Light+Building 2012: New design freedom
From industrial charm to naturalness, from luxury to humour – lamp design as a reflection of technological change

Technology as daily bread, design as cake and candy

The so-called "ban on incandescent lamps", the EU Directive which provides for the step-by-step extinction of traditional lamps, also heralds the era of the LED. Although it was, at the beginning, viewed with scepticism by many consumers, the technological development
of light-emitting diodes has progressed at breakneck speed during the intervening period. Today, LEDs can be obtained in many different
colours and in different shades of white. High-end LEDs also get the quality of the light right, so that this form of lighting has now finally arrived in the living room, too. Whereas, just a few years ago, these tiny dots of light served as definite design statements, recent lighting schemes now include LEDs as a matter of course, without having to pick them out as, in any way, an "exotic" light source.
Technology must be both functional and offer the greatest possible comfort and convenience. This is also expected of luminaires. So,
equipping lamps with the most modern technology has now become standard and the focus for the future once again falls on design.
Trends for lighting in the home promise, therefore, to become both exciting and extremely creative. And many new products in the field
will be on show for the first time at the world's leading trade fair, Light+Building, in Frankfurt am Main from 15 to 20 April 2012.

Aleksandra Kulaga
Tel. +49 69 75 75-6144
Fax +49 69 75 75-6758