Prometheus ILight Pendant Light by Ionut Sur is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2013 Bronze A' Design Award in Lighting Products and Fixtures Design Competition Category.
BronzeLighting· 2013
Prometheus ILight Pendant Light
by Ionut Sur
Client: Ionut Sur
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Lighting Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #28682The Design
About Prometheus ILight Pendant Light
The project captures the moment in which Prometheus stole knowledge from the Gods so he can share it with mankind. It is designed to serves as a protective shell. The light from the sphere is warm because it is only a fraction. The cube represents the source, the Gods themselves and is fitted with a strip of LEDs, generating cold light, the boundary between the two levels of existence and perception.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Prometheus ILight Pendant Light is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Prometheus ILight Pendant Light is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Prometheus ILight Pendant Light splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Design Interview
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
The main focus was to design a light that is unique, that is close as possible to being alive. A light that is complex both in the story and construction, but also simple and clean.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
The main goal is to reach production.
How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
One year, including the working prototype.
Grand Interview
Your innovative integration of Greek mythology in the Prometheus ILight Pendant Light creates a powerful narrative about knowledge and illumination - could you elaborate on how this conceptual foundation shaped your technical design decisions?
The story of Prometheus and more exactly the actual moment the knowledge was given to mankind is what started the hole project. The entire purpose of the Pendant Light is too capture and convey the transfer of knowledge, the differences in perception form the 2 halves, the changes in consciousness that occurred.
The Prometheus ILight Pendant Light features an intricate interplay between warm and cold light sources - what inspired your decision to use this duality to represent different levels of existence and perception?
It is important to signal the differences between the 2 worlds in order to mark the actual moment, the interaction and transfer. With and without knowledge are 2 opposite positions to the extreme.
Your use of the Golden Ratio in the Prometheus ILight Pendant Light's spherical segment calculations demonstrates remarkable mathematical precision - how did this mathematical approach influence the aesthetic and functional elements of your design?
The aesthetic of the project was entirely generated using a pocket calculator. Not a single sketch, only a starting sphere and a diameter.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The project is an interactive pendant light that captures the moment in which Prometheus stole knowledge from the Gods so he can share it with mankind.
It is designed using two basic geometrical shapes: the sphere and the cube.
-The sphere represents Prometheus light, the knowledge, it serves as a protective shell, releasing it only when the light is turned on.
The exterior is covered with wood veneer representing the view/projection of mankind, the first step in understanding.
The interior is covered with gold foil representing the complexity and true nature of knowledge. The light from the sphere is warm because it is only a fraction.
-The cube represents the source, the Gods themselves and is fitted with a strip of LEDs, generating cold light, pure light.
The light from the LEDs also represents the boundary between the two levels of existence/perception. - Dimensions & Packaging
- 'Sphere: 60 cm diameter x 37.08 cm segment height
Cube: 14 cm x 14 cm x 14 cm - Tags
- light, interactive, knowledge, prometheus, pendant light
- Production Technology
- - The 'sphere is 60 cm in diameter and deviated using the Golden Ratio, resulting a 37.08 cm in high segment. The position of the segment in relation to the sphere is also generated using the same ratio. The segment is then divided in 5 separate parts that open once the light is turned on and stay open until the light is turned off.
- The motion is generated using a spring return actuator, used in ventilation and air conditioning systems. 6 sec. Open / 2.5 sec. Close.
- The actuator is connected directly to a master spur gear that turns 5 pinions with a ratio of 3/1. The actuator starts at 0° and is limited, throw the master gear at 8.33° using a 3 point contact with the steel cable supports.
- The ceiling cup is a black acrylic cube; it is constructed using a ratio of 7/30 in relation to the sphere. It is fitted with a strip of LEDs and also houses: a 24 VAC transformer; a 24 VAC to 12 VDC Converter and a led potentiometer circuit.
- The base material used is acrylic with thickness raging from 2 mm to 8 mm, assembled using adhesive welding.
The exterior of the sphere is covered with 0.9 mm Wenge veneer.
The interior is covered with 24K gold foil that acts as insulation from the heat generated by the light bulb. - Design Challenge
- The challenge in this design was finding a reliable and simple system to power the motion of the segments. The system required needed to be maintenance-free (no batteries, switches, sensors); simple and compact; reduced weight; to have a fluent motion and to be able to close the segments without the use of electrical power.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by Greek Mythology and the desire to create a unique and interactive project that would reflect the idea/concept of light, knowledge and mathematics.
- Project Duration
- This project is not available yet in true physical form. A working prototype will be available in the coming month.
- Operation Flow
- The project uses an actuator and spur gears to open the 5 segments once the light switch is turned on. When the power is turned off the spring incorporated in the actuator closes the segments without the use of electrical power.
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