Beneath the Surface Blog

Here we are, marching boldly towards a brand new year. Our GPI team is all geared up and excited to discover new lighting trends, innovative cool surfaces, and many more developments in this ever-changing interior design world. So what will happen in 2012? A global economy recovery? Some catastrophe that might extinguish humankind according to the Mayan prophecy? Whoa, let’s not get into that. At least we know clearly that in the lighting world, 2012 is all about LED.

Over the past years, many countries are taking steps to phase out the traditional incandescent light bulbs for use in general lighting. LEDs are taking over because they are more energy-efficient and carry more possibilities for design purposes. This collection called Liquid Light by Tanya Clarke is a great example of the lighting trends for 2012.

Born the daughter of environmental activist Tony Clarke, Tanya was raised with a strong consciousness and deep concern of the environment and natural resources. She precisely expressed her viewpoint in this beautifully installed light collection - the idea that light is just like water, or the other way around, water is just like light; both precious resources that we cannot afford to waste in daily life.

LED lights, recycled plumbing fixtures, hand sculpted glass water drops, and even found objects are utilized to form the Liquid Light. The LEDs shine through translucent glass drops and create a soft lighting effect that is visually dramatic.

Its unique form and experimentation with colors also speak for the trend in 2012. LED technology is so compact that it can basically be used in any size, shape, and structure, opening its potential across many industries. The material pairings and artistic expressions made possible with LED lighting technology are vast.

We’ve already seen so many stunning lighting designs in 2011 (you can find them in this blog or follow @gpidesign). We look forward to LEDs, echo-chic, and expressive structures that will lead to more illuminated creations and continue to wow us in the New Year.

Image Credit: liquidlightsite.com

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For the National Cancer Institute project which we’ve been working on for months, GPI had the pleasure of presenting our mock-up of the very unique backlit wood system last week in Washington, D.C.

Above: Initial project rendering by HOK

Over three years ago, Bill Hellmuth of HOK envisioned these unique backlit feature walls to bring light and texture to the long lobby hallways at the main entrance to the National Cancer Institute.  To translate the initial rendering of the backlit wood lobby feature walls to the photographs of the mock-up taken just last week, there have been countless hours of coordination between the surface, structure, and lighting elements. Our team has become quite captivated with the project.

Above: Mock-up photograph by GPI Design

The surface was the driving element in the conceptual design of the wall.  GPI Design sourced an exotic Redwood burl (yielding large panels), sliced the wood to under half of a millimeter and laminated between glass.  The seamless LED backlighting environment keeps the wood surface as the primary visual focus, pouring through the translucent wood material in an unexpected pairing of the newly redefined material with backlighting illumination.  Next came the custom structural hardware components engineered to hold the wood and lighting systems safely and in a complementary relationship.  The majority of this testing and detailing has occurred internally, communicating with the project team in D.C. via shop drawings and conference calls, so there was much anticipation built up over the unveiling of these illuminated wood panels.

Above: Mock-up installation progress

The GPI Design crew spent a full day assembling four of the wall panels to demonstrate our system (over 250 panels will be installed in the final project).  The mock-up was designed so that pins, joints, lighting controls, and accent lighting were all crafted to represent their appearance in the final installation. As the project team (owner, architect, lighting designer, general contractor) in D.C. arrived to the mock-up the next morning, sentiments of quiet contentment and satisfaction were in the air - a successful review with great dialogue generated.

Above: Mock-up review meeting

It’s creative surfaces and great project teams like these that make us fall in love with our job all over again.

THANK YOU to: HOK, MCLA, James G. Davis Construction Corporation, TSI Architectural Metals, Cleveland Marble, and The JBG Companies

Onyx itself is a luxurious material, and when integrated with the proper backlighting techniques the layers and depth of the stone is further brought to life.  You’re investing money and design time into this natural product, so consider the following tips to properly showcase its natural beauty:

1. Choose a stone that has significant visible veining or texture- the natural color and movement will distinguish the high-end natural stone finish from a man-made alternative.

(above image: Tower Oaks Honey Onyx Feature Wall by GPI Design)

2. White onyx is the least forgiving stone for backlighting applications.  Backlit white onyx is prone to hot and cold spots, so allow more space between the stone and the lighting source or consider using diffusion scrims and filters.

