Dispatches from Design Lighting Tokyo (part two)


FX assistant editor Emily Martin reports from the third Design Lighting Tokyo exhibition, Tokyo, Japan.


Looking around the exhibits today, I noticed that the two LED/OLED lighting expos accompanying Design Tokyo lighting, to make up the event umbrella title Lighting Japan 2015, take up a much larger proportion of the event space. Hundreds of LED products and machinery flash, whizz and hum as big-name manufacturers from Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan rent big stands, using TV screens, flashy graphics and girls wearing white mini-skirts to attract men in suits to come and talk to them about manufacturing solutions (it's worth mentioning that the male to female ratio in attendance was particularly weighted towards the former).

A much smaller portion of space is dedicated to showcasing how this technology can be applied to products, with exhibitors for the Design Tokyo Lighting event made up of small businesses based in Japan, Asia and Europe. The number of lighting products on display feature intricate design detailing, craftwork and lighting design innovation to offer a healthy contrast to the more 'technical' side of the event. But Design Lighting Tokyo is only a young exhibition, whereas the LED/OLED exhibits have been running for several years, the 'design side' is only in its third with event organiser Reed Exhibitions Japan, keen to expand it over the following years.

Design_Lighting_Tokyo_Emily Martin

Lunatica,' being exhibited at Design Lighting Tokyo by Italian design company Ciappesoni

'It started out as a LED lighting technology exhibition with a number of fixture companies exhibiting,' Hajime Suzuki tells me, Reed Exhibition Japan's director and group vice president, when I caught up with him to talk about the event's intentions and aims. 'The next step was to also grow the show and create more variety for visitors, but it seemed that the fixture companies wanted to sell to the architects and designers. So the best way is, if we have more lighting design then it's going to be easier for the designers and architects to come to the event.'

Well that was the thinking and, according to Suzuki, it's working. However having lighting fixture companies at the event is also appealing to the A+D communities, something he didn't expect would happen. 'I thought the designers and architects would just look for the design products when attending the event,' explains Suzuki. 'But what they say is since they can see lighting design, lighting fixture and also lighting technology all at once it creates a very unique event for them.'

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With the lighting fixture part of the show focussing as being an 'Asian event,' with production manly centred in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and China, Suzuki says that the lighting design need to expand to attract a more global presence: 'lighting design, I think, is the most advance market is in Europe. So we are trying to attract more European and US designers to create a more international event, but to also add more value to the Asian market.'

Suzuki intends to visit European lighting exhibition throughout 2015, to target directly future exhibitors and A+D visitors of Design Lighting Tokyo event for 2016 and beyond. While this year may be small in comparison to some of the bigger design events we see in Europe, US and Middle East the signs of what is yet to come for the event is present with in the form of a handful of Italian lighting design companies exhibiting at the event - and of course FX.

Image caption: 'Lunatica,' being exhibited at Design Lighting Tokyo by Italian design company Ciappesoni

 








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