Herman Miller's Leaf LED Light by Yves Behar
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 1.06
When we toured the Leaf Light booth at ICFF we were less than dazzled, we thought the lamp looked cheap and inelegant. We did like the way one controlled the light and could vary its intensity and colour temperature, and would have posted about it again (Collin covered it here) had we not been put off again by its useless flash-abusive website. However after seeing the design blogosphere go gaga over it, and loving LED's as we do, we thought we would point you to said ::Herman Miller Leaf website , ::MocoLoco, and coverage in ::Metropolis. You decide.
From Metropolis:
Leaf is a sculptural-looking creation made of two slim torqued aluminum parts. The arm is anchored by a solid disk containing a PC board; atop it are controls similar to the iPod's touch wheel. Slide your finger along the edge one way and the light glows golden; slide it the other way and the lamp emits the sort of pure white light that graphic designers need to run color tests. (In technical terms, it goes from 5500 to 2500 Calvin on the heat spectrum.) The dimmer works the same way; and a tap at the center, right on the backlit Herman Miller logo, turns the light on and off.
A grid of LEDs is fixed onto the head of the light. Heat--the number-one problem with using LED technology--is dissipated using a series of "chimneys," little holes that allow it to escape. A three-layer heat sink--backed by copper and aluminum--keeps the temperature below a manageable 60 degrees Celsius.
I agree with TH. I do think the LED technology/control is superb and the idea to use both dimmably is good, but the light looks and feels a little cheap when you use it. not worth $650 or $1000 or what every HM is going to charge.
Agree with both TH and kenzan. In fact,
kenzan's lighting designs look much more interesting.
Hope this sort of thing trickles down to us masses (Ikea, you hear that?)
"Agree with both TH and kenzan. In fact, kenzan's lighting designs look much more interesting."
Really?
Looks like a lot of resin to me; not too nice.
G
the pieces you see are made out of resin. they are the prototypes. there is a chance that they will be manufactured, and i am hoping that we use a cellulose based plastic (or "non-petroleum") made by eastman chemical. Cellulose based plastic was actually developed before oil based materials, and is still used in a variety of applications today.
I think it's a great concept and looks awesome. Saw it in Wired and was searching to find prices...is it really $650-1000??
The leaf lamp is probably THE most over-hyped contemporary design "icon". It's unfortunate that it has almost reached design icon status because it is undeserving...
First of all, there is nothing "green" about it. Yes it's highly recyclable and uses relatively less energy but the light it emits is spotty and the the LED's get hot. The touch sensitive controls are surprisingly counter intuitive and clumsy and at $600+ this is not a viable lighting solution for many to even have a chance of recycling.
Love most of Behar's work but sometimes and certainly in this case it's more about the current popularity of the designer than the actual design quality of the work.
Not to compare the two but it reminds me of Zoolander when Mugatu commented that a designer was so "hot" right now that he could take a poop and put a couple of fish hooks in it and sell it to Queen Elisabeth as earrings.....lol
Stiven...
if the lamp is highly recyclable and uses 40% less energy than even CFL's...how is it not "green"? Sure it's no candle, but it sounds much more efficient than most options out there.
The lamp is selling for $499, not $600+ as everyone who failed to Google it, stated previously.
I think it's brilliant and will look great net to my Tivoli stereo.