Salon 2009

16 January, 2009
“Residential Lighting: Past, Present, Future
Looking Forward into the Future of Residential Lighting.”
New Maru Building Ecozzeria, Marunouchi
by: misa fuji

During the year 2008-2009 the Lighting Detectives hosted a three-part salon series focused on “Residential Lighting: Past, Present, and Future.” Part 3 of the series was titled: “Looking Forward into the Future of Residential Lighting.” The Lighting Detectives, who through fieldwork, continue to investigate the subject of lighting by using our own eyes and bodies to experience light, prepared to discuss the future of residential lighting from not just from a visionary and dreamy perspective, but by reflecting on current residential lighting and realistic possibilities for the future.

Report from the Lighting Detectives: “Lighting for Tomorrow and Our Lifestyle’s of the Future.”
The Lighting Detectives decided to tackle this subject from the three following directions. 1. Light Source: LED
2. Light Fixture: The Home
3. Light Recipients: Occupants of the Home
In the future, LED`s and Organic EL technology will most likely become mainstream items making available various options for luminous furniture, other luminous products, and opportunities to incorporate colored lighting into our living spaces.

As for the home, the technology to use daylight more efficiently is developing fast; along with systems that couple more elaborate motion sensors with lighting are a possibility.

With all of the lighting possibilities present now and being developed for future use, people will be able to pick and choose a lighting environment most suitable for their individual homes. In the near future, increasingly unique lighting will, most likely, be a prominent feature of our living spaces. Who knows, the common place orange incandescent light or white fluorescent light radiating for our nightly windows could be replaced with more colorfully variations.

Even if it is the future, we should start to experience the future of lighting now. With the help of Koizumi Lighting we put together an exact scale model of new lighting possibilities in different daily scenes and captured this experience in a short movie. A luminous bed awaits a tired body; a luminous luncheon mat greets a hungry stomach. Although some of these lighting ideas might just be daydreaming, playing house inside the scale model with these new ideas was a fresh and, actually, pleasant lighting experience. The Lighting Detectives report included a bold look into the future, but if we actually think about these possibilities in terms of the field of lighting, they don’t seem all that far-fetched.



Mr. Yukio Hashimoto: "Looking for Tomorrow through Past Projects"
For this final salon the Lighting Detectives were lucky enough to host, interior designer, Mr. Yukio Hashimoto as the guest speaker. In terms of lighting, he is the designer of many thought-provoking projects. Mr. Hashimoto`s designs are not just limited to commercial spaces, but he has also personally designed many homes. During this session Mr. Hashimoto presented some of his residential designs and lighting ideas for them. In one particular project, using only light, Mr. Hashimoto renovated an old Kyoto townhouse. The Lighting Detectives and audience were amazed at the conversion by only changing the lighting design.

Mr. Hashimoto`s theory about residential lighting is, “that nature and light should not just be a presence in the home, but in a natural way, fill a home with useful lighting, suitable for each resident’s needs. The lighting system should be flexible to a residents needs, but also comfortable and realistic. Mr. Hashimoto`s words are something to keep in mind as we contemplate the future of residential lighting.

Yukio Hashimoto x Kaoru Mende: “Residential Lighting can change ME!?”
The talk session between Mr. Hashimoto and Chief Mende was a grand finale to the evening, with the discussion running well over its allotted time. From Mies von der Rohe to Le Corbusier to present-day, newly, debuting architects, the two designers discussed residential design and theorized about the best lighting or each project, all the while looking for insight into the future.

Chief Mende added his experiences with residential lighting in Scandinavia and Mr. Hashimoto took a unique perspective based on his design of hotels, both agreeing that what people want is not only luxury, but also entertainment. Slowly an outline of what the future might hold in store for residential lighting was starting to form.

The future residence will not just be a place of relaxation for its homeowner, but an extension of oneself, a place of self-expression, or a setting for casual home parties. Future homeowners might be continually changing lighting effects according to each situation or just on a whim. Through this talk session, an underlying theme of how lighting will play an important role in communication between family and friends also surfaced.

Residential Lighting 3 Part Series: “After all is said and done.”
As the final salon of our 3 part series, we took this opportunity to look back on our pervious discussions, while also looking to the future of lighting. During the first salon in July 2008, we discovered that we couldn’t forget our roots and the comfortable lighting created in old traditional Japanese houses. Then in October, we battled with the incandescent lamp to discover, that with a little effort, incandescent lamps can be dimmed and set to meet our daily needs, enrich our lives, and be energy-efficient without having to resort to fluorescent lamps invading our homes. And at our third and final salon in January 2009, Chief Mende predicted the following 4 changes in our future lifestyles: 1.) Innovative change in the visual scene by new light sources, such as LED`s or Organic EL. 2.) Transformation of various situation and increased convenience based on the continued progress of computers. 3.) Increased admiration for natural light (sunlight, firelight) in our attitude towards life. 4.) Mode of living that will compliment minimal lighting. Can we find variety, individuality, and comfort in lighting of the future? We hope this 3 part series gave you the tools to investigate your own options for future residential lighting.



13 November, 2009
Enjoy Green Lighting Salon 1
Residential Lighting / Eco Ideas for Fun Residential Lighting ”
New Maru Building Ecozzeria, Marunouchi

Presentation of earth-friendly lighting ideas.

Even using low wattage lamps, attaching a net cloth to a cieling fixture creates enough brightness on the table top.

Ambient light reflected off the ceiling for plenty of brightness while sitting at the table.

Simple lanterns

Dialog between Mr. Namba and Chief Mende.

Reception

The theme for the fourth Lighting Detective Salon featured residential fieldwork with ideas for fun eco lighting. Guest speaker, architect, Kazuhiko Namba presented his own ideas on sustainable housing.

