Bridge For Design April 2015 Bridge For Design April 2015 | Page 100
design trends | viewpoint
LIGHTING UP OUR LIVES
New technology provides a great new challenge says Frank Englesby
T
he lighting industry is currently
going through the biggest
technology jump since the invention of
the Edison light bulb. For more than 125
years, it has been pretty much status quo
in respect to what was used to illuminate
our lives... the filament bulb. That
bulb is now in its twilight years and a
revolution in lighting has begun.
The first step was to make the filament bulb a villain
to energy-conscious consumers. This has been a success.
Legislation has passed in many countries to make the standard
light bulb a thing of the past. The difference in energy
consumption of a standard filament bulb and a LED (light
emitting diode) is staggering in a watts per lumen standpoint.
One of the hurdles as a designer for a decorative lighting
manufacturer is how to incorporate that difference into a
distinctive and beautiful light source while controlling the
cost of a new technology. The devil is in the details. Yes, the
price of LEDs has dropped but they are still 20 times that of
a 50 cent filament bulb, and, as a manufacturer, we have to
abide by a host of new regulations which can easily mean the
success or failure of a new lighting concept.
To be compliant and pass energy guidelines, the use of
retrofit bulbs is not an option. For the most part, we have to
engineer and design our own LEDs. While that is not easy, it
does create a great prospect for me as a designer and master
glassmaker and that opportunity lies within the glass itself.
We will now be able to project light through very thick
pieces of cast glass, completely hide a source of light and
create a sense that the glass is glowing by itself: to move light
through glass like a fibre optic, lighting and illuminating an
element that is well away from the light source itself. This
allows me, as a designer, to draw even further from my 35
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Bridge for Design April 2015
years as a studio glass artist and experiment with all types of
glass processes that would not be possible with conventional
lighting sources.
My role is to develop unique glass elements in which we (as
a manufacturer) can build lighting concepts from the inside
out while keeping the focus on the glass as the core element.
Technology now allows us to go even further in bringing this
sculptured form to light. Now that the restraints of a single
common light source have been unchained, we can maximise
our studio glass setting capabilities that are not bound by
normal manufacturing constraints. Collaborating directly with
a team of extremely talented people is essential as we combine
the innovation of new light sources with the pioneering of
new glass designs.
As a team, we look at this as a game of chess, where
technology is challenging creativity by combining a new light
source with a very original glass technique.
As we move forward, I believe you will see some of the most
revolutionary designs in decorative lighting, incorporating new
technologies and innovations.
The challenge to all designers is not only to embrace the
most significant change since the invention of the electric
light, but to exploit it.
My personal challenge in the studio will be to fully engage
the new era of lighting technology by incorporating such a
noble material as glass, opening our eyes to a completely new
way of lighting our lives.
Frank Englesby, Glass Designer, Fine Art Lamps
T: 001 305 821 3850 | www.fineartlamps.com