24/7talk Interior Design, a blogging page about Interior Design

Let's start the week on a smile, for some items there are no words….

Bathrooms have always been tricky to decorate, but this new invention makes accessorizing the toilet seat a no-brainer. A California company created a toilet that's also a fish tank. Don't worry, the fish aren't swimming in the bowl, but in a special container where they are safe and protected from flushing. Who needs magazine?, you can enjoy some live entertainment instead.

Lighting Design is one of my favorites in the Interior Design Discipline. But I find not to many people pay enough attention to a well planned or thought out Lighting Design in their Home, Office, Dining Room, Kitchen or Bedroom, even though we spend most of our day in these rooms with the Light on. To get to the point, I found just a couple of days ago a very interesting News Article about the opening of the new Deutsche Handelskammer in Hamburg the so called "House in House". Here a very nice Slide Show by Nimbus about Lighting Design with smdLED. The "House in a House" is one of the first buildings worldwide to be lit exclusively with energy-saving smd LEDs by Nimbus. More than 160,000 of these LEDs over all the five levels were required. 400 LEDs are in each of the 380 light-module panels suspended from the glass ceiling on each floor. Due to the uniqueness of this lighting and its interaction with the translucent, transparent and reflecting material, the building acquires an almost "immaterial" appearance. Depending on requirements, LED modules bathe individual areas in bright light for working or they illuminate individual zones only weakly so that, for example, people can see where they are going. The lighting for the building is absolutely energy efficient because it is possible to request only the level of light intensity that is actually needed. Dynamic light sequences which can be triggered when necessary provide an additional effect. When the touchscreen is touched, the LED modules emit calming waves of light which move across the ceiling and are hardly noticeable. The dynamic light control system even conjures up natural scenes in the building: light clouds which slowly drift by above the heads of visitors.
A very informative Flash Movie about the smdLED Technology
- Because I Love Green Technology.

Lighting Design with smdLED

Admittedly, the technology behind light emitting diodes - known as LEDs for short - dates back to 1962. But only 44 years later, it came that the latest generation of ultra-flat smdLED semi-conductor diodes revolutionized our understanding of light and lighting. Nimbus smdLED luminaires are a forward-looking alternative to halogen and compact fluorescent lamps. They are flat, cool, economical and safe. Which opens up entirely new dimensions to planners and builders - in design, in lighting concepts and in actual use. The benefits are obvious. The ultraflat smdLED illuminats are perfect for a slim new and previously unimaginable design. These ultra flat luminaires only require extremely low installation depths and minimum fitted heights. The Lighting Designer therefore has the advantage of completely new installation possibilities and uses. Further they are cool. Just light no heat. I personally call it where the Form follows light: Ultra-flat One other advantage one has to deal only Just light - No heat. The new nimbus smd-LED luminaires can safely be touched even after they have been in use for many hours. A patented, ultra-thin cooling plate in a special alloy cools the SMD-LED luminant. One other great Advantage: no risk to children, no source of fire. This opens up situations where one could could not use or install normal Lights. The nimbus smd-LED luminaires operate for up to 50,000 hours, so they are extremely long-lasting and highly robust. Not even frequent switching on and off or vibrations will affect the luminant in any way. They provide the full light intensity as soon as they are switched on. The risk of them failing is put at 3 to 1 million. And because they are so highly efficient, they use up to 90 percent less electricity. Less is more this is a another favorite theme of mine. The nimbus SMD-LED luminaires work without dangerous electricity and harmful UV light. They operate with safety-low voltage (24 V). The highly compact converter may be positioned almost any distance from the luminaire: anywhere, even in a wall or ceiling junction box. And the non-UV light protects sensitive and valuable exhibits. There is much more, but one would have to create a complete Website like the Nimbus Lighting Design Web Site