.

As the architects note, "The bricks are books written with text of living stories of the everyday reality, yet, a reality with hope. Hope is the most significant spiritual grain we rely on when facing the sometime harsh life, it provides us with strength and will – the light to live on." The massive scale of the project does not place it beyond the realm of the possible, although there's no word yet of an officia...

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands + Leo Villareal to light London's bridges anew

2016-12-13T18:56:00-05:00

The team led by artist Leo Villareal and architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands had the winning proposal in the Illuminated River design competition, which will redesign the lighting scheme for central London's bridges across the River Thames. The winners were one of six shortlisted schemes created by notable contenders such as Adjaye Associates, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Amanda Levete Architects, who all led multi-disciplinary teams with famous artists.

Learn more on Bustler.

For more about bridges on Archinect:

If London Garden Bridge is cancelled, NAO report says taxpayers could lose £20m

NEXT Architects design a swooping "Mobius strip" bridge for Changsha, China

Calatrava's Peace Bridge in Calgary keeps getting vandalized and the repair costs are adding up

Steven Holl designs "concave response" lighting for new visual arts building

2016-05-11T13:01:00-04:00

"We don't have a single 'style,'" Steven Holl explained in reference to his firm's new four level, 35,000 square foot Visual Arts Building commissioned for the Franklin & Marshall College. "We always try to shape a unique experience, and our approach is the same with this project. We look to create something of this place, to inspire future students."

Influenced heavily by the numerous hundred-year-old-plus trees that occupy the site, the Visual Arts Building is conceived as rising like a kite into the arboreal canopy and features a glass-enclosed forum on the ground floor that allows a clear view from the building's campus side of Buchanan Park.

A variety of faculty and advanced student studios, as well as a lecture hall/film screening auditorium and dedicated film labs, will compliment the project's classroom space.

In addition to geothermal heating and cooling, the project features an inventive, noteworthy take on lighting. In this case, the "building’s light profile is a concave r...

Rejoice aesthetes! New incandescent bulbs are now more efficient than LED

2016-01-14T16:51:00-05:00

Researchers at MIT have shown that by surrounding the filament with a special crystal structure in the glass they can bounce back the energy which is usually lost in heat, while still allowing the light through... Usually traditional light bulbs are only about five per cent efficient, with 95 per cent of the energy being lost to the atmosphere. In comparison LED or florescent bulbs manage around 14% efficiency. But the scientists believe that the new bulb could reach efficiency levels of 40%

These "Stalaclights" are a witty tribute to the forever-growing skyscraper

2015-01-28T14:06:00-05:00

Dutch designer David Graas playfully reimagines the natural forms of cave stalactites and the perpetually increasing height -- and number -- of skyscrapers in a collection of 3D-printed bulb shades called Stalaclights.

The Stalaclights are characteristic of Graas' eccentric yet sophisticated approach in his product designs: "Nowadays every major city is dominated by high rise buildings. Their height steadily increasing in time...If you would imagine these cities turned upside down it would look just like stalactites growing from the ceiling of a limestone cave." The shades were also inspired by Art Deco-era styles, when the first skyscrapers forever changed the cityscapes of major metropolises like New York and Chicago.

The Stalaclights are available online for about $210 each (€185.00) on Graas' 3D-printing label LAYERS.

LEDs to be installed in the Sistine Chapel

2014-09-30T12:57:00-04:00

When Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he did so, for the most part, using the light of the sun that streamed through the windows of the building. And for the past 500 years since then, viewers have admired the results of that work, for the most part, with the help of that same light source. Starting next month...the famous ceiling will be getting a new look in the form of new lights. Some 7,000 LEDs, to be precise [...]

domæn ltd.'s NAN hints at Orange County's potential for more innovative design

2014-01-16T19:11:00-05:00

domæn ltd.'s remodel project "NAN" reminds us that an ordinary industrial warehouse is always full of refreshing design possibilities. Located on 1907 Nancita Circle in Placentia, CA, NAN shows off domæn's signature sharp lines and black-and-white color schemes that give the structure an edge over the area's numerous warehouses and the generally lackluster landscape of Orange County.

On the other hand, in addition to being a recent example of adaptive reuse, remodeling projects like NAN could be another sign of potential growth for the city of Placentia and its neighboring cities, which have been aiming towards economic revival in the past decade.

Below are more details to NAN that the architects shared with us:

"The NAN project seizes the opportunity to play on typical office configurations, and offers a lofty, industrial appearance. The exterior treatment follows the interior logic, taking advantage of the precast concrete facade and playing with contrasting textural qualitie...