LUCE 350

LUCE met with Kengo Kuma, the internationally renowned Japanese architect and master in the use of natural materials such as wood and stone. The use of concrete is now a thing of the past and so a material that should be used with moderation and caution and replaced, where possible, with light, natural and sustainable materials. His design is connected to the culture of rice paper, an element that creates that rarefied and delicate atmosphere typical of Japan, and of man’s ancestral relationship with nature and in particular with the forest. In Kuma’s architecture, space is often expressed through emptiness and translucence – and this is perhaps one of his best-known features – as, for instance, when the materials of his projects are pierced or made in “particles” to be then reconstructed according to the kigumi technique (assemblages without nails or glues), following precise patterns to obtain a transparency or, better, a luminescent semi-opacity. It is especially in the interiors, designed by Kengo Kuma, that an enveloping and luminous light is produced…

Lapo Binazzi is now 81 years old, has always lived in Florence, and teaches and holds conferences. In 1967 he founded the radical UFO group with Carlo Bachi, Patrizia Cammeo, Riccardo Foresi, Titti Maschietto and Sandro Gioli (for the ‘68) who came together to express their utopian and political manifestos through their provocative works that have entered design history.  57 years have passed since then, their performances with inflatables have entered the history of design, and the works, mainly lamps, produced in few copies, are now coveted by collectors from all over the world at auctions in Paris, Chicago and Milan. LUCE met the famous artist and visionary designer who explains the birth of the movement and recounts some of his most important works…

LUCE meets Maestro Stefano Poda, one of the most authoritative directors in the international firmament of Opera, who last season staged the centenary production of Aida at the Arena in Verona.  Poda is a set designer, costume designer, choreographer and lighting designer, as well as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Abbiati Prize. He defines himself as “a craftsman of staging” that is a description that fits well with his “Renaissance vocation” as an all-round artist, committed to conceiving ingenious and exciting theatrical machines and devices in which music, light, scenography, sculpture, architecture and dance blend together in an organism that gives life to his highly original creations. For Poda, lights are the only true counterpart to music, as they are mysterious substances with no body; only the curve of light can follow that of music, because only they can move unhindered…

New technologies, light and colours in the design solutions studied by the Rotterdam-based MVRDV Studio for the Tiffany & Co. Store at Changi Airport in Singapore and the Tiffany & Co. Store in Shanghai. In recent years, the world of retail has undergone a profound revision of its expressive vocabulary and conceptual approach, translating into shapes, spaces and atmospheres the results of a true cultural examination. In this perspective of experimentation and immersiveness, and of new ideas and proposals, the most recent stores take shape as interesting expressive syntheses. In particular, the Studio has conceived a unique and original facade, based on the use of a recycled material (Ocean rPPGF), composed of a thermoplastic base obtained from recycled fishing nets reinforced with fibreglass, inspired by the structure of coral, reproduced by means of a 3D printer. In developing the concept, the studio identified a number of characteristics typical of the brand’s identity and history, from the use of the typical colour blue to the application of innovative materials, drawing on Louis Comfort Tiffany’s contribution to glassmaking during the 19th century…

Together with the towers, they are the symbol of the city. They are the porticoes of Bologna, which Unesco declared a World Heritage Site in 2021. They are an architectural and cultural asset of inestimable value, about 40 kilometres of which, out of a total of 62, are located in the heart of the city, in its historic centre.

For the whole of 2023, the porticoes have been the subject of a lighting redevelopment project commissioned by the municipal administration: an operation covering 16 kilometres, all in the historical part, the 10 gates of the ancient city walls, the Santo Stefano and San Domenico squares, 40 monumental sites and some green areas. The goal was to make public lighting more efficient and enhance the city’s monuments. An operation – conducted in agreement with the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape and financed by the National Operational Program Metropolitan Cities 2014-2020 (PON Metro) – which speaks for itself in numbers: 3,500 light fixtures replaced, 680 new light points installed, an energy saving of 77%, 387 tons less CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, four months of surveys, a whole year of work. The lighting plan for the heart of Emilia’s capital city represented a demanding challenge for the designers of I-DEA and for the Municipality, which was won according to the awards and recognitions that the project obtained…

