Global Lighting has made a name for itself as an authority on and curator of discerning design in lighting; we’re proud of our growing collections of modern and contemporary fixtures. And as with any refinement of expression, there is often more than meets the eye; there’s an underlying mindset that determines what is critical for inclusion and what is superfluous, or even misdirected. We are convinced that this degree of intent needs to run throughout any endeavor in order for it to reach its highest potential, including a business, which, after all, is made up of its people.

Core value cloud; a grounding declaration

So, accordingly, there has been a lot going on behind the monitor screens here at Global Lighting. In an ongoing process, we have been digging deep into ourselves, examining who we are as individuals, how we relate with each other, and identifying the core values that shape our collective personae. It has been a very gratifying and surprising process, as we have come to understand that as a company or brand we cannot present ourselves effectively to the world at large without self-acknowledgement. This foundational work of cultivating a culture and building a tribe will stand us in good stead going forward, anchoring our group efforts and inspiring confidence within those with whom we do business. Our customers and partners will know exactly what to expect and we will know exactly how to respond, by referral to the values we have articulated as our own.

Images courtesy of Zappos

We have been inspired in this undertaking by the work of Tony Hsieh and the amazing people at Zappos. There is a cycle that has been set in motion, starting with the visit of our CEO Larry Lazin to the inaugural Zappos Insights boot camp several years ago. He brought back the knowledge he had gained and shared it with his team here at Global Lighting; we worked hard to internalize the concepts and to make them our very own (which is the whole point!) by codifying our deep-seated principles. We realized early that this a living document—it should be revisited and examined regularly in order to remain relevant and reflect the people it represented. Our retail and e-commerce manager, Denise Bovell (known affectionately as Dee), stepped forward and volunteered to be the gatekeeper for this important task. She’ll be in charge of shepherding this ongoing process; as a continuation of this upward spiral, she is making the journey to Zappos headquarters in Las Vegas herself this week, to report on the successes we have already seen and to bring back further inspiration! 

Gatekeeper for our core values, Denise Bovell; go Dee!

Just before she left, she commented, "I woke up this morning in "Sponge Mode.” I am ready to soak up all the info and positive vibes from the Zappos Insights Team. All of the great feedback from HD [Expo] and WantedDesign (two very recent successful shows) has really left us pumped up and confident. I think this will be a prime time to come back with some fresh new ideas on how to continue our growth and positive atmosphere." We’re eagerly awaiting her return and looking forward to where this journey will lead us next, knowing that we have got our feet beneath us and our faces forward. We believe you’ll feel the difference too!

Secto Design's Octo in white, natural birch, and black.

We have exciting news at Global Lighting: we’ve officially become the exclusive North American distributor for Secto Design, a Finnish company producing some of the most gracefully restrained fixtures we’ve seen in quite some time! The collection, designed by architect Seppo Koho, is handmade entirely of PEFC-certified Finnish birch by highly skilled craftsmen. The shades, fashioned from laminated birch slats connected by rings of aircraft plywood, are available in white or black laminated birch. 

The Magnum 4202 in natural birch

Koho says of his designs, “To me, form is the most important consideration when designing any object. My lighting fixtures are spaces in themselves. The viewer should not be blinded by the light—on the contrary, the light should softly invite people to come closer. Not only do Secto Design lamps emphasize space and environment, they create atmosphere.” 

The Atto 500 in natural birch, black, and white

Secto Design will be participating in WantedDesign, a hip event held in the landmark Terminal Stores building in Manhattan, as part of the fair’s New Finnish Design exhibition and programming. The 22,000-square-foot space allotted to the fair will be chock full of exciting exhibitions, products and programming. I asked Odile Hainaut, co-founder of WantedDesign, to fill us in as to how the idea for the fair came about. "WantedDesign was born in a very spontaneous way, and with a very clear goal—to contribute in building a "real" and strong design week in New York in conjunction with the ICFF,” she said. “Claire Pijoulat and myself joined our forces in December 2010 to create the first edition in May 2011. We curated an event that presents established brands, independent designers, design institutions, workshops and talks in order to facilitate creative dialogues and to help new collaborations. WantedDesign is a platform for the design industry to communicate, to explore, to meet. And all that in the unique and typically New York Terminal Stores building, a convivial and enjoyable environment."

