The Toronto Design Offsite Festival will show the best in Canadian design at events across the city, from unexpected prototypes to immersive installations, January 21-27, 2013 ”

 

LightForm is excited to host the opening party of The Toronto Design Offsite Festival 2013. As a proud supporter of the local design community, partnering with TODO is a perfect opportunity to mix and mingle with inspirational local artists while enjoying featured installations by Grace Eunmi Lee, Xiaojing Yan, and Gwen Lim-Brydson, as well as, classic pieces by LightForm’s exclusive partners: Metalarte, Marset, Flos, Foscarini, Fabbian and many more.

Doors will open at 8pm. Free admission. With great music by DJ Joe Blow and tequila shots for all, this party is sure to light up your year. Check out the details here.

Cover art by Grace Eunmi Lee.

Jielde Loft Collection Table Lamps, Ingo Maurer Zettel’z Chandelier and two Diesel by Foscarini Rock Pendants over the Kitchen

 Jielde Loft Collection Table Lamps, Ingo Maurer Zettel’z Chandelier and two Diesel by Foscarini Rock Pendants over the Kitchen

Foscarini Twiggy floor lamp designed by Marc Sadler

Foscarini Twiggy floor lamp designed by Marc Sadler and Diesel by Foscarini Rock Pendants hanging in the doorway.

Photos via

We knew Calgary born designer Lukas Peet had great things ahead of him when we met him last year.

He accompanied Roll & Hill founder and creative director, Jason Miller, in hosting one of LightForm’s Design Lectures along with New York Based designer Lindsey Adelman. Miller introduced the Rudi as part of Roll & Hill’s 2012 collection but even then, the much anticipated fixture was already a favourite of design blogs and design publications. Arresting in its simplicity, it has struck a chord with almost every designer and architect we talk to.

The Rudi was just featured in an editorial spread in a recent issue of Elle Decor Italia (seen below), evincing a quiet and mesmerizing magic that is altogether rare in new products in general, but more so from a designer as young as Peet.  Elle Decor hailed the Rudi as a new classic, and we look forward to its permanence in the world of interiors and design.

ELLE DECOR ITALIA – October 2012

More information on the Rudi and its different variations is available at Roll&Hill.com

Roll & Hill Rudi Double Pendant by Lukas Peet

Roll & Hill Rudi Pendant by Lukas Peet

Roll & Hill Rudi Large Pendant by Lukas Peet

345 Meat Packing District, Roll & Hill Mini Endless designed by Jason Miller

345 Meat Packing District, Roll & Modo Pendant designed by Jason Miller

345 Meat Packing District, Roll & Hill Halo Chandelier designed by Paul Loebach

345 Meat Packing District, Roll & Hill Bluff City Pendant designed by Jonah Takagi

19th Street, Roll & Hill Agnes Chandelier designed by Lindsey Adelman

Chouchin is the Japanese word for the traditional, symbolic lanterns made out of paper and bamboo and used as luminous sources or as lucky charms at the entrance of the house. Reinterpreted in a more contemporary way, these lights borrow the magic and the poetry from this symbolic and ethereal japanese world. It has an essential and, at the same time, evocative design: the body, made out of glass, which is obtained through a single blowing process, is embellished by a white collar underneath. Colour played a key role in the choice of materials: glass offers a warm surface on which the varnish produces a full, luminous colour.

In 2010 New York Magazine’s Grub Street column asked a question that already weighed heavily in the minds of designers and restauranteurs: “Lights out on the Edison Bulb?“

The conversation began with a New York Times article written in June of the same year exploring the history of the trend, chalking up its beginning in high profile New York City eateries like Craft in Grammercy park, Public in Nolita or Spotted Pig in the West Village. But even in 2010, the backlash against the Edison lamp was already in full throttle, with designers, restauranteurs and environmental scientists alike, speaking out against an environmentally irresponsible trend that has exploded all over the world. The Times article quoted national hospitality empire owner Charlier Palmer who “recently dissauded a designer from using them in a new space. “That happened 20 years ago,” he recalled saying. “It’s been done.”

And though the allure of the inexpensive and nostalgic warmth of the Edison bulb has spread, now even into private residences, it’s important that we remain innovative as well as environmental responsibility. Here are our favourite alternatives to the Edison Bulb—a list of cost effective pendants that have polish and personality.

And if you still feel like you’re missing that old-timey feel, take restauranteur Ken Friedman’s advise and “just light real candles, you know?”

1

Metalarte Sentry Pendants designed by Christiaan+Planck

2

Roll & Hill Bluff City Pendant designed by Jonah Takagi

3

Fabbian Bijou Pendants designed by Prospero Rasulo

4

Vibia Nobel Pendant designed by Prospero Rasulo

5

Flos Mini Can Can Pendants designed by Marcel Wanders

6

Foscarini Gregg Pendant by designed by LUDOVICA+ROBERTO PALOMBA

Designers Chad Falkenberg and Kelly Reynolds of Falken Reynolds are now proud spokespersons for Philips LED. They have embarked on a partnership that marries their creative vision with energy efficiency awareness. The inspirational space they created here is lit completely by Philips LED lamp sources. The light is soft and inviting and creates a warm atmosphere—perfect for an evening spent at home with friends. They use this space to illustrate five lightings tips to help you illuminate your home. Click on each tip to read about it in more detail on their blog.

There is a lot of talk in the design and building industry about being green – which is encouraging – but so often the talk is misleading. We try to keep our green philosophy simple: reduce, reuse, recycle. We believe one of the best ways to be green is to simply use less: buy quality products that last a long time.