“In silence, darkness seeks the light.” This is how our chat with Cesare Accetta – one of Italy’s most important photographers and light designers, winner of the Ubu 2023 award for Mimmo Borrelli’s La Cupa as best light designer – begins: with this black and white image reminiscent of the poetics of great auteur cinema. Accetta tells us – measuring his words with his usual modesty of a shy, secluded person – about his passionate artistic and professional career, from the 1970s in the experimental theatre circuit as a stage photographer, to the lights on the set, as director of photography and light designer for film and theatre. At the age of 70, he has recently moved to a new studio in Avvocata, one of the historical districts of Naples, his hometown, “it is close to home, within walking distance, and the space is bigger than where I was before and here I can continue to build my theatre.” It is the place par excellence where to investigate “the blackness and the ray of light that bursts in.” That light, which is “ineffable matter that can say even what you cannot, or would not want to, that can reach even where it seemed impossible there was something more than shadow, than darkness” …

LUCE caught up with Davide Oppizzi, the Swiss-Italian designer and founder of DCUBE, in Geneva. He specialises in the creation and development of projects full of beauty, elegance and delicate humanism involving light, architecture, design, the environment and new technologies. We had already met him on the occasion of the completion of the project for the headquarters of Audemars Piguet’s Haute Horlogèrie brand and the Needoo outdoor system for Artemide, designed to intelligently illuminate and house birds and other animal species, with the aim of creating a harmonious sharing of space between humans and animals through optimal lighting (LUCE 337, September 2021). He tells us about his relationship with light and his new projects…

Light plays a fundamental role in the experience of enjoying art in exhibition spaces. Only adequate lighting allows the visitor to fully appreciate and understand the works or materials in museums. However, it is not enough to illuminate the objects in the most effective or aesthetically best way, but it is necessary to do so in full respect of the problem of conservation, especially if there are photosensitive surfaces or in the case in which the lighting can produce heating, accelerate chemical reactions or favour the development of microorganisms. In the following articles, we will address this topic in a broad way with contributions from lecturers, experts and professionals to deepen our knowledge of innovative technologies and methodologies for the use of lighting in different museum environments…

LUCE meets Marco Lodola (1955, Dorno, Pavia), an artist of international renown whom art critic Renato Barilli included in the Nuovi Futuristi group (1980), a master of Italian Light Art and a shining example of passion for rock ‘n’ roll, active light and social dynamics under the banner of sharing the joy of living the vertigo of appearance. Lodola is a failed musician who designs light choreographies as social experiences, with cross-cutting projects. He is passionate about the Beatles, the Fauves (a group of which Matisse is an exponent), Depero, Wesselmann, Hockney, Warhol, Michelangelo and Beato Angelico and experiments with industrial materials. His eclectic design and poetic coherence mark him out: he is a classical innovator enlightened by figuration. LUCE met him in Pavia, in his atelier called Lodolandia by the critic Alberto Fiz in 1983 and we discover that for him everything is image, creativity and fun…

LUCE features the second of two articles by Maurizio Rossi, full professor of Design at the Politecnico di Milano and president of the AIC-International Colour Association and by the architect and lighting designer Paola Bertoletti, who address and delve the theme of Artificial Intelligence, a topic that today is more than ever topical, relevant and complex for all its ethical, social and cultural implications. In this article, an increased focus is placed on generative AI in relation to the lighting sector. Partly as a consequence of the recent official publication of the EU AI Act, the authors go deeper into a number of ethical issues, including privacy and respect for the professionalism of the Lighting Designer…

In Eindhoven, in the south of the Netherlands, the Dutch Design Week (DDW) 2024, one of the most prestigious and eagerly awaited design events in the world, has just come to an end. The clear and ambitious message conveyed was to explore the transformative power of light in contemporary design. In this edition, light was presented not only as a mere aesthetic element, but as a means of connection, well-being and sustainability. Designers from all over the world came together to present innovative projects that, by exploiting light, managed to create a different perception of space and also new sensory experiences and insights into global challenges such as climate change and social welfare…

Carlo Comandini’s career as a company manager began almost forty years ago and has been entirely carried out in the lighting industry. His profession has seen him hold important positions within the companies and the multinational group for which he has worked for a considerable time. Since 2002, he has been the CEO for Italy of Vossloh-Schwabe, a German company that makes LED components and solutions for the lighting and household appliance sector.

Since last June, Comandini has been President of ASSIL, Associazione Nazionale Produttori Illuminazione (the National Association of Lighting Manufacturers), federated to ANIE-Confindustria, which groups together more than 90 companies in the industry, companies with a turnover of €2.8 billion per year and employing 8,700 people. In the interview with LUCE he indicates the strategic lines that will characterise his term:  the fight against environmental dumping, synergy with all stakeholders in the lighting world, the push for technological innovation for sustainability and energy efficiency, and the state’s support for the ecological transition…