arc Apr/May 2019 – Issue 109

Design is everything…
Salone Del Mobile Milano was a welcome reminder of why we love lighting design.

With lots of noise about complete service providers, smart cities, the Internet of Things, Bluetooth mesh networking, connected light, WiFi, LiFi and goodness knows what other technological and structural changes to our industry, it was extremely satisfying for the arc team to visit a good old design show that showed beautiful things, cleverly designed in often stunning settings.

The event was a huge success too, proving that design is still something to behold, even if the nitty gritty of technology is often foremost in most of our minds. The 386,236 attendees, over the six days, from 181 different countries was a 12% increase over the 2017 edition, which also featured Euroluce and Workplace3.0.

Of course, technology and performance of lighting is number one when it comes to specification decisions, but it was great to see the aesthetics of lighting design being so prominent in Milan. From stunning installations such as Aria’s Come To Light as featured on our front cover, Raytrace by Benjamin Hubert / Cosentino and TM Lighting, and Aglow by Liz West and Uozu to ridiculously stunning stands at Euroluce like Flos and Artemide, design and, more importantly, lighting design was celebrated as if we had all remembered why we are part of this profession.

In some small part, this is what we are doing with our [d]arc events. This month sees us offically launch both [d]arc room and [d]arc awards for 2019. Both events approach traditional formats and turn them on their head with creativity and collaboration with the involvement of consultants, Light Collective.

[d]arc room, with its own space at the Old Truman Brewery at London Design Fair during London Design Festival in September, offers pared down pods for companies large and small to creatively exhibit their products on a level playing field. Attracting 30,000 visitors last year, the event will aim to showcase 75 architectural and decorative lighting companies to the design community.

[d]arc awards pairs sponsors with lighting designers to create installatons that will be shown at [d]arc night, the Christmas-themed awards party on 5th December at the very special MC Motors venue in London.

Both events reflect our progressive attitude to lighting design and it would be great to have you involved. Get in touch!

Paul James
Editor
arc