(above image: Maker's Mark backlit onyx bar in Indianapolis by GPI Design)

3. When designing with standard dimensional stone panels, ensure that the light source is bright enough to transfer through the stone surface.

4. When designing with glass-backed stone panels, ensure that the glass is non-leaded.  Leaded glass casts a greenish tint and can alter the color of the natural stone surface.

5. When designing a ceiling or wall layout of backlit onyx panels, consider the book matching composition and how the seams will interact with the natural veining of the stone. (Read our previous blog post on book matching natural stone for more details.)

(above image: Signature Place Lobby Feature Walls by GPI Design)

Designing with light and natural stone comes with its own set of limitations, so take time to mock-up the stone and light assemblies or choose a company with experience in integrating the two products.

With Turkey Day just hours away, the team here at GPI decided to get together and have our own pre-Thanksgiving feast. While we were sitting around the conference table enjoying our meal, the talk of design came about (surprise, right?). But this conversation was a little different than our normal meeting dialogue. Instead of discussing shop drawings or lighting specs, today, we turned to a new topic of conversation: design within our food.

Through our conversation (and after we paused long enough from stuffing our faces to actually look at our meal), we realized that a lot of the materials we work with on a daily basis actually closely mimic elements found in our food. The veins in a slab of onyx, the undulating grains in a slice of wood, or the texture of concrete, are all things that make those particular materials desirable; qualities that add beauty and visual interest to the piece. But veins, grains, and texture can all be found directly on our dinner plate as well. And while taste is usually the main criteria upon which food is judged, there is so much inherent beauty within these foods that often go unnoticed.

Armed with this new-found design inspiration, what did we do? The only logical thing of course…we took our Thanksgiving meal and backlit it.

Above: Thanksgiving meal transferred onto our LED panel

Above: fun with cranberry sauce and snow peas

Above: Snow peas with LED backlighting (fine details emerge)

Above: whole grain bread with LED backlighting (warm color)

Above: cranberry sauce with LED backlighting (a mess to clean up!)

While we’re pretty sure the Pilgrims and Native Americans never meant for their Thanksgiving meal to glow, it just goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere…even on your own dinner plate. What inspiration will you find in your Thanksgiving meal?

Happy Halloween! In a playful celebration of the holiday, our designers wanted to share this inspiration: Kyle Schumacher’s Stained Glass Spider Web. Mixing bold graphic lines and delicate glass textures, Kyle’s mostly colorless glass creations fluctuate with the views or spaces placed behind them. Allowing light and color to peek through, these pieces remain appropriately seasonal without boasting giant toothy pumpkin faces.

Photo credit: Kyle Schumacher via Etsy

The backlit escalator wall installation at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco is wrapping up smoothly.

Here's the project rendering again, described in our first blog post about this project:

Some photographs snapped from our cell phones in the field:

The clean lines and even illumination are the result of months of iterative detailing and expert installation.  A great project for our team to celebrate this weekend!

If you missed our first blog post about GPI technicians arriving on-site for this long awaited backlighting installation at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, check it out here (and take a peek at the project rendering).

After a labor-intensive weekend, the bottom and center rows of the custom-built 3Form Varia Ecoresin and wood slatted surface panels are now illuminated.

To ensure that the intense patterning of wood and light was not further disrupted by structural shadows and inconsistent lighting, the fastening system has been considered hand-in-hand with the backlighting system design from the earliest concept stage.

Blocking on the back of the 3Form/wood surface panels not only reinforces the eight foot panels, but also provides a channel to hold the Flat-Lite™ at the correct distance from the lens.  The combination of burying powered LED edges into the blocking and employing diffusing tapes ensures that hot spots are not visible from any viewing angle of the feature walls.

Notice the trapezoidal panel shapes along the bottom course of panels? With special attention to light collection in the acute corners,the LED light panels were custom designed with controls and filters to provide even illumination.

More photographs of the entire completed feature wall coming soon as this installation wraps up!

Having a passion for the way translucent surfaces and LED panels can accentuate and bring natural warmth to any space, we greatly enjoy the way Stefan Lindfors incorporated the two for his Light Works exhibition. First displayed in Helsinki during February and D.C. in May, Lindfors recently wrapped up a showing in NYC during the latter half of June and early July. Describing it as his "homage to LIGHT & LEDs," he intentionally opened the New York viewing on June 21st to coincide with the summer solstice, the day that the Northern Hemisphere sees the most sun.

