Jun 29, 2010

Lucedentro – Glowing Gaga

29 June 2010,

SAVING WATER IS ONE WAY TO GO GREEN, AND SAVING ELECTRICITY IS ANOTHER. BUT IF YOU CAN DO BOTH WITH GRACE AND FINESSE, THEN YOU ARE A TRUE STYLE ICON! BUT MAKE SURE TO GIVE THE INNOVATIVE ITALIAN DESIGNERS THEIR DUE CREDITS.

With today’s political environment focusing on keeping everything we
do and use as green as possible, the use of photoluminescent materials in sustainable building, interior and product designs is an idea whose time has come. Not to mention having the greenish-blue glow in your home and surroundings looks extremely cool (even more so if you’re a Sci-fi fan!) The effect from photoluminescent materials creates a totally different ambience whether it is in your home or a commercial area. As environmentally as you can get, photoluminescent materials use no electricity, consume no batteries and virtually maintenance-free. Forget about hard wiring, having to search out electrical problems or the constant purchase and disposal of batteries!

Lucedentro is a young company founded in Modena in 2006, by Luca Beltrame and Fabrizio Chyrek, specializes in research for the industrial application of photoluminescence. Photoluminescence is essentially the property of certain rare earth’s aluminates which retain solar or electric forms of light, store it and give it off, in six different colors, for a period of time that varies from eight to ten hours. The photoluminescence pigments adhere to European safety guidelines, are safe to your health and free of radioactive material, thereby allowing them to be utilized in various industrial applications such as: glass, plastics, ceramics and wax. This extraordinary phenomenon, in the hands of knowledgeable designers, allows for architectural applications and strong emotional designs that can be interpreted from time to time according to paradigms of beauty, safety, and energy savings. These three principle aspects constitute the core of Lucedentro research.

After the recent craze of Avatar, have you ever fantasized about bathing in a large bathtub with a Na’vi? You can now seek Lucedentro to fulfill that fantasy! They’ve created a bathtub made out of mosaic of seemingly usual shapes that manages to create a unique atmosphere once the lights go off without any help from the owners at all. To top the amazement off, the afterglow time is rated to more than 20 hours! The tiles themselves are compatible with transparent and semi transparent binders, making them ideal for bathrooms and kitchen tile areas. Due to photoluminescent ceramic tiles, this bathtub accumulates light during the day and glows in the dark. The tub spreads light all over its surface, including in the interior, creating a great effect when it is filled with water. Besides tiles, one can find the curious works of Lucedentro in the form of cool architecture, lighting systems, landscape tiling and even glassware!