Lighting Design Trends: Organic Layouts

The Toronto office of Slack has an original pattern of linear LED recessed lighting to create a dynamic, original design

Published on February 1, 2019

Last updated on March 2, 2023 2:47 pm

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The LED lighting industry is rapidly evolving and breaking through barriers once set by fluorescent lighting. The advancements in LED technology have dropped overall fixture costs, reduced energy consumption and allowed for more creative fixture designs. It’s true that LEDs are non-toxic (unlike the mercury in fluorescent lighting), but the term “organic” here refers to the layout patterns of lighting, not the material. The fixture of choice here is LED linear lighting, on walls and ceilings, suspended and recessed.

A combination of recessed linear wall lighting and linear suspension ceiling lights creates a dynamic, organic design in a gym. — *LED linear lighting allows for continuous runs of light, with seamless ceiling to wall connections.*

Organic Design Layouts

As architectural designs have digressed from symmetrical and parallel mirroring patterns that align with vaulted ceilings, grid axis, and more; linear lighting allows architects to highlight asymmetrical architectural features and lines (which is where the term “architectural lighting” comes from). The lighting design pattern of 2019 is no design pattern.

Lighting designers are slowly straying away from specifying the standard parallel rows of 4-foot and 8-foot. fixtures and are now specifying commercial linear pendants of 2 feet, 3 feet, 5 feet and 6 feet. with no particular design pattern. “The beauty of lighting design right now is in breaking rules,” says Perris Weber, an Alcon Lighting Sales Consultant.

Angled connections allow designers to link LED suspension lights together in original patterns, such as a zig-zag pattern running the length of an office conference room table — *Angled connections allow lighting designers to make patterns with both recessed and suspended light fixtures, as seen in this zig-zag patten over an office conference table.*

Weber goes on to say, “We’re seeing our custom-length commercial linear fixtures, which can be suspended or recessed on ceilings or walls – get spec’d as zigzags, snake-like patterns, and designs asymmetrically linking wall to ceiling to floor. When architects come to us with imaginative ideas, in addition to a challenge, we get so giddy and excited at the opportunity to execute their unique design layouts.”

Suspended LED linear pendant lights can be combined using angle joints to create a diamond pattern on the ceiling — *A designer can create patterns with linear LED lighting to enhance the design of a space. Suspension lights also afford indirect uplight to highlight ceiling features and reduce glare.*

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ceiling lights interior LED linear lights recessed lights suspension uplighting wall lights

David Hakimi

Alcon Lighting creative director and co-founder David Hakimi works to improve lighting through research, development and education. David strives for efficiency in lighting, affording architects, lighting designers and engineers the ability to maximize LED lighting design and application. David is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelors in history. David also studied lighting design at IES in Los Angeles. He traces his and Alcon Lighting’s commitment to innovation, accountability, quality and value to lessons learned from his father, Mike Hakimi, a lighting craftsman, salesman and consultant in Southern California for more than four decades. Today’s lighting for commercial use requires a deep, complete understanding of smart lighting systems and controls. David takes pride in his lighting, energy controls and design knowledge. He is driven by the desire to share his insights into lighting specification and application. This quest to share his knowledge was the impetus for David to create Insights, Alcon Lighting’s blog and resource center for helping the reader understand lighting and its application to space.