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Surfers Paradise pedestrian boardwalk at Night

webmaster — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:41:41 +0000

I can understand the importance of lighting the beach at night in such a high profile holiday destination such as Surfers Paradise. People choose to come here because of the famous beach so why leave the beach solely for daylight activities? The sand is just as soft white and clean at night as it is during the day.
But what is also equally important is the connection between the beach and the commercial precinct. The space where you cross the road from the hotels you’re staying in and make your way along the foreshore boardwalk.
The problem is walking along the boardwalk at night is unbearable due to the glare from the flat panel LEDs . These panels are asked to light everything from the curbside to the high water line.
I can understand the cost is the driving factor here (we already have poles here so let’s just use them), but surely a compromise could be made. Floodlight the beach by all means but the boardwalk and the plants & shrubs and landscaping bordering it should defined differently. By separating the different spaces with light you define the space and its use.
As film and TV lighting designer you soon learn that it’s important to use different light sources for different scenes within the same overall scenario, for example if you want to light a portrait of someone sitting in a chair and light the wall that the chair rests against as well you might be tempted to think that one light can do both things, but if you want the wall to have texture or relief you need to have the light source oblique from the point of view of the viewers, but then the subject in the chair would be subject to harsh shadowing, the answer is to light the two planes separately.
The same process can be applied to landscape lighting. Define the dominant point of view, isolate the interesting elements with light, (or shadow) and create a tableau. Viewers will be enchanted.

Vivid Light 2013 Sydney

webmaster — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 02:32:33 +0000

Jeff Koons puppy reborn as a lit bunny on Dawes Point, Sydney

Vivid enjoyed another great year in Sydney. Even better was the late autumn weather. Crowds exceeded last years record numbers. Again the projections were the crowd pullers. Its great that the vivid organisers have developed different streams for the applicants, as event projections are completely different from architecural lighting and light sculptures.

Entry to Cambell Cove, behind OPT sydney

Ready to serve

Heliostats on Broadway

webmaster — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 01:53:08 +0000

Exciting new architecture project being built in the City south

The eastern tower features a passive solar design (a heliostat installation) extending from the upper levels on a monumental cantilever. The heliostat incorporates an innovative system of fixed and motorized mirrored panels designed to capture sunlight and redirect it into the retail atrium and onto the landscaped terraces. At night the heliostat’s integrated lighting will display video interpretations of Sydney landscapes.

reF: http://kennovations.com.au/architectural-solutions/architectural-heliostats/one-central-park-architectural-heliostats-light-reflectors/

Although I’m a little concerned how they would work. As the mirrors are positioned horizontal Otto the ground , How does sunlight fall upon them? Are those mirrors on the smaller tower and will they reflect light back up into the mirrors above them ? That would produce too much glare for the residences located below the heliostats. Are the heliostats mounted onto a large arm that will raise them up to vertical? Cant wait to find out? Come back later for more info…

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webmaster — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 00:45:54 +0000

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Design and planning of Lighting fails to address workplace tasks.

webmaster — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 06:50:57 +0000

Aerial view of Pt Kembla shipping facilities

the google earth view illustrates the set up for AAT terminals at Pt Kembla NSW. New cars are delivered to the Port from manufacturing plants around the world. Drivers then discharge them from the ship and park them wharfside. The cars are then collected for delivery to dealerships around the state. In designing the car parking arrangements the engineers/planners made the dreadful mistake of positioning the carpark columns on an east west axis.

Photo illustrates the cars parked on east west axis

Due to the huge numbers of vehicles involved drivers are instructed to park the cars within 400mm of each other and the parking spaces barely accomodate the width of your average car. Of course there is a company policy of “Zero Damage” and prevention of damage to vehicles is the companies highest priority. On this occasion the operation was

Photo illustrates the close proximity of other cars and the glare of early morning sun impairing drivers vision

commenced before dawn, As the sun rose the drivers were forced to drive the cars directly into morning sun severly impairing the drivers vision, and therefore increasing the opportunity for an accident to happen.

