OLEDLight.org Interviews HagenHinderdael, Lighting and Installation Designer
Ambassador to OLED lighting.
Welcome reader! This is Ryan at OLEDLight.org. Today, we’re launching the first ever OLED Light Ambassador article, featuring HagenHinderdael! The designers who make up HagenHinderdael are Sofia Hagen and Lisa Hinderdael.
With backgrounds in architecture and design, Sofia and Lisa are a dynamic duo working to create lighting and installation designs with cutting edge technologies and sustainable solutions. Sofia focuses on the creative conception of HagenHinderdael’s interactive installations, while Lisa focuses on the creative vision of HagenHinderdael’s lighting range – together turning the HagenHinderdael ideas into reality.
We asked a series of questions to Lisa and Sofia and they graciously provided us with their thoughts.
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Every company has challenges and hurdles to overcome, especially in the ever-changing world of design, health, and sustainability. What pain points has your company or products faced with these areas?
In regard to sustainability, products developed in our current environment need to be made to last, the emphasis on a circular economy and low carbon footprint is becoming crucial. Sustainable design is a contribution to combat the global environmental damage we are currently experiencing. It is however only achievable through a combination of thorough material research and cutting-edge technology.
In regard to health, lighting is now being increasingly recognized for its significant impact on our wellbeing. The warmth and quality of a light source influences not only the space around us, but how we feel within it. Lighting has an influence on our circadian rhythm, which is crucial for a healthy immune system and cell recovery.
In terms of design – Design is not anymore about form and function alone. It needs to be a combination of aesthetics, longevity, and qualities that contribute to our wellbeing.
Great, thank you! How did (or do) you think the use of OLED lighting improves upon those pain points you described above?
OLED is fully recyclable and energy efficient which naturally contributes to a healthy environment. It’s light levels are pleasant, glare-free, non-flickering, and adjustable to our circadian rhythm. And its super slim, light weight design makes it easy to use as an elegant subtle light source, integrated within our decorative light fittings.
We totally agree! Next, we want to shift the focus to your customers. What is some of the feedback that your customers have given you in regards to current lighting solutions in the market?
Our customers love the “invisible” elegant light source and ambient lighting. Combined with the sustainability and afterlife narrative of all our products, it’s the perfect solution for current issues in emerging design.
We also find that there is an abundance of decorative lighting readily available in the market, yet although there have been several technological advancements in lighting – there is still a large disconnect in transforming these advancements into functional, decorative light fixtures.
That makes perfect sense. With everyone wanting to feel unique, whether it’s a business or a home, there are definitely some limitations on what current lighting solutions can bring to the table. So, what about OLED lighting? Do you think that OLED lighting will help some of those disconnects and issues in design and functionality?
OLED does help and will hopefully help even more when applied to product design, due to its unique attributes. The new and innovative technology used in OLED is changing this norm – challenging designers to remain on the cutting edge of design and capturing advancements that we see in other technological sectors within product design.
We have been showing a few photos of one of your products throughout this blog. Do you want to tell us a little bit about it and why you’re sharing it?
Our latest light product BOLLA– a collaboration with Cemento UK.
BOLLA brings awareness to how the escalated use of packaging materials is affecting our environment. Pointing the way to a circular economy instead of designing things to fail, bubble wrap sourced from packaging waste is used as form-work and transformed through parametric modelling and innovative research into the light product BOLLA. Made of an eco-friendly concrete mixture that has been custom developed with material scientists, recycled plastic particles are combined into a concrete aggregate and poured into an organic-shaped mold.
The light source itself fulfils the sustainable narrative, using wafer-thin OLED panels made from recycled materials – and providing a soft, and warm natural light that is fully integrated. Together, the integrated OLED and textured concrete with perforations disperses light uniformly across BOLLA for a striking, effervescent glow.
The BOLLA is an outstanding fixture for sure. We are excited to see what else you are working on in the future! We just have one last question for you both. What do you view as the future of lighting in your industry?
Sofia: Increased emphasis on sustainable design and research on the impact of lighting on our well-being. Customers and designers are beginning to understand that a healthy environment equals a healthy society, so we need to work on reconnecting these.
Lisa: If we are to catch up with the curve, the lifecycle of our products need to be as important as the design itself and we have to remain on the cutting-edge of technology – consistently pushing the envelope of design and bringing these two worlds together in eco-friendly, sustainable solutions.
Thank you so much for your time, Sofia and Lisa. We thank you for talking with us and we look forward to seeing your next OLED lighting fixture!