Intended to double both as lighting fixtures and artistic sculptures, the pieces of his exhibit mark the first time Lindfors has worked exclusively with the concept of assimilating light and sculpture. Though working in some ways with lighting since the beginning of his professional career, it took the request of a patron to nurture the inspiration for Light Works. World-renowned photographer Nan Goldin purchased a sculpture, Nymph, in 2009 but requested that LEDs be installed inside to provide backlit illumination. Subsequently inspired, Lindfors began wrapping fiberglass around wire and steel frames and lighting them with energy saving bulbs.

The results blur the line between form and function, nothing new for this Finnish-born artist/designer who has worked with numerous companies such as Sony and Nokia. Light pours from the sculptures in inspiring ways and evokes a living, organic feeling. Says Lindfors, "So far, much of my light work...lacks conventional definition, often landing in the so-called ‘borderline’ area. These Light Works that I’ve recently created represent a body of work by myself as both sculptor and as designer; abstract stories beyond industrial reasoning on the one hand, latest eco-light technology and user-friendly design on the other." We at GPI enjoy creating the same dichotomy in our features and celebrate the amazing way Stefan Lindfors has explored this concept.

Image credits: ReadySetDC.com, MaterialConnexion.com

For the extensive renovation of the San Francisco Grand Hyatt in Union Square, the teams at Indidesign (interior design) and Revolver (lighting design) envisioned a custom panel and backlighting treatment to revive the wall surfaces at the main escalator.

Extending from the lower lobby to the main lobby, dark wood panels striated with thin lines of illuminated 3Form Varia Ecoresin clad the escalator walls. The custom-built backlit panels bring innovative light, interesting texture, and a unique pattern as viewers move throughout the levels of the hotel.

Above: Project rendering from Indidesign

The team here at GPI has worked on the project for over 6 months, coordinating closely with the millwork team at Acosta & Sons to merge our backlighting solutions with their custom wood and resin panels.  Flexibility has been key in the project, as field dimensions shift, so have our strategies, LED panel sizes, fastening devices, and methods of controlling and balancing the light. (Special thanks to Cliff at Acosta & Sons for hand-delivering the 3Form panels on a redeye from California to Ohio so we could test the lighting!)

The custom components (Flat-Lite™ LED panels, Infuse™ custom lighting controls, wiring, and diffuser panels) arrived to site on August 1. Shortly thereafter, GPI lighting technicians arrived on-site to assist with the time-sensitive installation.

Above: Photograph of the first day’s progress, east elevation center and bottom rows of LED panels installed.

We enjoy being on-site to finally witness these intense coordination efforts come to fruition. Stay tuned for more photos and updates as this project progresses - we’ll share more about the process of generating the LED panel design, how the custom wood /resin panels were created, and how shadows and hot spots were eliminated.

Apart from the works of Kahn and Hadid which celebrate the fluidity of concrete material, concrete ordinarily operates as a forgotten necessity. Sidewalks, bridges, and roadways depend on its durability and immense resistance to compression, but it usually receives little consideration for more artistic creations. Perhaps remembering the Brutalist movement, architects have almost abandoned concrete to favor the "lighter" appearance in materials such as glass and steel. Today we'd like to highlight the work being done with LiTraCon which seeks to reverse this trend with the harmonization of concrete and light, elevating the design possibilities of concrete to a whole new level.

A portmanteau of "Light Transmitting Concrete", LiTraCon burst on to the scene in the past decade, the brainchild of architect Áron Losonczi. As a postgrad in 2001, Losonczi developed the idea of embedding fiber optic cables through concrete, giving it the ability to transmit the full color spectrum of light. Due to the small diameter of fiber optic cables this product becomes indistinguishable from regular concrete when the lighting affect isn’t apparent. Even more beneficial, the fibers actually act as an aggregate and allow it to keep its structural integrity; says Losonczi, "Glass fibres do not have a significant negative effect on the high compression strength of concrete." The immensely positive responses, numerous awards, and features in publications have propelled Áron Losonczi to found a company based in his native Hungary called LiTraCon Bt. Since 2003, this invention has been integrated into buildings, monuments, homes, and public art works around the world as architects realize its potential and abilities. 

Image credits: Litracon, Ardianto.net