48 Meet Homann Park by Alfred Homann Danish designer Alfred Homann began developing lighting for Louis Poulsen four decades ago, making him one of the company’s longest collaborators. The new post top certainly lives up to its commemorative status. Homann Park emerged as the result of extensive research into market needs and tendencies: a sophisticated answer to Louis Poulsen’s quest for a subtle, stylish park and path luminaire. Forward-thinking in every respect, the design pairs modern elegance and technologically advanced functionality to meet today’s outdoor lighting needs. The understated form brings a versatile, dynamic concept to Louis Poulsen’s outdoor collection, demonstrating that a design need not be big to be bold, and need not shine the most to be the best. It is Homann Park’s quiet, compact integration of powerful LED technology that makes it a standout in urban and suburban environments, where it elegantly provides a sense of warmth and safety. Here, Alfred Homann shares his process and inspiration – and a bit about his history with Louis Poulsen. You have been designing for Louis Poulsen for forty years. Can you tell us about the changes you have observed, and how your design process has evolved? When I began working with Louis Poulsen, the light sources and the production were quite simple: it was a bulb and a socket. Of course, Louis Poulsen was also a rather small Danish company working primarily in Scandinavia and Germany. Today, the reach is global, the light sources have become high-tech, and the production process demands big investments in tooling. As a designer, you therefore have to establish an understanding of the light sources and the light they create, as well as what you can get out of the tooling. A good product is often characterised by a clear shape, few parts, and simple tooling, and the design detailing is developed in dialogue with the chosen production methods. What was your vision for Homann Park? In this particular design, the scale was very important, as was the balance between the subdued and the expressive. The new post top had to find its way between these two parameters. If you had to describe the new post top in just three words… I would use the same words that guide all my work as an architect and designer: simplicity, clarity and logic. What inspired the form and function of Homann Park? My inspiration does not normally come from particular things I see. Rather, the form arrives from the purpose of the fixture, the context it will be in, and by building the fixture from the inside out while considering the light source and the electrical components. In this way, you get exactly what is needed for solving your problem: nothing more and nothing less. Of course, you have to work with the light coming from the light source to cultivate it without destroying its efficiency, which is becoming more and more important, especially for outdoor lighting.
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