■What is environmental-friendly, people-friendly lighting?
Keywords such as CO2 reduction, green, earthy are now very common in our daily lives. However, how many people actually incorporate environmentally-friendly practices into their lives. As Lighting Detectives, we asked ourselves if there is something we can do to incorporate green ideas into the lighting environment. Something easy and fun, nothing laboring or painful, that could be started right away? Hmmmmm?!?!

■Trendy Lighting
Beginning with ordinary residential lighting, we experimented with different tricks and light simulations at the Koizumi showroom. First of all, the easiest way to increase brightness is by color. The color of a tablecloth, the color of curtains, even the color of a brown room compared to a white room effects brightness. As an element of the interior, changing the color of a tablecloth to suit different scenes will not only affect the lighting, you may even achieve haute interior!

■small light, BIG LIGHT
Sometimes it might be fun to just turn off all the lights and enjoy a candlelit evening. Try something completely different on those special occasions and make the celebration more personal with a small concentration of candlelight. Making green lighting part of your everyday routine, and particularly on special days, may add spice and balance to your everyday life.

■The Namba Formula & 4-layer Lighting Design Structure
Based on the Namba Formula for the Box Houses series, guest speaker, Kazuhiko Namba talked about an important element of housing, lighting design. The architectural formula that Mr. Namba bases his series of Box Houses on is a combination of the following 4-layer structure.
�@ Physical Properties: Construction standardization, long-lasting
�A Energy: Use sustainable energy, solar or wind power, and energy conserving ideas as much as possible.
�B Social Function: No-wall, no privacy, open plan proposals.
�C Symbolic Meaning: Simple form of a box.

Mr. Namba prepared numerous slides and showed different lighting methods that he has implemented over the years. In houses that he purposely specified low wattage lamps, the owners complained that it was too dark. Mr. Nambe asked them to leave the lighting as is for two months, as an adjusting period. After two months if it is still too dark he would make changes to the design. But after two months, there were no calls back to make adjustments. Taking time to adjust to a dimmer environment is a necessary period of adjustment to accept a new lighting environment and make it apart of your everyday life.

According to Mr. Namba, the following are 4-layers in the process of lighting design.
�@ Physical Properties: Only use 2 or 3 types of light fixtures.
�A Energy: Use only the minimal amount of fixtures.
�B Social Function: Flexibility. Always changeable to suit residential needs.
�C Symbolic Meaning: Lighting is usually not used during the daytime, so fixtures should be as small as possible, and blend into the background.

The Box House series is chasing the big idea of sustainability. After hearing Mr. Namba`s presentation, as a lighting designer, we should also follow suit and aim for sustainable lighting design. There were many hints and suggestions to enjoy green lighting in Mr. Namba`s presentation.

■Dialog: Chief Kaoru Mende x Kazuhiko Namba
The conversation started off with the example of Christopher Alexander`s “Pattern Language” and the importance of patient, mechanical repetition. Mr. Namba always carries a pyrometer and Chief Mende is never without his luxmeter. Through diligent training and experience, both have literally become each device and now have the knowhow to recognize settings with comfortable temperatures and lighting.

“Patient repetition.” and “Become the device.” were two phrases heard many times throughout the conversation. Maybe it is time for us to revert back and become readjusted to dimmer environments with natural light, colors, and transitions. This just may be the key to fun green lighting and earth-friendly lighting design.



City Walk 2009


23 October, 2009
Tokyo City Keiba: Twinkle Race
TV commercials featuring famous teenage heartthrobs are dissolving the trashy image of horseracing and making it more accessible to the public. For a change of pace, the Lighting Detectives gathered at Tokyo City Keiba for the Twinkle Race. Galloping full speed around the track or walking gracefully in the paddock, lights blazed down on the thoroughbreds during race operation hours and the Lighting Detectives were there to capture and record it all.

■Enormous Lights Illuminated the Racetrack
Metal halide floodlights are crammed together in a perfectly straight line to brightly illuminate the racetrack. Club members were caught with gaping mouths, as they turned away from the racetrack towards the stands and immediately were blinded by the lethal amount of light. Without thinking, Chief dug in his bag for his luxmeter. Without much effort, trackside vertical luminance was over 1000 lux. With that many fixtures there has to be excessive light shining on the track and also going every which way, but taking a look around only the track seems to be brightly lit. Hmmmmmm… Moving away from the track the glare seems to be minimal. Aha, the lamps must be super narrow beam lamps!

■ 2009 Illumination: Shogo Kariyazaki x Fantastic Canvas
When racing is not in progress, images under the theme “The subtle changing and colorful show of seasonally blooming trees and flowers,” created in collaboration with flower artist, Shogo Kariyazaki, are projected on a HUGE 8m x 450m LED media wall. Behind the wall it is dark, but the distribution angle for the racetrack lighting is remarkable controlled and no spill light shines on the media wall, even though it is not far from the track.

■Buying my first betting ticket
Most of the club members on this walk were firsttimers and had never been to a horse-racing track. We all watched the the first race, but didn’t really know what we were looking for. Well, we decided we had better by tickets. After find the betting area, we didn`t know what to bet on or how to purchase the tickets. With the help of an old man reading a racing guide and a security officer we placed our bets. The old man said,“If you bet on �A、�C、�K、�L you`ll probably win something. Take a sheet and mark the numbers. Only have 5 minutes `til the next race!” Under the coverless and exposed fluorescent tubes we placed our bets and thought, this is were it all happens. This is where the horse lovers rout for their favorite. Entrance to the racetrack is only a \100, a very reasonable fare to experience this unique nightlife. Plus, scanning the paddock, betting on your horse, and cheering from the stands is a great way to spend an evening!