 - Falken Reynolds

 5 Lighting tips from Falken Reynolds 

tip 1 : Multiple Light Sources

tip 2: Use Dimmers Everywhere

Photo featuring Flos Miss K table lamp designed by Philippe Starck

tip 3: Light Tabletops and Countertops

Lighting Left to right: Metalarte Inout Floor Lamp, Flos Kelvin Floor Lamp and Foscarini Gregg Table Lamp

tip 4: Take cues from Natural Light

 Lighting left to right: Flos Gatto table lamp, Metalarte Josephine Pendant

tip 5: Light the Things you Love

Lighting: Flos Gatto Piccolo Table Lamp

 Lighting left to right: Metalarte America Floor Lamp, Flos Gatto Piccolo Table Lamp, Metalarte Josephine Pendant

Photos by Josh Dunford and Lighting provided by LightForm.

The Marset Tam Tam designed by Fabien Dumas hangs above a booth in Cafe Craft

Earlier this month Dezeen posted on the newly opened Parisian Cafe Craft, designed by Paris based design studio, POOL. It’s been described as a place designed for professionals who don’t have an office and this is fitting since most coffee shops have long acted as communal offices, think tanks and studios for students and professionals (with a particularly long tradition in Paris). We like that the designers used linear, architectural lighting to bring a workplace feel to the cafe, while retaining a stylish and comfortable design sensibility through the custom designed furniture and of course, the Marset Tam Tam chandelier in all black.

Pictures via Dezeen 

Earlier this year, LightForm announced an exciting new partnership with Spanish lighting company, Marset. We invited them to host our Design Lecture Series, the first of its kind in Toronto and the third in our series in Vancouver. 

Amidst a backdrop of Discocos, Scantlings, Pleat Boxes and one big Soho, we introduced Javier Marset, president and creative pulse of Marset, to a full house of architects and designers. He took us through an inspiring presentation that began with the history of his family’s metal working company, founded in the 1940′s, to Marset’s beginnings producing metal-based lighting fixtures in the 1970′s. However, the brand as it is known today—a lighting manufacturer invested in the inventive and emotive capacity of light—took form under his leadership in the early 90s.

The Marset lighting collection is strong and it is unique precisely because it has invested heavily in the things that Javier Marset values most himself.

“Whenever we decide whether or not we want to produce a light, we have to ask ourselves, ‘Does this product deserve to be brought into the world’ “?

The relationships Marset builds with the designers they work with are centered around shared values, real connections and ambitious ideas about how to make lighting that moves people. Each design is considered and weighed against a criteria that evaluates its quality, its beauty, its emotion, its innovation and the most of all, its capacity for endurance over time.

With a strong presence in high-end hotel and restaurant projects across the globe, with designers like Patricia Urquiola and Philippe Starck specifying Marset lighting for the interiors they are commissioned for, Marset has established itself as a brand that focuses on both beautifully designed product and high quality, reliable production.

Inspired by the Scandinavian tradition and life by the sea in a vibrant Barcelona, Javier Marset’s influences come from far and wide. A bon vivant to his core, he has built his company around his good taste, his charisma and his passion for design. Driven by his commitment to narrative and emotion, Marset has produced an impressive line-up of videos for many of its newest products – all of which tell individual stories about the designer and the process and inspiration behind each piece. They can all be viewed on their Vimeo channel.

After the presentation we had many designers who attended the event tell us that hearing Javier speak so passionately about design reminded them about why they began their careers in this industry in the first place.

We want to thank Javier Marset, Joan Miro, and all the designers and architects who attended the Marset presentations in both Toronto and in Vancouver, for making this event so special and so inspirational. It couldn’t have turned out better, and we are grateful for yet another opportunity to have brought the community together for such an intimate occasion.

More photos of the event can be found on our Facebook Page.

Vancouver photos taken by Heather Merenda and Toronto photos taken by Carla Gusek.

Special thanks to our Caters in Toronto and in Vancouver for providing the amazing food we all enjoyed.

Just one week ago at the ARIDO Awards of Excellence Gala, 88 Scott Sales Office won the ARIDO Award of Merit. Designed by Kelly Cray & Christianne Celotti of UNION31, the designers looked to the dynamic landscapes and textures of the Great North to inform the Canadian Moderne design concept used in the making of 88 Scott.

“Canadian Moderne is an aesthetic grounded in the use of ‘raw’ materials, organic textures and earthy colors, elements we can all relate to” describes UNION31 partner and creative principal Kelly Cray. ”88 Scott is contemporary design at its best, urban and sophisticated but also approachable”.

Choosing fixtures such as the Foscarini Allegretto Ritmico and the Vibia Slim Pendants as statement fixtures over dining and meeting tables, their choice of lighting reflects their desire for the organic and the contemporary.

 88 Scott Described by UNION31:

Located at the core of the city centre, this storefront Sales Office was conceived for a project featuring a distinctive stepped tower rising 58 stories from a historic midcentury-modern limestone and granite podium; styled with clean lines and simple forms the Sales Office captures the essence of the final building. At once sleek and contemporary yet also possessing an Artisanal, bespoke quality that speaks to Canada’s history of drawing from the land to craft the environment. 

 

LightForm congratulates the design team at UNION31 on their sophisticated and uniquely Canadian perspective on modern spaces. JOB WELL DONE! 

Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography

Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography

Local artist Ken Gangbar was commissioned to create a ceiling hung sculpture consisting of porcelain elements suspended by bronze cable. Called “City Freeze” the piece is an abstraction and interpretation of a cityscape illustrating motion and direction by playing on the contrasts of mass and void, linear and organic, movement and stillness. 

Vibia Slim Pendants above tables in the Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography

Foscarini Allegretto Ritmico over dining table in the Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography

Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography

 

Concert Properties, 88 Scott Sales Centre designed by UNION31, Photo by Jac Jacobsen Photography