A good lamp is like poetry ...
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: False light can break a room, driving its inhabitants into depression. But what is "good light"?
Klaus Nolting: Good light has many facets: It creates the right atmosphere, lifts the mood, increases the performance and helps to physical well-being. In this case, "good" is in no way equated with "bright". This becomes clear when one considers that a bedside lamp gives about 50 lux (colloquially a measure of the brightness), an office workstation requires 500 lux illuminance, and about 15 000 at noon on a summer's day under a tree in the shade Lux can be measured. You can feel good in all three places. The light is thus strongly dependent on the time of day, the personal need for light and the type of employment. Good light would define me as light perfectly adapted to human activity.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: In recent years, many new lamps have come onto the market, for example halogen, energy-saving lamps and fluorescent lamps with natural color rendering. Are they all equally well suited for living?
Klaus Nolting: No. The first energy-saving bulbs that would replace the "normal" bulb were basically fluorescent bulbs in a compact design. One suddenly got instead of hard light with strong shadows and a warm light color a "muddy" diffused light without great contrasts in the shadow. For most living areas completely unsuitable. Today, many manufacturers have responded to this fact and by colored glasses warmer tones on offer. However, the brilliance of a halogen lamp will never reach these bulbs.
Luminaire family "In & Out"
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: How would you use the different lamps in the living area?
Klaus Nolting: Halogen light with its warm color spectrum and its clear, hard light is the favorite for me in the living area. With its higher light output per watt compared to the conventional light bulb, there is also an energy-saving effect here. Unfortunately, not so effective, because the lifetime is significantly higher compared to a light bulb, but also significantly lower than that of compact fluorescent lamps. Fluorescent lamp light I would use in the living area only for general indirect room lighting or for diffuse backlighting of dull glass surfaces. LEDs have the absolute longest life, but produce only comparatively little light. The technical development has progressed rapidly here in recent years. Slowly, these bulbs can replace others, but a disadvantage is still the high price. LEDs are unbeatable when space is at a premium: the door latch manufacturer FSB, for example, together with Insta, has developed LED-illuminated door rosettes that could be used in a children's room.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: What is the special challenge in luminaire design?
Klaus Nolting: A lamp is off during the day and should have a nice shape in this condition. When turned on, poetry comes into play at best: now it is a question of symbiotically bringing the material of the luminaire head and the light source to magic with the light. Then there is the heat development: each lamp is physically a tiny fire, because all bulbs develop heat. The following applies: the smaller the light point and the higher the light output, the hotter it gets. According to the fire protection regulations, the luminaire body may however heat up to a maximum of 70 degrees Celsius. So you have to take care for a proper ventilation of the lamp. And with adjustable lights, make sure that the user recognizes the areas where he can touch the light and where to leave it. This is always a challenge when developing a new luminaire.
To person
Floor lamp "Lakonia"
Klaus Nolting specializes in the design of luminaires. The metal floor lamp "Lakonia" (151 cm high, Anta) has a porcelain diffuser. The luminaire family "In & Out" made of glass (between 32 and 130 cm high, Movelight) was designed together with Andreas Ostwald
Design: Klaus Nolting and Andreas Ostwald.
