Hanami - event idea.

Hanami is the Japanese word for "flower viewing" or specifically it is a type of picnic which is held in the early spring where a group of friends has a picnic under cherry blossom trees.

Hamiltons biggest ever light show set to celebrate Bridge centenary

When Hamilton's Victoria Bridge turns 100 on Saturday 16 of October, residents from across the Waikato are invited to join in the celebration by watching the biggest light show ever to be staged in the city.

The Walking Dead - TV series in production.

The Walking Dead is a monthly black and white American comic book series published by Image Comics beginning in 2003. The comic was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore.

The story chronicles the travels of a group of people trying to survive in a world stricken by a zombie apocalypse. A television series was announced to be in production on August 11, 2009. The series won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series at the San Diego Comic Convention.

How we lost the recipe for concrete

Some times humanity suffers a bit of a set back. No better example exists the loss of the recipe for concrete. The Persians, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Romans all famously used concrete to give their structures a longevity and strength which has enabled some to survive to this day.

Unfortunately sometime during the fall of the Roman empire our ability to make todays most widely used building material was lost in the plunge into the dark ages. The modern recipe that we are all so familiar with wasn't discovered until the 18th century.

Ferrari F1 working drawings

Found this last night, its an artists website where the artist only draws cars or car parts. The drawings which caught my eye in particular are a set of working drawings for an engine from the 2000 F1 Ferrari.

Incredibly detailed and drawn by hand, not a computer modeling package in sight.

www.khulsey.com/tm_ferrari_f1_engine_drawings.html

LED handrail - ledpod, simple handrail lighting.

Handrail lighting has traditionally been hard to specify, difficult to install, costly to purchase and costly to maintain. Easily damaged linear fluorescent systems have been the most popular, often requiring a secondary rail to be installed below as the lighting rail does not meet the relevant standard.

The video above shows a new patent pending system by our supplier Klik.

LED Feature wall concept test.

Previously on this blog I posted a photo of some of the panels running on the floor being checked before they were sent to site.

The above is a quick 13 second video of Brian, Tom and I fitting two of these panels to the wall to firstly check that the concept was sound, and to allow a photo instruction to be made for the onsite installers.

Art in the Dark 2010

Art in the Dark, an interactive community event, is set to light up Ponsonby's Western Park on the 15th and 16th of October 2010, from 7pm until late.

Modus are thrilled to be working alongside the Dry Dairy collective on their installation for Art in the Dark, especially after the amazing pavilion that they created at Splore this year lit with Philips Color Kinetics.  Be sure to mark this event in your calendar and get along to Western Park to check out not only the Dry Dairy installation but the whole event for yourself! 

New agency - Brick In The Wall

Modus has had the recent pleasure of becoming the new agent for another unique brand out of Europe.

Specifically from Belgium, Brick in the wall manufacture a range of light fittings which are totally borderless. Designed for that minimalist look, all of these fittings can be recessed into either concrete or normal gib walls then painted the same colour as the rest of the wall.

Could be the greatest music accessory since the groupie

I stumbled across the above last night and thought that they were worth a look. Now we just need them to start making these in 1200 x 2400 sheets so that they can go on the wall or ceiling!

Modus.v2 is up and running....

As of Monday 6th September, Modus Lighting are relocated in our new building at 8 Canada St, Newton, CBD.  A few photos of the first day in the Auckland Sales office are attached, if you are passing call in to have a look or make the effort to drive past at night to view the "LightBox"......

Backwards Google

So I have previously bought you Uneven Google and Rotating google, I now present Backwards Google.

Now you can have the full set.

Bringing Colour to Dunedin!

Last week, our South Island Team, from Mark Herring Lighting put on a great colour lighting demonstration  at the Historic Dunedin Railway Station. We can't say that this treatment would be 'advantageous' for this amazing historic building, but as a canvas for providing education and illustration of what can be achieved with coloured light- it was fantastic! This turned out to be great night- thanks to all that attended! (and Trevor even got his picture in the paper!)

Mysterious Shadow People.

Kumi Yamashita has a secret power. She can place wood or metal objects in just the right light to make mysterious shadow people show their true selves. The genius of it all lies in the fact that without the lighting and shadows the objects would never give away her secret. These surprising silhouettes only come out when beckoned to do so.

The original article about the artist and the full article with more of her works can be found here.

Color Kinetics in Christchurch!

Mark Herring Lighting (The Modus Agent for the lower South Island) hosted a fantastic customer event last night. Introduced by the Mayor, Bob Parker and based around a product seminar and lots of hands on equipment in and around the Christchurch Town Hall, the evening was well attended by the local specifier and design community.

The temporary displays really highlighted what a bit of colour can bring to this iconic building and it's surrounds.Watch this space for some more colour in the deep south!

Waiuku Stage 2 - a little bit bent!

The redevelopment of the Town Centre continues using the WE-EF Eyris luminaire with 140W HIT-COS and the RBL bracket for the main lighting. The pedestrian crossing areas have been enhanced with the use of the WE-EF Ceon Luminaire.