Secto Design shines with softly dramatic symmetry 

A cool bit of programming taking place this year will be the Neon Workshop during which Manhattan Neon will offer a live neon workshop. A “Design Students Challenge” focuses on lighting this year—and we love hearing that! And Design Within Reach and Dwell magazine will be showcasing the next generation of designers. Dwell’s editor-in-chief Amanda Dameron says of the magazine’s participation: This is an amazing opportunity for an under-the-radar or established designer to see a project realized. We are looking for a design that is multifunctional and destined to be a future live/work staple; something that could be seen in the pages of Dwell for years to come. We were excited to be able to partner with DWR and offer our readers, many of whom are young designers, the chance to present their work to the modern design community."   

WantedDesign's Claire Pijoulat and Odile Hainaut

WantedDesign will be open to the public from Saturday, May 19, through Monday, May 21, from 10 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. The full scope of programming is on their web site, and you can follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook for news.

 

 

The 2012 edition of the Hospitality Design Expo kicks off today in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Sands Convention Center will be packed with gleaming, glowing booths flaunting the latest in sophisticated design elements for spas, restaurants, hotels, and resorts. And right on cue, we're pleased to announce the launch of our completely redesigned web platform. We're very proud of our new look and the opportunity to take our service to the next level.

Another stellar film by Emilio at lekuonastudio

Our friends at LZF Lamps are in town for the show; their exhibit space (#3433) will be the most dazzling yet, bedecked with cascading Link fixtures everywhere. They've already put together a brand-new video capturing yesterday's booth set-up, with their inimitable flair for setting a mood; it's on their YouTube channel along with their other cinematic creations. Joining them on the floor (#3431) we're very happy to welcome Grupo B.Lux with their expanded collection featuring David Abad.

We think you'll like the polished style of our shiny new website, the masterwork of our creative team headed up by Rod Ruiz and Mary Lazin, with web designer Ximo Belda. We've streamlined and invigorated the presentation of our discriminating collections, in a manner befitting their refined aesthetics; enjoy the experience and please stay tuned for more design delight, delivered!  

A rendering of the LZF Lamps booth at HD Expo (#3433)

Global Lighting will have a lively presence at the HD Expo show next week, and we’re beyond excited to be featuring some of our premier collections during the hospitality extravaganza! We’ll be helping to unveil a new collection for B.Lux designed by David Abad, and will be welcoming Grupo B.Lux’s own Harriet Ibarretxe to the show. Stop by and meet him in their booth (#3431) if you have a chance! Sandro Tothill and Marivi Calvo of LZF Lamps will also be taking Vegas by storm. They’ll have their stunning fixtures at #3433; the dynamic duo has created a dramatic booth of their own filled with lush Link fixtures and winsome ceramic hummingbirds made by Xavier Mañosa of Aparatu Studio. You’ll definitely want to meet them if you are at the show, as the couple oozes inspiration!

We’ll be posting a “Live From the HD Expo” report next Tuesday so stay tuned for all of the excitement! To complement the thoughtful video LZF filmed featuring Mañosa as he made the hummingbirds in his studio (above), I leave you today with a poetic moment:

“Humming Bird” by D.H. Lawrence

I can imagine, in some otherworld

Primeval-dumb, far back

In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,

Humming-birds raced down the avenues.

 

Before anything had a soul,

While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,

This little bit chipped off in brilliance

And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.

 

I believe there were no flowers, then,

In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation.

I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.

 

Probably he was big

As mosses, and little lizards, they say were once big.

Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.

We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time,

Luckily for us.

In a more traditional approach to conducting business, there were a lot of walls. Valuable information, experience, trusted connections… these and those who had knowledge of them were to be protected at all costs. They were kept safely and jealously out of sight in a firm’s ivory palaces, literally scrupulously guarded. The person appointed to screen all those who dared request audience was known as a “gatekeeper”: a human filter, qualifying or vetting the applicant and their cause. An assistant, a secretary, an aide. These trusty coadjutants would stop the threat or nuisance at the door, staying the course and preventing the adulteration of mission.

Times have changed. There is a more participatory mindset underpinning many undertakings these days: connections, communications, and collaborations are the order of the day. A rising tide lifts all boats; alliances are sought and joint ventures are launched. The definition of a gatekeeper has evolved in tandem, in a positive manner. Rather than slamming the door shut, the gatekeeper functions now as an enabler, an expediter… manning the openings between departments, companies, and disciplines; funneling information to those who might otherwise be isolated or unaware of a useful bit of knowledge or an insight or ability held by another. The gaps in the fences are now sought after and encouraged; they act as feeds, rather than filters.

