Designer Todd Bracher
New York based designer Todd Bracher’s collaboration with 3M Architectural Markets exemplifies the synergy when science and design converge to create an engineering marvel. The team has harnessed best of LED lighting and tamed its limitations to expand the aesthetic and functional power of this energy-efficient light source.
In just a few days, Bracher and 3M Architectural Markets will debut at the London Design Festival its revolutionary Lightfalls, a state-of-the-art architectural lighting system that capitalises on the laws of physics to distribute light from a single LED source over a large space to create a “Virtual LED.” The concept fascinates me as well as the design so I bring you this exclusive interview with Todd Bracher as we peer into his design mind and learn more about the creative and scientific process behind the creation of Lightfalls.
Lightfalls by 3M Achitectural Markets designed by Todd Bracher
One of the drawbacks to LED lighting is that it's omnidirectional. It seems you've created a lighting fixture that spreads light—a breakthrough that addresses one of the limitations in LEDs. Was that part of your inspiration, reasoning and thought process in the design of Lightfalls?
You are correct. LEDs are omnidirectional and that was part of the inspiration behind Lightfalls, by asking how can we control the light, do we have the ability to do control it better and more efficiently than before? That is the wonderful partnership with 3M, their optical team explained to me that ‘light is 100% predictable." We know what we want to achieve so we can engineer a solution to completely control the light. We knew we wanted to bring a lighting solution to the market that provides an architectural solution not just look beautiful. We wanted great efficiency, simple installation, physical scale at an economical cost, and flexible design options for the specifier. So together 3M and I developed a method called Lightfalls which does exactly that.
Close up of Lightfalls by 3M Achitectural Markets designed by Todd Bracher
Please tell us about some of the applications/uses of Lightfalls that you envision?
The beauty behind Lightfalls is that you can light large spaces with little installation effort, little costs involved with electrical work as it can have as little as one powered LED over a good 10- foot section. Which means for the architect they can have a large accent piece for relatively little cost and low installation time. I envision Lightfalls used in ceiling and wall applications where the desire is to have a wow factor while providing superb ambient light for low cost. The cost is low as you need only a single LED in some cases where to normally light a 10-foot fixture you would need multiple LEDS, multiple power supplies etc. Lightfalls is designed to be very easy to install which also lowers the cost as there is really no wiring as it is a completely passive system and not electrical other than the LED.
Closeup view of single light in Lightfalls by 3M Achitectural Markets designed by Todd Bracher
How would you describe the lighting effect of Lightfalls? And how did you create it?
The lighting effect is a result of physics. It is 100% explosive and dynamic. We also have developed a ‘dichroic’ filter that shifts the color of the light and allows it to separate through the system resulting in a play in light never seen before. When dimmed down, the result is rich. 3M only uses the highest quality full spectrum LEDs that burn wonderfully. The light is truly the best available and Lightfalls presents it beautifully. Lightfalls was born from asking ‘what if’? As a sort of experiment, we tried to push the limits of what is possible... and feel that now we understand this is possible... what else can we achieve— that question is even more interesting.
Bracher also designed a specially commissioned space by 3M Architectural Markets at the trade show 100% Design during the London Design Festival.
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Designer David Trubridge
The London Design Festival is now in full swing and I have a dizzying schedule of interviews with some of the world’s most fascinating, fresh, talented, and brilliant design minds. Lighting Designer David Trubridge caught my attention—which is hard to do given the depths of design talent here—for his organic lighting creations inspired by New Zealand, his homeland, and his travels across the Pacific.
Designs that speak to me typically tell a story about history, heritage, and personal values. David reveals much of himself in his work—his reverence for nature, passion for sustainable design, and close cultural ties to New Zealand. David’s designs are manufactured locally using timber from sustainably-managed plantations.
This week, David is exhibiting at the trade show, The Design Junction, one of four during the London Design Festival. Holloways of Ludlow, a specialist fixtures and fittings retailer, represents David’s lighting creations in UK. The following is my exclusive interview with David as we peer into his design mind.
Karen: What informs your work, your designs and why? Please explain and expand on your choice of materials.
I love to walk in the mountains and wild places, the empty parts of this planet. Wherever possible I try to make time for myself to do this, especially when I am travelling. It is where the energy comes from that informs my work. Sometimes in these quiet spaces I find an inner voice, some incipient spark of an idea that may become a new design. And I hope that the design will also carry something of the story of that energy and life. Manuka is what Captain Cook called the tea tree because of its aromatic leaf. It has a lovely little white flower, which we have referred to below.
The Manuka Pendant. David says ths is the first light where he has tried to get away from the conventional single bulb in the centre and used LEDs more creatively embedded in the structure of the light itself.
Because I care so much for Nature and our environment it follows that I care about the materials we use and their effect on the planet. So we try to choose materials that are not being depleted and that do not pollute. Wood is the best because it can (and should) be totally sustainable, but also because it extracts carbon from the atmosphere during its growing. However it is not always straightforward.
For example the bamboo ply we use comes from a wonderfully sustainable resource (it is actually a secondary product from the food industry) but it does require a lot of processing to turn it into plywood. So would a less replenishable wood that requires less machining and gluing be better? How do you evaluate it? These are the dilemmas we face.”
Karen: How do you envision your lighting designs used? What kind of reactions do you hope to elicit? Or is that even a part of your thought and creative process when making these lights?
To answer the last part first – I think I tend to work more in the way of an artist than as a designer. By this, I mean that my need to make things comes from an inner imperative – a love of making and a desire to communicate my deep feeling for Nature and the world around us – rather than to fulfill a practical need as designer would. It then follows that people buy the lights for the same reason. They are responding to some sort of emotional connection, and using the lights in this expressive way rather than as a functional source of light.
Karen: Can you please explain how lighting can bring emotion into design?
If people just wanted to recreate daylight at night they can do this much more cheaply with standard down lights, for example. So what they are looking for in buying my light shades is something extra, and that is the emotional experience. You can add a piece of furniture, such as a chair, to a room and it doesn’t change the feel of the room much. But you can totally transform the whole living space with just one light, by its warm glow (or other colours), and by its shadow patterns. And it is not taking up any extra floor space, which is often at a premium. With many of my lights I am trying to invoke archetypal experiences such as the flicker of firelight on a cave wall or soft evening sunlight filtering through spring foliage. It is amazing how deep-seated these experiences are in our psyche!
Karen: Can you provide some tips or things to think about for consumers in regards to the way they light their homes and living environments?
I think that the most important thing is not to be led by trends. These are designed to become out of date very quickly, forcing you to come back and buy the latest ‘look’ not so much because you need it but because they need to sell it. Instead have faith in yourself and buy what you like and believe in. It is your house, so make it the way you want it, not the way style-masters tell you to make it. It is good also to look for classical designs that will last visually and physically. Design Junction runs
Initially Koura was a more asymmetric shape, like the curled up form of the fresh water crayfish that the Maori callkoura. Over time it evolved into the simpler current shape, which is more reminiscent of a woven fish trap that could have been used to catch them.
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