An American in Frankfurt

Other architectural lighting fixtures included recessed downlights and adjustables, “technical” pendants, a number of in-wall recessed luminaires, and a world of utility and industrial products. (I did not spend time on the latter. With the falling dollar, I will use U.S. or Asian generic commercial lighting, what the lighting industry refers to as white goods.) Recessed lighting, on the other hand, continues to evolve with a variety of square, round, and rectangular shapes, many in LED or with a conventional lamp and LED coloring. My favorite was a covelight designed to be applied to a wall, using a narrow LED strip, plastered and feathered before being painted.

Among outdoor luminaires, I noted a significant trend toward dark sky friendly lighting. In addition to LED pole lights, there are more HID products in the marketplace, but for every source, very few products were overly glaring or wasteful. It is about time!

Several U.S. lighting companies exhibited at Light+Building for the first time. I was pleased to see San Antonio-based Lucifer Lighting Company showing their innovative accent lights and other new products. Their micro-gear driven hot-aiming recessed luminaires for compact MR16 halogen and HID lamps were unmatched even by the big European companies. These days, Americans are not always well received, and it was good to see them and a few other U.S. companies holding their own.

BREAKTHROUGHS AND WINNERS — BENYA’S PICKS Among the thousands of luminaires and other products, these stood out:

TECHNOLOGY — THE DOUBLE BACK T5 LAMP — OSRAM SYLVANIA For years lighting designers have wanted a continuous fluorescent lamp without socket shadows. While there have been solutions, most have not been mainstream. At last, there are T5 lamps with a double back end that achieve a seamless linear lighting effect. Presently applied to the T5HO, one hopes that other lamps, including T5 and T8, also can be offered in this configuration.

TECHNOLOGY — THE METAL HALIDE PLASMA LAMP — LUXIM CORPORATION

More than a decade ago, much ado was made of a product called the sulfur lamp. While it failed, much of its promise is now realized in a metal halide lamp using similar principles. Its tiny arc tube and hemispherical distribution position it for high lumen applications where the LED just cannot go. This lamp has the potential to be the highest efficacy white light source, revolutionizing high lumen package lighting.

COMMERCIAL LIGHTING — THE DAYWAVE — PHILIPS LIGHTING Those designing offices and commercial lighting are always looking for something new and fresh. The DayWave fixture is just about the best “linear” luminaire seen in some time.

Rising and falling in a wave, or gently arching, this edgelit-LED-waveguide micro-prism luminaire is just plain spectacular.

COMMERCIAL LIGHTING — SPACE AGE PENDANTS — TARGETTI-POULSEN Always looking for a pendant downlight that is different, this metal halide downlight fits the bill. Amazingly current and retro at the same time, it is glare-free, luminous, and enjoyable. There are three sizes for different rooms, allowing a wide range of uses.

DECORATIVE LIGHTING — THE GLASS ARTICHOKE — TARGETTI-POULSEN Sometimes it seems that every architect in the world wants an Artichoke over his/her dining room table. This timeless icon has appeared in white paint, stainless steel, and copper — and now in glass as a limited edition. This is so gorgeous that I want it over my dining room table, too.

DECORATIVE LIGHTING — LED CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS — SWARORSKI

Many architectural lighting designers do not use crystal chandeliers. Expense aside, crystal seems to have a limited range of motif, most of it not modern. That is until now, when I saw two stunning designs in the same showroom, one appearing as a waterfall, and the other as a cloud. Using LED light sources, the color of the crystal is beyond stunning, with shimmering blues and greens simply not produced by incandescent lamps. In particular, the cloud seems almost motif independent, not necessarily formal, and beautiful without appearing ostentatious.

PARTING THOUGHT Not surprisingly, there was an undercurrent theme at Light+Building about sustainability. I do not think there is a lot of different between U.S. and European attitudes about sustainability and frankly, there was not a lot of evidence that either culture is any better than the other in addressing this issue. The things we like the most about lighting, especially decorative lighting, color-changing lighting systems, and well-executed architectural lighting, is that it can be attractive yet useful and offers variety unmatched by any other aspect of building design. But lighting consumes energy. Used gratuitously, it is as wasteful as an American SUV, no matter how appealing. European lighting, just like lighting everywhere else on the planet, struggles with finding the right balance.