A new and more appropriate term has arisen which goes beyond the stigma of narrow-mindedness and control. It’s called “boundary-spanning”—it sums up the intent succinctly. A boundary spanner looks for opportunity and mutual benefit. They straddle separations of perception and bridge dissociation. While walls and fences may define and protect, they may also act as veils and blinders, fostering opacity instead of enlightenment, or becoming a giant echo chamber of self-reinforcement.  This effect can occur internally in an organization just as easily as in the world at large.

Change happens at the intersections; this is where dynamic progress occurs. When cultures, generations, and disciplines cross-pollinate, new things become possible. Those who look for these potentialities are building bridges; they are change agents. In the natural world, we see a strong correlation with this phenomenon of a middle ground stimulating, indeed nurturing, possibility. Where the sea meets the land, the estuaries provide an incredibly rich nursery for marine life, from plankton to shellfish and finfish, the tidal marshes providing safety and nutrient exchange and feeding the bottom of the food chain. On land, where ecosystems meet, a similar situation is apparent. The hedgerows or undergrowth where forest meets cleared land are a hotbed of activity and diversity. Often these generic biome areas are surprisingly sparse in their biodiversity, but where the two overlap, there is an immediate proliferation of change in species, their numbers, their interactions, and their complexity. This borderland has fascinated naturalists since Gilbert White and his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789), long held to be the fourth most published book in the English language!

We often find ourselves resisting change; this is instinctual and motivated by self-preservation. And it works – until it doesn’t. We might find it useful to cultivate an attitude of curiosity, consideration, and collaboration. Span some boundaries; open some gates; be the change you would like to see. We try to take that approach here at Global Lighting.  Make some new friends, have some fun and learn something new!

All photography © adroyt #iphoneography only!

Images from Dezeen by Adrià Goula.

Just outside a Spanish city known for its architectural anomalies, on a slope above the small Barcelona suburb of Sant Cugat des Valles, floats a fabric-shrouded sphere, alternately moored quietly to the sunlit landscape and glowing vividly over the night-darkened city. This is the singular headquarters of iGuzzini Illuminazione Iberica SA, completed just this past year and the conception of Josep Mias of MiAS Arqitectes. 

The evocative structure has been declared winner of the Building of the Year Awards 2011 in the Institutional Buildings category, a competition organized every year by Archdaily, the world’s most visited architectural web platform. A fusing of two simple volumes, the complex conjoins a vast subterranean vault and a hollowed glass shell, meeting the varied functional requirements of darkened and daylit spaces for the business’s obligations. In the firm’s words: 

“In reality there are forms that can only be drawn once, buildings that can only be built once. The second time is a replica. We believe in this opportunity for iGuzzini. Because this form, imperfect, slightly deformed, belongs to the world of iGuzzini; its identification is easy, and not everyone can, with authority, appropriate this profile, this geometry.”

The slightly deformed organic dome is a two sided glass envelope, open to views of the surrounding rolling terrain and inwardly to a full-height atrium; the entire construction is suspended from a central core of five arching steel masts. A spidery exoskeleton lofts a solar reflective, yet transparent, fabric skin over the southern facets, shading the interior while allowing a full 360-degree view of the vistas. Offices and research facilities are housed inside this five-story bubble, anchored to one end of the underground box burrowed into the dry slope.

Inside the sheltered confines of the buried second volume are showrooms, meeting and warehouse spaces, and a parking facility. The roof is a flat raised floor, configured with transparent and opaque panels to deliver the lighting effects needed below and function as an outdoor display area.

The site is sandwiched between busy metropolitan roads funneling traffic around this earthbound balloon. By day, the flattened globe is opaque and somber, reflecting the burnished sky and the Mediterranean landscape; at night, the mass becomes transparent, transformed into a luminous bulb hovering on the hillside, glowing from within its crystal and cloth skin with multi-colored light.

It’s a fitting metaphor for the presence of the Italian lighting company as an illuminating fixture on the Spanish panorama.

We’ve some exciting news for our Blogger’s Choice fans today: Gail Shields-Miller, whose blog dezignlicious is a tantalizing peek at whatever vivacious product or subject is on the designer’s mind on any given day, has perused our collections and come up with a delicious pick. She’s chosen the Margarita, designed by Miguel Herranz and manufactured by LZF. We’re going to let the savvy tastemaker fill you in as to why!

“I am already a BIG Global Lighting fan, but I am particularly in love with the lights LZF makes out of color-dyed wood. They are unique contemporary lighting fixtures, which make any room sparkle and shine with a big touch of whimsy and sophistication. 

