Milan 4321

In Milan at the 'Salone Internazionale del Mobile', we will be exhibiting in a satellite show with other international universities alongside the main exhibition, which showcases all that is new in the world of furniture design. Our stand will be showing work from the MA's groups including textiles, craft, graphics and furniture design. This is part of the floor plan, we are number 3.

The stand will look something like the image below but much better. (My first attempt at sketchup, tried to copy Andy's mackete, doesn't look anything like it!!) The stand has got an asymmetrical canopy from which their will be suspended lights on a timber frame.

The lights have been kindly donated by Selux Lighting. Selux is providing us with a selection of spot lights and strip lights which will be attached to a computerised track system, with integral dimming.

Over the last couple of months I have been in contact with Selux to arrange the sponsorship. I was able gain sponsorship because I worked for Selux before I came to university, and had a good working relationship with them.

Working at Selux I was able to appreciate the benefits of architectural lighting. We do not encounter architectural lighting schemes in a domestic setting, but we do see them in retail, hotels and generally in the public arena.. I understood that this kind of lighting is not an afterthought, and as such becomes an integral part to the design of a space. Which means that when the building is designed the lights will be planned for and incorporated into the design.

In Cornwall Selux provided lighting for Geevor Tin mine, the lighting is spread over descending floors providing continuous light lines, and as with many other cases the lighting is essentially adding to the architecture by becoming part of the interior design of the building.

Spaces are complimented and changed by the lighting schemes, and in some cases the lighting becomes more important than the building itself. Below are some Selux project examples.

Hochwasser-pumpwerk Köln, Deutschland

The walls and roof of the building have a flat lighting effect. The colour of the light changes according to the water levels of the Rhine. This is achieved via an electronic control system, called DALI EUTRAC ® software. The DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) computer creates different lighting scenarios, when the water tower is white this means that the levels of the Rhine are normal. The redder the water tower is the higher the water levels are.

The pumping station in Cologne exists beneath the water tower, and the water tower is a significant landmark and acts as an early warning system to the residents of Koln.

http://www.dali-ag.org/main.php?n=gz8a&a=sel&i=75
http://www.selux.co.uk/selux/uk/en

Below are images of the ‘Ordupgaard Museum’ in Kopenhagen, the extension to the main gallery was designed by the architect Zaha Hadid and the lighting schedule by Selux

Selux is also a hugely successful company with offices all over the world. They are also very environmentally conscious and focused on quality and longevity, this has allowed them to maintain a leading presence within the lighting market.