When ever designing lighting in the workplace, and its obvious in this case that the engineers only considered electric lighting for night time operations, it is vitally important to conduct a thorough analysis of tasks undertaken in the workplace at any time of day or night. By conducting these studies then problems involving natural or electric light can be eliminated in the design phase

webmaster — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:21:07 +0000

The recent events in detroit saddened me. Although Never having visited the city, it’s influence on my cultural upbring was still enormous Detroit destiny – Mobile 1

CGI Rendering

webmaster — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:20:43 +0000

It is a battle for us cyber challenged oldies to promote our ideas and concepts to prospective clients. Rendering has developed to such a level that it can overwhelm a project, but at the high end market, it is an expected component of a pitch. To achieve a high level of sophistication you need talented programmers and powerful computers. Follow the link to see an example of what is possible. It is a 98% rendered CGI animation, mind blowing in its realization.

Thanks to Garfield Darlington for passing on the link;

http://vimeo.com/7809605

Australian Fashion week @Locomotive workshop

webmaster — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:55:53 +0000

The paparazzi ready themselves

Entrance/ Exit to the catwalk

It was great to be involved with Australian Fashion week again, especially when it was held at the Locomotive Workshop, (Australia Technology Park). A museum space I helped design as part of my internship with Petra Kleegraffe.

It was amazing to see the space we lit filled with people enjoying the ambience we helped create.

Anish Kapoor @ MCA

webmaster — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:50:02 +0000

Finally had the opportunity to Visit the Anish Kapoor Show at the MCA, the last days posters were up so I knew I had to make it and of course, I wasn’t disappointed. As a lighting designer the way we see is a cornerstone to the way we approach lighting design. Kapoor intrigues you with his investigations into our optic system, repeatedly confusing your eye/brain link. The viewer constantly asking themselves, (often unconsciously) “how is it so?”

The convex coloured discs reflect back the clean gallery walls &
floor. Your eyes/brain struggle to find an edge. Edges give meaning
and perspective to your world. Without edges you see nothing you
can’t comprehend anything. So you see the reflections of the walls
and floor as a flat mirror, an additional plane to the curved
artwork, when you know there is in fact none. Your brain tries so
hard to make sense if it that you even believe you can even see the
shadow the imagined internal disc creates. (See image)

Your brain is having so much difficulty in trying to recognise or process what
you’re seeing you suffer a sense of “mal de mer” or nausea. Again &
again you have to move around to the side of the artwork to check
to see if it is mounted flush to the wall or as your eyes/brain would have it off the wall.

Your Brain tells you it’s hanging off the wall maybe it’s right. In fact the art work is an artfully painted hole in the wall.

“Memory” is maybe his most famous work, a giant bomb shaped tank.

Holding onto everything. Taking all the space, rigid never blinking You can look into its interior via another gallery space . It just slowly fades into darkness

Although fascinating and enjoyable I had the slightly unnerving feeling that is somehow akin to a carny sideshow or magician’s act. Where its too clever by half But its impossible to ignore how Kapoor can connect with a wide ranging audience. And good luck to him. 4 out of 5 light globes

Magic light Garden at Centennial Park

webmaster — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:12:06 +0000

The tin Lids perform “Bohemian Rhapsody” for the crowds at Centennial Park

Last night I rounded up the tin lids and bundled them off to the Centennial Park ‘spectacular illuminated Paperbark Grove and the magic of the Light Garden’ playground display. as i crawled slowly round centennial park drive i realised that Sydney is a city of a few million inhabitants and that a free evening attraction/event in a a place so dear to their hearts is bound to delver them in spades. Thousands enjoyed the balmy if not stinkingly hot summer evening to spread out the picnic rug and soak up the festive illuminated air, innocuously entranced by the falling darkness, the multitudes, clutching ever present glowies weaved and twisted through this quilted peopled patchwork. Having such a jolly good time they jostled through the paper bark grove good naturedly. It really was just a simple xmas style garden display with the addition of powerful led par style up lights. This very well attended event, with thousands of Sydneysiders bringing nitpick dinners, enjoying the warm Sydney summer weather. Unfortunately as you moved through the beautiful, enchanting and playful magic light garden, (their words not mine) you were blitzed by a array of 5000 watt floodlights laid on the ground pointed glaringly at the innocent crowd. From the point of view of someone sitting inside the Centennial Park dining rooms,enjoying a well healed dinner,watching the stumbling masses shielding their eyes as they tried to find their car keys and safe passage back to the road must have been edifying .