The (short) week that was 30 March – 2 April

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The (short) week that was 30 March – 2 April

Singapore, long weekend 3-5 April 2015

Monday 30; Singapore – Graphene lighting technology
Are we finally going to get some serious competition for the current LED lighting technology? As I am preparing my presentation for my Bangalore trip later in the week, I read up on the announcement that the graphene lighting technology is here to stay…better still it will commercially go on sale later in 2015! Graphene is the most conductive material in the world and is 200 times stronger than steel it is claimed; on top of that it is one million times thinner than a human hair…which begs the question how in heaven can you even work this?!? Anyhow the University of Manchester seems to have mastered this and it is thought that the graphene lamp will be the first commercial graphene application to become commercially available! The lamp, in the shape of traditional lightbulb, will have LED filaments (yes still…) coated with the ultrathin and ultra-conductive graphene. The developers claim that the production is cheaper than current LED technology and that it will cut the energy use with another 10%, be more efficient (more light?), last longer and will have smooth dimming (YES!) characteristics. I cant wait to get my hand on one to see what this is all about!..

Tuesday 31 Singapore – Solar power
While our daily work in the office rumbles on, another lighting related news flash reaches my inbox…The solar impulse, an airplane designed to be powered solely by solar power and currently on a trip around the world, just arrived in Nanjing, China after a night flight from Myanmar. Not surprisingly all lighting on board, like in all new airplanes today, is LED technology. One of the great interests, I guess, is the advancement of solar captive technology. Slowly but surely it seems like solar technology is mastering the conversion of solar light into usable energy to power light and other power hungry products. I imagine that the graphene technology mentioned in my previous blog may find some serious application opportunities here as well. One of the lighting concepts on my bucket list is a zero energy façade lighting design. I have looked at it on past projects, but none of them were deemed suitable for this. But I can feel that the implementation of solar in commercial building applications on a larger scale (I know it was done in Beijing a few year ago) is coming nearer and nearer, not only in regards of viable technology but also as an affordable solution.

Wednesday 1 Bangalore – All in a days work…
One of those days that seems never ending…I got up bright and early today to catch my 7 am flight to Bangalore where in the afternoon I am the guest of honour and guest speaker at an event organised at the occasion of the launch of the new FLOS showroom there. Dignitaries, key design consultants, developers and local media have been invited to attend the event. I had arrived late in the morning after a 4 hour flight, refreshed myself, checked my emails (as you do) and then found my way to the venue, the Samaavesh Building that now also houses the FLOS lighting showroom. My afternoon was consumed with making sure the projection and sound equipment was working, followed by two interviews with a local design magazine and an organisation promoting passion for life and work. The crowd arrived fashionably late (normal in India) and after the official introductions I started the proceedings with my presentation about the art of sustainable lighting design (a local adaptation of what I presented in Vietnam 2 weeks ago). This was followed by the official ribbon cutting and the reception in the actual showroom. From the enthusiastic feedback I received I felt the subject was spot on. In between the social networking afterwards, another interview with a national design magazine was organised for me in a “quiet” corner. I was touched with the respect and appreciation I received and nice to have some colleagues in the industry coming all the way to attend (thanks Armadeep!). I look forward to come back.

See also our KLD Facebook page.

Thursday 2 Bangalore – Time to take it in…
Due to limited flight availability I have a day to do a bit of R&R before I go to the airport which I happily use to explore the city where for some reason I had never set foot before despite my many years of doing projects in India…can you believe it? I organised a driver/ guide and went out to explore the landmarks and history of Bangalore; Bangalore Palace, the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court and National Library Buildings in Cubbon Park and of course the Botanical Gardens with its famous Glass House. It gave me a mixed bag of feelings… there is without doubt a lot of history and heritage in a city that is understandably called the Garden City because of its lush parks and gardens, but I was disappointed about the derelict state most of the historic buildings were in. On my drive through the city new and modern buildings are sprouting up, but overall the part that I saw has still a long way to go. I would have loved to have seen the city at night to get a feel of the night time lighting in the city, but except my trip from the hotel to the airport in the evening, my flight time did not allow that. I hardly noticed any tall building let alone any purposely lit building…definitely scope for (lighting) designers…here are some pictures for those who have never been…