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Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Benaki Museum Pavilion Architectural Lighting by Eleftheria Deko and Associates Wins the Silver A' Design Award in Lighting Products and Fixtures Design

Eleftheria Deko and Associates honored for lighting products and fixtures design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Lighting Products and Fixtures Design category for Benaki Museum Pavilion Architectural Lighting by Eleftheria Deko and Associates. The recognition forms part of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Silver A' Design Award

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

About Benaki Museum Pavilion Architectural Lighting

Benaki Museum Pavilion is an architectural lighting scheme for a museum shop and exhibition space. The pivoting iron entrance door holds exhibit cases, and the lighting is integrated into the door structure. Custom spherical fixtures are mounted with magnets and powered by a low voltage circuit carved into the metal, so no cables are visible. Inside, adjustable spots are set in recessed tracks between the wooden ceiling beams. Cove lighting in cool white emphasizes the aluminum foam shelves, and small recessed spots highlight the artifacts.

Award Record

Eleftheria Deko and Associates is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.

About the A' Lighting Products and Fixtures Design Award

The A' Lighting Design Award is an international lighting design competition recognizing good lighting designs by best lighting designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to lighting designers, lighting architects, industrial design studios and lighting product manufacturers from all countries. Typical entries include chandeliers, pendant lights, wall sconces, table lamps, floor lamps and outdoor lights. The awarded lighting designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/lighting

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Benaki Museum Pavilion Architectural Lighting
Function
Architectural Lighting
Category
Lighting Products and Fixtures Design
Discipline
Industrial Design
Industry
Furniture & Home and Electronics & Appliances
Colors
Steel Blue, Dark Slate Gray and Black
Images
5

The Recognition

Laureate
Eleftheria Deko and Associates
Country
Greece
Recognition
Silver A' Design Award
Edition
2019 - 2020
Design ID
#99274

Credits

Team
Kois Associated Architects
Image Credits
Photographer George Sfakianakis, Benaki Museum Pavilion, 2019

Design Details

Unique Properties
The signature entrance iron door holds exhibit cases and the concept was the lighting to be part of the structure. The lighting of the interior is also discreet and achieved with adjustable spots in recessed tracks between the ceiling wooden beams, so not to interfere with the general aesthetics, but to provide lighting adaptability. The aluminum foam shelves with their shimmering glow are given more emphasis with a dramatic effect of the cove lighting in cool white. The desired atmosphere was completed by tiny recessed track spot lights in the shelves, to highlight the artifacts
Inspiration
In a unique symbiosis of Culture and Leisure, the Benaki Museum inaugurated in June 2019 a new pavilion into the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel at the Athens Riviera. The building that functions as the Museum’s shop as well as an exhibition space, is an example of Greek modern architecture built in the 50s. The architectural concept was inspired by the binaries of the day and night cycle. The pivotal movement of the entrance gate mirrors this succession. The lighting concept was through simplicity and minimalism to highlight the architectural features as well as the concept.
Research
The lighting design respected the architect's concept throughout the process. The small size of the building along with the demanding parameters of a shop and exhibition venue, were the context for the lighting study. The study was based on technical research in order to make possible LIGHTING WITHOUT VISIBLE CABLES , for the spotlights of the iron entrance door. A group of people from electrical engineers to craftsmen worked on realizing the prototypes of the small scale lighting fixtures that we had designed as spheres in order to add the unique character of this project.
Challenge
No product could provide lighting on the door with no obvious cables or infrastructure so everything was prototype. We designed small spherical LED fixtures for flexibility and style. We used magnets inside the bodies and a 3mm wide circuit was carved in each case on the metal structure of the door, powered with low voltage for electrifying the custom-made fixtures. The challenges were: to engrave this micro power-line on the metal structure, to insulate it, to supply it with electricity despite the pivotal movement of the door and the spherical spot light to be stable and well secured on.
Realization and Technology
Lighting Manufacturers: Viabizzuno, Linea Light, Lights On. Use of the minimum size of track systems and fixtures for general lighting of the space and artifacts lighting on the shelves, LEDstrips for cove lighting and custom made small-scale fixtures for magnetic mounting on the exhibition cases of the pivoting iron door.
Operation and Interaction
The flexibility of the track system both on the shelves as well as between the ceiling wooden beams gives a lot of freedom to the operators of the shop to change the positions of the merchandise and often have a new look. Similar adaptability has the entrance door / display with the magnetic custom and patent pending spherical lights that can be moved freely on it.
Project Duration and Location
The project lasted 4 months from concept to execution.
Specifications
Ceiling tracks: W 17mm x H 20mm x L custom. Ceiling spots: Ø38mm, H 60mm. Shelves' recessed track: W 17mm x H 20mm x L custom. Curved especially for recessing into the round-shaped shelves. Shelves' spots: Ø14mm, H 18mm. Custom spherical magnetic spots: Ø35mm.
Keywords
Light, Lighting design, Lighting fixtures, prototype, novelties, track system, magnetic spot, retail, exhibition

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