 A very unique architectural column design  has been utilised for the Town Square incorporating WE-EF PFL 230 c/w 45W HIT-COS, as well as using the FLC 141 70W HIT spot light c/w snoot concentrating the light on the clock face of the tower, quite radical for Waiuku!

Wine bottle light.

Found this great little DIY lamp/lighting idea in my internet travels last night. So if you want a day long project and can picture one of these in your house then go for it, we all love the DIY.

The instructions are here

The blog that this comes from is called Wit and Whistle and should be visited for other fantastic DIY projects.

The DNA of LED.

Modus has a long history of taking that hard to build concept for a lighting feature and making it into reality, and that is exactly what we have done here.

New Library - New Lights - New LED!

Modus Lighting Ltd congratulates the Tasman District Council on the use of the Philips Clearline LED beside the new library, Queen Street, Richmond.

It Lives....

A recent residential project Modus Lighting has been working on with the renowned architect Richard Furze (of TV fame) has included a mixed bag of Modular Lighting fixtures including Downut, Lotis, Square Moon, Gutter, Duell. But centre piece and by far the lighting feature is an organic cluster of Modular IZAR Moodswing RGB LED fixtures. Construction is nearly finished and we will post some finished pictures but as an appetizer we show the recently installed IZAR's.... tre' cool....

"Change is the essential process of all existence" Spock - Star Trek

Modular Lighting Instruments have just unveiled Spock........  until recently interior LED lighting has generally not been able to meet the illumination requirements of architects, designers and end users, retro-fit and "patchwork" LED solutions have been predominant in interior LED luminaires.

But changing technologies can now offer more advanced solutions.........

Spock is something completely different – a fitting designed as an LED luminaire with a unique aesthetic driven by technology with an unrivaled performance.

Modus Lighting now Tweet controlled.

A while ago now we had the privilege to supply a full LED colour changing system for the Sky tower to illuminate from the observation decks up.

Just last night Skycity started a program where you can text in what colour you want the LEDs to show. Go on give it a go!

Originally reported by Close up on TV one here

Modus on the Move!!!

Everybody at Modus is starting to get excited that we will finally be moving to new premises, and putting the last memories of the fire behind us. 


The new premises at 8 Canada Street Newton are the complete antithesis of our current 'temporary residence'. Designed by Wingate and Farquhar, it was described in Pro-design Magazine as a 'Rare Beast'. 

Too cool for Unevengoogle?!?!

Then this is for you, revolving Google and internet!

Too cool for Google?

www.google.co.nz is normally the defualt search for anyone in New Zealand. In the fine tradition of google "looks" with a difference may I present uneven google for all your googling needs with a little quirk.

The 2010 Film festival is here!

From the 8th - 25th of July this year Auckland's silver screens will play host to some of the best celluloid from the last year.

For those of you who aren't regular festival watchers don't be put off there are a number of great films to be found. Visit the website www.nzff.co.nz pick something out, my first festival was only two years ago where I watched about 3 films. For my movie going experience this year I have 17 films on my list that I simply MUST see and about 7 optionals, not in Auckland don't worry the festival travels all around the country.

Incredible lighting job.

This video is a long one at sixteen minutes but well worth the watch to see an incredible lighting job.

‘YEKPARE’ (monolithic) from nerdworking on Vimeo.

Welcome to the internet.

Welcome to the internet

Emission trading scheme

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Like it or loath it, it's here.  With the ETS now passed into law and a cost now associated with carbon emissions of $12.50 per tonne, anything which causes emissions into the atmosphere has either just gone up in price or shortly will.

While Modus can't help you with your petrol bill, we can help you with reducing your electricity bill.

The Show Must Go On !

After 10 years of fundraising and 5 years of rebuilding, Nelson's Theatre Royal has recently reopened.

Light may be the future of computing...

An Otago University physicist is part of an international team of researchers  

who have developed what they say is the most efficient quantum "memory"

for lighting in the world, and a stepping stone to a future of super fast computers and ultra secure communications.

Think Led Lighting is complicated? Think again …

Everyone is talking LED and on the evening of Thursday 20 May 2010 our Philips Color Kinetics Light Show saw us light up the St John’s Heineken Bar in Wellington.

Cobblestone Park - Vivian Street Wellington gets a makeover

Still under construction but here is a sneak preview of the creative utilization of We-ef SVLs with a little Kiwi Ingenuity on the face plates. The units started out being a flush fit to the wall

Light & Building Fair - Frankfurt :Next Generation Lighting Gets Real

As they have been for the last 20+ years, Modus people were busy exploring this year’s Light and Building Fair in Frankfurt in April.  Every two years this massive event showcases the very best lighting design and R&D efforts from the international community.

Modus Lightings New Meeting Room/Showroom

Wellington Goes Camping

Our Capital now hosts a purpose built Motor Home Park on the waterfront.

