In the spotlight

The imposing Granary Square HQ of Central Saint Martins (CMS) is the setting of a recent collaboration between the design school’s students and German lighting firm Zumtobel. The project, explains Teresa Zumtobel, granddaughter of the company’s founder Dr Walter Zumtobel, was spurred on by her memories of briefings by lauded design firms during her own time studying at CSM.

The initiative posed the question: What will the new generation of lighting solutions really look like? Sixty students attempted to answer it, under the critical auspices of a judging panel that included Chris Falla and Huachenn Yu, from BIG Bjarke Ingels Group; Helmut Kinzler of Zaha Hadid Architects; and Yorgo Lykouria, creative director product design Europe at HOK and Lykouria Ltd.

‘The goal of this collaboration for us, I think, is first and foremost to show how Zumtobel really respects the next generation of designers,’ explains Teresa. ‘For the winning design, we were looking for something definitely challenging innovation.’

The winner was Levon Lim, with his ‘Klik’ design: ‘a multifunctional spotlight rail with an adjustable luminaire housing that can be individually positioned at the push of a button, depending on the specific interior concept and shop design’. In the video above, he praises the opportunity to work directly with non-faculty designers working in the commercial sector, ‘I think it’s every student or designer’s dream to actually see your product coming into the real world, and being out there selling, or showing people your creation,’ Lim explains.