The installation fLUX, Binary Waves is concieved and realised by the Belgian artist gorup LAb{au} and is produced by French art organisation Synesthesie, in the context of Art Grandeur Nature 2008 biennial. The installation invests the area of the Saint-Denis train station, Paris.

Here follows some info from LAb[au]:

fLUX, Binary Waves is an urban and cybernetic installation responding to its surrounding (cars, people, electromagnetic fields from mobile phones,..) and transpositioning them into luminous, sonic and cinetic moves. This relation between the installation and the urban activity happens in real time and sets each person as an element of the installation, as center of the public realm.

The installation fLUX, binary waves is constituted by a network of 32 rotating and luminous panels of 3 meter-high and 60 centimetres wide, placed every 3 meters to form a kinetic wall. The panels rotate around their vertical axis, and have a black reflective surface on one side, the other being plain mat white. Their rotation is controlled by microprocessors, allowing to determine precisely the rotation speed and angle, while their networking allows to synchronise the movement of the 32 panels. The microprocessors are connected to infrared sensors, capturing the surrounding infrastructural flows, defining the frequency and amplitude of the rotation. According to this set up, each impulse is transmitted from one panel to the other, describing visual waves running from one side of the installation to the other, and then bouncing back while progressively loosing oscillation. All these principles relate the ‘micro-events’ happening in the area to a unified play of light, colours and sounds directly derived from the rhythm of the city flows.

As such, the installation proposes an urban sign having as subject the ‘urban’ and as message to be a catalyst of urbanity via the transcription of urban flows in a contemporary play of kinetics, lights and sound.

LAb[au]_laboratory for architecture and urbanism
Lakensestraat 104 Rue de Laeken, Brussel 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
http://www.lab-au.com

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) announced the acquisition of Lighting Control & Design, Inc. (CA).

LC&D is an established manufacturer of comprehensive digital lighting controls and software, whose product range from lighting dimming and building interfaces to digital thermostats. The scalability of LC&D’s products can be used for numerous applications, including commercial and institutional buildings.

Acuity Brands owns and operates Acuity Brands Lighting, already including a number of different brands, now adding LC&D, considering them to be an important part of their growth strategy. Acuity Brands, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, production, and distribution of lighting fixtures, and related products and services.

Stefano Merlo has sent us his project of a sustainable luminaire that aims to bridge the gap between modern technology and man.

Here is some info from Merlo Stefano:
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Nowadays, to save energy is one of the most pressing problems. This is already possible with the contemporary technology, such as low consumption LED light sources and solar panels; but actual products seem to be too far from people’s everyday uses and in general they don’t require enough interaction to make people aware of the problem.

Energy Bucket is an innovative product that comes from the habit of the past to collect potable water at the well using buckets. In fact, “Energy Bucket” requires to be exposed by the user under the solar light to recharge (thanks to the solar panels on top), so that it can be carried anywhere and illuminate when the night falls (it works with Wide Beam Superbright LEDs housed on the plastic bucket).

An honest exchange between man and nature: ‘I do something to have something back, clean light!’

Merlo Stefano
merlo.stefano@gmail.com
www.stefanomerlo.com

Strassen Beleuchtung 2009 is a conference on Street Lighting taking place in Berlin from 26 to 28. January 2009. The themes that are to be discussed during the conference are the influence of lighting on safety and security, the light sources and their future use in street lighting, the influence of mesopic vision on street lighting.

When: 26 to 28. January 2009
Where: Hotel Berlin, Lützowplatz 17, Berlin / Germany

“Light InSight” exhibition offers new perspectives on the past, present and future possibilities of the existence of “light”, here investigated from the perspective of perception, beyond art and science.