Within easy reach to the stadium for the pending World Cup and next year's Sevens - we are looking to provide a convenient area complete with ablution block for visitors to park their Motor Homes. A new exciting addition to to the waterfront - a close walk to restaurants, trains, drinking venues, and of course the Cook Strait ferries - yes, the Wellington Waterfront Ltd thought of it all!!! We ef exterior product featured extensively in the project with the lighting design provided by Modus Wellington working in conjunction with Isthmus Wellington.

Warm Caring and Arty

CCM Architects, Wellington used Modus manufactured products in two projects recently, the Engine Room Gallery & Te Hopai Home and Hospital.

modus in the press

A couple of projects that Modus were working on towards the end of last year have recently featured in a some local and international design publications and the articles are now available online.....

Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington

We ef, a well respected exterior lighting provider was utilized for the exterior lighting of the new Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington.

Working at Wakefield

Modus Lighting, Wellington were consulted by Opus Architecture, Wellington for possible lighting solutions for the Wakefield Radiology entranceway. We recommended our Mira Pendant not only for its luminaire output but for its beautiful aesthetics. The Mira's were made in Shell Linen, which is one of our most popular fabrics.

Latest Modus Newsletter

The latest Modus Lighting Update Newsletter is available to download. This short brochure highlights some of our recent projects and installations. Please take a look!!

Waiuku continues

The Avenues........

The Avenues is part of 'Addison' Development within the Papakura district for which we have been supplying WE-EF ASP504 lanterns with either HPS or MH lamps for the past few years. However the Avenues was a different brief from the developer and it was to supply the local council with  a less maintenance requiring,lower energy consuming, more sustainable product. Part of this we could carry out almost straight away with our ex stock ASP 530 IP66 lantern (assembled in New Zealand) fitted with the Philips new generation 60W metal halide lamp which covered the first two parts of the request.

sem·a·phore (sěm'ə-fôr', -fōr') an apparatus for conveying information by means of visual signals, as a light whose position may be changed

Splore is an outdoor festival devoted to art, culture and community in the stunning Tepapakanga Regional Park just outside of Auckland City.  Alongside an impressive musical line up the bi-annual festival includes live performances, a variety of workshops and an art trail including site specific works throughout the site.

London Quay, Picton Development Takes Shape

Picton takes on a new aspect with the London Quay Development

Victoria St Taupo (Sustainable development by the District Council)

This project utilised the latest WE-EF Eyris RBL & RBM brackets and luminaires manufactured using marine grade recyclable LM6 aluminium.

Another CBD goes Cosmopolis! (White Light)

Just at the end of last year we supplied to the first stages of Victoria St Hamilton, WE-EF PFL 240 c/w 140W new generation metal halide energy efficient luminaires for the main carriageways, together with PFL 230 c/w 35W metal halide for the walkways.

Looking Good At Pegasus!

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The Pegasus development has been a huge multi stage residential lifstyle development, just north of Christchurch City. The latest stage to be completed is the 'Yacht Club' area, complete with We-ef ASP 500 Luminaires, with 60W Philips Cosmopolis lamps and We-ef decoartive aluminium and wooden Columns

There's been a lot going on....

We're back into lighting up the architecture and structures that make up New Zealand's cities, businesses, landmarks and homes. There's lots of exciting projects in the pipeline, and some great new ideas, products and technologies on the way this year.

UP and RUNNING!

Modus Lighting is up and running in the building adjacent ot our old building at 5 Wagener Place Saint Lukes. All phone, email and internet communications are restored with the same phone numbers and addresses. Physical deliveries can be made into our warehouse, and we are expecting our first international shipments in over the weekend.

What a Mess! - Not Much Left!

Fire totally destroyed the Modus Factory and Manufacturing Area, Leaving virtually nothing behind. Who would have thought a warehouse full of mainly steel components could burn so well!

Modus Factory Destroyed by Fire

Unfortunately the Modus facility in Saint Luke's was yesterday destroyed by fire.  At just after 10.30 am Friday morning, fire erupted and had soon engulfed the building. Although very quick to respond, the Fire Service was able to do little other than prevent the fire spreading to adjacent buildings.

team NOM @ Architecture Week 2009

Team NOM, Howie Kang, Ash Low, Frances Lowe and Mel Pau are second year students from the University of Auckland Architecture School.  They approached Modus during the last university semester to see if we could help them with some RGB LED lighting for a rather unique project.....

Hania St, Carpark, Wellington

This job was carried out in conjunction with Wraight & Associates Landscape Architects. Our brief was to light the area well, utilising a simple contempory pole& fitting (We-ef SBL 440)

sneak peak. .

Soon to be up on the website, but a sneak peak from You Tube in the meantime....

Partij!

The showroom at our Auckland factory/head office has been very "functional" for a wee while now - most often overrun with samples, prototypes of new products, or a range of luminaires and tools as we prepare for site trials and installations. 

Christmas Lights

A couple of weeks ago Jasmax Ltd got in contact with us to float the idea of working together with Lightworks to put together something a little special in an empty cottage on Franklin Rd.