“One of my particular favorites is the Margarita by Miguel Herranz. Just love the name! It is shaped like a flower with big oversized petals made of thin sheets of wood. I could see this light hanging in so many places: over a breakfast table, in the middle of a kitchen, hanging over a card table in a den, in a girl's bedroom, in a country house, in a beach house...should I go on?

“Then there is the cool idea of running a series of Margaritas down the center of a room, or scattered randomly around a ceiling in some commercial installation. The series idea really gets the dezign juices flowing...I can just imagine these beautiful oversized "daisies" floating off the ceiling of a restaurant, can’t you?

“Or going even further into dezign frenzy, choose each fixture in a different color for a little extra pizzazz. Or pushing the envelope just a tad more, order the Margarita with the petals done in multi-colors...it would be like having a spring bouquet of flowers on your ceiling all year round!

“As a designer there is nothing better than to have choices and fresh ideas to spice up your work in a creative way. I really adore the freedom with color and design available with this light. I think I've found a real winner in Global Lighting's beautiful pendant fixture, Margarita. Too bad you can't drink it too...oh, but that's a different Margarita favorite of mine!”

-Gail Shields-Miller

That’s what we love about Gail: she’s offered enough snappy ideas to suit just about any taste, needful particularly when talking about margaritas, as there are so many choices. Do you like yours frozen or on-the-rocks; salt or no-salt?

W.W. Norton & Company released the third edition of Hospital and Healthcare Facility Design on Monday, a book that has become a standard for architects, planners and hospital administrators where designing healthcare facilities are concerned. I asked one of the authors, Richard L. Miller, FAIA, who is also a practicing architect--and president of Earl Swensson Associates, Inc., in Nashville--to give readers of Global Lighting’s blog a primer on the importance of lighting in venues where healing and promoting wellness are the primary goals. He didn’t disappoint:

“Lighting is a basic humanizing element in the creation of a healing environment for a healthcare setting. It’s been proven that the control of natural light and artificial light sources have a direct positive effect on the body’s circadian rhythm, which impacts patient outcomes as well as family and staff satisfactions. 

LeConte Medical Center, Sevierville, Tennessee. The lobby, like much of the medical campus, was designed to be aesthetically compatible with the architecture of the historic town in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Courtesy Earl Swensson Associates and BarberMcMurry architects. Photo © Kyle Dreier Photography.

Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto, Southaven, Mississippi. The hospitality features of Baptist Memorial’s main lobby play off of Mississippi’s antebellum architecture. Photo © Kieran Reynolds Photography.

Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Harrisonburg, Virginia. This cardio ambulatory waiting area leads off the main lobby. Photo Scott McDonald © Hedrich Blessing.

“Natural lighting and appropriate levels of artificial light, whether direct or indirect, can create a soothing environment, whereas the lack of natural lighting can have the opposite effect by causing disorientation and a feeling of institutionalism. As designers, the lighting factors we have to be aware of are glare control, intensity, dimming capability, color temperatures and color renditions, particularly in regard to staff assessing patients.

Western Maryland Regional Medical Center, Cumberland, Maryland: Main lobby. Courtesy Hord Coplan Macht. Photo Patrick Ross.

“In the design of a healthcare facility, lighting should be addressed from the very beginning to achieve the best balance for the facility, and often with the assistance of a specialized lighting consultant who is aware of energy codes and continuing research.”

Kettering Medical Center-Sycamore Hospital addition and physician office building, Miamisburg, Ohio. This open and inviting lobby is one of the highlights of the LWC Incorporated patient-focused design of the addition. Courtesy LWC Incorporated. Photo Ken Schory, Springboro, Ohio.

You can find the 400-page book, which is filled with case studies, floorplans and full-color photography, on the publisher’s site here. I’d like to thank Mr. Miller, and his co-authors Earl S. Swensson and J. Todd Robinson for penning such an intelligent book for hospital and healthcare facility designers. It’s remarkable to live in an age where buildings that were once institutional and drab are truly coming into their own in terms of architecture and design! I was blown away by the beauty of many of the facilities featured in the book and salute the architects who are creating beauty without sacrificing (and often further enhancing) efficiency. 

Frances Williams Preston Building, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee: the lobby of the new six-story addition to the center, which was named for the former Ceo of BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), Frances Williams Preston. Photo Scott McDonald © Hedrich Blessing.

Tyler Wisler Designs on a Dime for a good cause.

