arc Apr/May 2021 – Issue 121

A fond farewell…
We wave goodbye to Kerem Asfuroglu’s Dark Source Stories…

As I sit here writing this, it is pretty much a year to the day since lockdown began and we packed up arc HQ to work from home for what was supposed to be a six-week spell, “just to see how things pan out”. That six-week period very quickly turned into an indefinite hiatus, and after a whole year of remote working, the idea of returning to the office full time, when/if that eventually happens, feels very alien indeed! Although putting a magazine together remotely was a challenge at first, the fact that you’re now reading issue #7 of lockdown (not including the annual ILDS!) I suppose shows how we have all adapted to the new circumstances that were rather thrust upon us.

After a year of lockdown, you might think that it was quite an ambitious move for us to run a hospitality focus in this issue; but the sheer number of you that reached out to us to share your latest hotel/bar/restaurant projects just goes to show that, while the hospitality industry is outwardly on pause, it’s given hoteliers and restaurateurs the chance to renovate their premises, or even expand and open new ones. What it does mean is that when life does eventually return to something approaching “normal”, we’ll all be able to go out to some beautifully designed spaces, with some amazing lighting! Inside this issue you’ll find a small snapshot of new hospitality venues around the world, with lighting design from Klaasen Lighting Design, FPOV, Light Collab, Paloma Design Studio, and more, so make sure you check them out.

On another note, I’m sad to say that this will be the last issue of arc to feature Kerem Asfuroglu’s Dark Source Stories. Kerem has graced our pages with his incredible artwork detailing our social and cultural relationship with light for the past 46 issues (23 of which I have been here for), but his increasing professional commitments mean that it is time for us to say goodbye. While it’s obviously sad news for us that Dark Source Stories is coming to an end, all of us at [d]arc media are incredibly happy for Kerem that his professional venture, Dark Source, is doing so well, and we wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.

Thanks for the amazing work, Kerem!

Matt Waring
Editor
arc