There is a growing trend aimed at addressing how our bodies metabolize light for health and well-being.  More c and development of every-day products that will foster environmental comfort.

2015 was declared “International Year of Light and Light-based technologies” by UNESCO for a good reason.

Light, which in its visible wavelengths we call color, has immediate and deterministic impact on our lives, our circadian rhythm, our moods and behavior.

Ok, so lights don’t have to look like a Looney Tunes brain switch machine to be good for you.  Take a look at the technology and the design being worked on lately.

Philippe Rahm’s Spectral Light for Artemide          Image Courtesy of Artemide and DesignBoom.com

The most recent issue of Azure Magazine (one of my favorites) carries six significant articles about advances in lighting products and designs being which further foster health and well-being, for the planet, humans and animals.

Good Light? Bad Light?

You might imagine that my favorite of these articles is entitled, Natural Rhythms.  Addressing the harsh effects of “bad lighting” — something we may not consider adversely affecting our ability to stay focused at work and healthy in life–Oivind Slaavato took to designing a better light fixture.  After suffering a concussion, Oivind Slaavato, was unable to cope with bright light becoming physically ill when exposed to what he calls “bad light.”

Using sacred geometry of the Fibonacci series, this pendant not only shields the body from harsh effects of light but adds a beneficial and therapeutic effect.  The fixture will be produced by the Danish brand Louis Poulsen.  Read the digital article here.

Other products:

1. The Drift Light, a low-blue bulb designed to dim at the same pace as the setting sun, allowing the body and mind to gradually relax, found at drift-light.com.
2. Called the “Life Enhancer of the Year” this table-top lamp helps to balance circadian rhythms which are vital to health. Changing from energizing blue in the morning to calming amber in the evening, this light can be found at elenoredelisse.com
3. Studiotoer.com has designed a wall sconce that acts like a clock, thereby connecting us to the sun’s movement and re-calibrating our body’s internal clock.

See the lights and decide for yourself here.

Full-Spectrum Lighting

Philippe Rahm, Swiss architect and installationist who has designed a series of spectrum specific lights.

Rahm designed a pendant of 36 LED bulbs each emitting it a single wavelength which then come together at the light’s core combine to create a rich white light.

By offering the specific spectra that interact with the human body, according to Elizabeth Pagliocolo, author of the Azure Magazine article: Spectral Light, “The portion of LEDs selected for humans mixes specific wavelengths in green, yellow and ample blue, which blocks our pineal gland from secreting melatonin to keep us alert through the day and ward off SAD.  The rest are combined to benefit pets and plants.”

More information about Philippe’s light for Artemide can be found at DesignBoom.com, another “don’t miss”  online magazine that I love.

Other articles of note in this recent edition of Azure include:  Turn Down the Volume, (p. 58) which features acoustical light fixtures that  absorb sound, Come Together, (p. 60) introduces Ommatidium, a street light in London that acts as an internet hub and makes the streets lighter and safer, Q&A with Lee Broom (p.62) the British lighting designer talks lighting design trends: contemporary inspired by traditional, and Special Effects (p.64) cutting-edge design trends that will influence our lighting designs in the future.