Интервью со знаменитым дизайнером света Augusto Grillo - главой компании LUMEN CENTER ITALIA и основателем дизайнерской лаборатории Villa Tosca

Passing the gallery

Interview prepared: Ekaterina Ivanova

Magazine: (70)

Augusto Grillo - The head of the company LUMEN CENTER ITALIA and the founder of the design laboratory Villa Tosca. Grillo turned our ideas about the fact that there is an electric light. Since the "City of the Sun" Augusto Grillo was implemented, the light in the house became actively involved in the formation of space: from now on only with the help of light we can get several instead of one living room at once ... It is tempting and convenient, isn't it? Now it is no longer necessary, as in the 19th century, to have different living rooms, with different "moods". Enough to include different lighting systems!SALON: "City of the Sun" has become one of the most sensational projects of recent years. How did this idea come about? - Having got used to pay much more attention to furniture, we underestimate the light. So it turned out that no one thought seriously about his qualities. If you paid attention, the morning light is different from the evening. During the sunset, it is no longer white, but a little red. Then it becomes dark red. And only after that - dark and completely black. We come home and turn on ... the white light. It is too fast from day to night, without halftones and shadows. I wanted to create an analogue of natural light. So there was a project that I called "Heliopolis". He started in 1994. It was made to show the design community that creating something new is not just a problem of forms, but a deep study of functions. Astronomers, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, designers worked with us ... They discussed the qualities of light, its impact on humans. What is light from a biological, psychological, sociological and historical point of view? As a result, we have created lamps that provide all the colors of the solar spectrum: white light, white with yellow, dark yellow, red, dark red, blue, purple ... At the moment there are seven different lamps made using this technology.S: Thus, having such a powerful "multi-colored" arsenal, we can, quite differently than before, approach the creation of an interior. And this approach took shape as an important, if not leading, interior trend. Now the possibility of light can no longer be ignored. This is especially true of the role of light in such an important home area as the living room. And what do you think is the basis of the action of light? - Light is an important part of our emotions. If you want to write a poem, you cannot use the same light that you need to concentrate on the work. If you are going to say some words to your beloved, you will prefer the sunset, not the midday light. We tried to create light for life, light for eating, light for work. Different light. In the same room. And in this way we can simulate different options, different functions, different aesthetics in the same room. Now there is a huge sector, which we call home entertainment. We have come up with a new light for this kind of environment - it gives you the opportunity to relax. It seems to me that the future belongs to the light, which is designed for specific tasks.S: Did you have similar projects after the famous "Heliopolis"? - “Heliopolis” was so interested in us that right after its completion we decided to proceed to another large project: coloring of music. The beginning of such research was laid by Protagoras, who about 2000 years ago created a tool that connected forms and music. Newton was interested in synesthesia between sound, form and color. Scriabin, like many other musicians, dreamed of coloring the music. We continued this tradition. A year and a half ago, we finished work on a prototype machine that is capable of transforming any kinds of sounds into shapes and colors. In my opinion, this system provides great opportunities for relaxation. Another category of light that we are working on now is “home nomadism” - these are lamps without cables.S: Villa Tosca is now perhaps one of the most famous design labs. How is it organized? - Villa Tosca is not a design studio, but a management center that deals with design. Two world networks created by me and an Internet portal are connected with it. One network consists of designers, another - from scientists. The Internet portal (we called it the portal of creativity) provides a link between designers and industry. At the moment there are more than a thousand design studios in it.