This Thursday, one of Global Lighting’s Blogger’s Choice alumni will unveil his space for the Housing Works’ “Design on a Dime” event at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. Tyler Wisler will be one of 50 of the world’s top interior designers to have created room vignettes with new, donated merchandise that will then be sold for up to 50 to 70 percent off. The proceeds from "Design on a Dime" help Housing Works "Get a Room" for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. The organization's latest housing development, The Jefferson Avenue Residence, consists of 12 units of supportive housing and will open in summer 2012. The project will involve the substantial renovation of a three-story brick building in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, so the monies are for an excellent cause. 

A Timothy Oulton Beinsington 3 Seater, Vintage Union Jack, will be sitting pretty in Tyler's space.

We asked Tyler if he could share with us a tidbit about his space and here’s what the design dynamo—a former "Design Star" luminary—had to say: “I can tell you that being a newbie to the "Design on a Dime" event, I feel like I've got something to prove as the bar is set very high with the company I'm keeping, so there's no way that I was going to lay back and hope for the best...NO WAY! I've been hustling for the last 2 months trying to secure the best of the best donations, and trying to find things that the other designers may not gravitate towards. I do have to say that my donors have been so supportive and generous; and I'm really overwhelmed with their kindness and enthusiasm for the cause. I've managed to secure 30 vendors—including Timothy Oulton, Holly Hunt, Bright Group, Arteriors & Stark Carpet, just to name a few—to donate, which is beyond phenomenal! I'm hoping that I will do all of them justice with the vignette I create! I hope everyone can make the opening night, to partake in the festivities and stock up on the UH-MAZING deals that Housing Works is going to be offering! Wish me luck!”

Currey & Company's Wharf Table Lamp from Metropolitan Lighting will light up the space.

We do wish you luck, Tyler (not that we think you’ll need it); and we can’t wait to see what you whip up with your great finds and your refined eye. For those of you who would like to attend the opening night reception on the 26th, click here for ticket information.

Always one for kicky finds, Tyler's tapped Arteriors' Leo Antique Brass/Wood Accent Light for the space.

The founding chair of "Design on a Dime" this year, interior designer James Huniford, is joined by co-chairs Evette Rios, a craft, design and entertainment expert; Lara Spencer, “Good Morning America” co-anchor and author of “I Brake for Yard Sales”; and acclaimed designer and author Charlotte Moss. If you make it by the event, make sure and tell Tyler you heard about it here!

This Tucker Robbins Feather Headress adds more than a spot of color: it's fearsomely chic!

You can see more of Tyler's picks for his space on this Pinterest board he's created. For news about the event, follow the Facebook activity here or tap into the Housing Works Twitter stream. The hashtag for the event is #DOAD.

I recently came across a competition that, at first blush, left me scratching my head! It’s the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC), which will be decided in June. And no, they’re not making this up; it’s now in its 25th running! This year’s contest is being hosted by the University of Nevada Reno, and you might want to place your bets early, as this will be another hotly contested episode of the improbable armada.

How can a concrete canoe float? Well, in exactly the same manner steel vessels manage the task. While concrete is commonly thought of as being a very heavy material—not wrongly, as it actually is the same weight as most stones—weight is not the limiting factor. Rather, flotation occurs when the weight of the amount of water displaced is greater than the weight of the object suspended in the water. The mass of the volume of empty space (air) inside the thin-walled hull plus the weight of the concrete itself is significantly lighter than the equal volume of water it is supplanting. Recall the old brainteaser: which weighs more, a ton of feathers or a ton of lead?

Western Michigan University students polish their craft

Water weighs about 62 lbs. per cubic foot; the special lightweight concrete mixtures used are less than 60 lb. per cubic foot (standard weight is about 150 lbs.). Add in the members of the paddling team, and these composite craft still keep their gunwales above the waterline. Technically, it’s not a matter of displaced weight but rather an equivalent amount of water pressure buoying the boat upward, though the net effect is the same.

University of Rhode Island races in 2011

Teams from all over the US and even a few from Canada will have competed in 18 regional conferences from March through early May to qualify for the nationals (read a nice history here, by University of Alabama Huntsville, another strong contender). They must follow the guidelines in a 46-page document of Rules and Regulations (not including appendices!). This is an engineering exercise after all; the specifications and requirements maintain objectivity and require the rigor of a professional undertaking. Flights of fancy are not the order of the day: this is serious business, paddling a concrete canoe…

University of Nevada Reno team and the winning entry in 2008, Montreal

The University of Nevada Reno clinched first place in 2008 and took second in 2010; indeed, they have finished in the Top Five for the past five years straight. On June 14-16 they’ll be welcoming the full contingent of regional conference winners to their home watercourse to defend their position. It’s not as weighty a proposition as it seems, but the pressure will be on!