Of light and shadows : tenerife

• Main Author: Frances Diana Vallado Billones
• Other Authors: Chalit Kongsuwan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Design::Product
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/63365
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, the one thing against another creates.”- Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows. This dissertation will discuss the manifestation of the physical visualization of light and shadow in a luminaire. Light materializes visually - directly and indirectly. When viewed directly, light exists as a glow - formless and taking the shape of the space it resides. When viewed indirectly, it creates the visual experience that we know of. The said luminaire will refer to the tangible intermediary that forms between the light and the user and also the light and shadows that materialize as a result of the manipulation of the form. Made of Tyvek and inspired by the Philippine national leaf, the shade consists of two radially folded intersecting parts that can be arranged in varying expressions that seek to not only emulate the leaf but also adapts to the user's preferences. The interplay between light and shadows against the multitude of surfaces facilitates the appreciation of planar surfaces through volumetric qualities. Design research was conducted by reviewing precedent works by designers such as Issey Miyake, Zaha Hadid and Nishimura Yuko amongst many others. Technical research into the qualities of light in architecture, paper working methods and the emotional effects of lighting also took place simultaneously. Thorough and intense ideation and prototyping were performed in the effort of realizing an aesthetically inspiring piece that also places great care, emphasis and consideration into the ease of creating the parts, assembly, transportation, user installation and most importantly, user friendliness. The dissertation will thus outline the processes from its inception to its final creation. It will discuss the complications encountered, user study enhancements and mechanical adjustments that were made in the process with the objective of creating a piece that balances functionality and beauty.