Light is the most basic of media. Not only in visible light’s relationship to our daily functioning, but in that light fundamentally enables the very existence of so much in this world. The living orgasms and environments of the earth form and their ecosystems are maintained by their relationship with solar energy. Throughout human history, light, beyond its role as a necessity for our physical beings, has been continually reinvested with powerful new significance by religion, science, and philosophy. In the arts, especially since the development of optical devices in the Renaissance, light has served to organize visual systems and new artistic expressions, starting with the laws of perspective derived from the “camera obscura”. And of course in the Enlightenment, light was seen as a direct metaphor for aspiring towards knowledge and apprehending the world.

The “Light InSight” exhibition will provide an opportunity for the viewer to question anew the significance of seeing, vision, and sight through light, and to obtain new insights.

When: December 26, 2008 - February 28, 2009
Where: Intercommunication Centre (ICC), Tokyo/Japan

The LED – Light and Colour in Action exhibition focuses on the dynamic relationship between LED lighting and coloured surfaces with particular reference to the hitherto little researched spatial context. It presents the interplay between LED lighting and colour in a hands-on way, offering an insight into a novel source of design potential. At the same time, the exhibition provides copious information about current developments in LED technology.

The LED – Light and Colour in Action exhibition has been developed and designed by the design researchers of the LED-ColourLab (Zurich University of the Arts, ZHdK) in collaboration with the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur and Philips Lighting Switzerland, IGP Pulvertechnik AG, the Eidg. Kommission für Technologie und Innovation KTI and kt.COLOR AG.

When: November 8 2008 to May 3 2009
Where: Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, Winterthur/Switzerland

Schein Werfen is an exhibition in Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna revolving around the history of Light and Lighting in theater and Performing Arts. It shows the evolution of technical and cultural background behind theater lighting through time.

When: from 23.10.2008 until 12.4.2009.
Where: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna / Austria

Montreal Festival of Lights will take place from 19. February to 22. February and 27. February to 1. March 2009. The festival as described by the organizers:

It’s an irresistible invitation to join in the frolic and freshness of the Celebration of Light! With a terrific array of festive and free activities, the program annually attracts thousands and thousands of Montrealers and tourists eager to experience winter from a different perspective!

In the heart of the city’s historic quarter, formed by Old Montreal and the Quays of the Old Port, the Celebration offers fun for the whole family: speed down a slide made entirely from ice, or glide across the skating rink; join the torchlight procession, or pour into our impressive heated sphere, where DJs and VJs drive a dance-made festival crowd, while all around you, fireworks and braziers light up a night filled with free outdoor concerts!

Places: Forum of Design for the Public Realm and EDRA, the Environmental Design Research Association, in cooperation with Metropolis Magazine announce the twelfth annualGreat Places Awards (formerly EDRA/Places Awards) for Place Design, Planning and Research.

The Great Places Awards are unique among programs that recognize professional and scholarly excellence in environmental design.  They are distinguished by their interdisciplinary focus, concern for human factors in the design of the built environment, and a commitment to promoting links between design research and practice.

We invite participation from the full breadth of environmental design and related  research activities, including architecture, landscape architecture, planning, urban design, interior design, lighting design, graphic design, environmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography and the physical sciences.

NYSERDA, ConEd, and The DesignLightsTM Consortium invite you to attend “Designing Lighting Projects with High Performance T8 (HPT8) Systems”

This interactive seminar will take place on Thursday, January 8th from 5:30pm – 8:00pm.

Con Edison is hosting this event in their 19th Floor Auditorium at 4 Irving Place.

With demand for more efficient buildings and increasingly stringent energy codes, the need for better lighting design and more efficient products is a growing concern.  By attending this training you will learn how to save energy for your customers while providing quality lighting.

“Designing Lighting Projects with High Performance T8 (HPT8) Systems” will cover:

• What HPT8 Systems are
• Implications for LEED
• Best practices for designing with HPT8 Systems
• How does ballast factor (BF) affect energy costs?
• T8 vs. T5
• Incentives available for you and your customers
• Partnering with NYSERDA on Energy Efficient Lighting Projects

When: 8. January 2009
Where: 19th Floor Auditorium at 4 Irving Place, New York / USA