Urban Sky

manufacturer PHILIPS
design podpod design
technical support  EnBW

The LED streetlight UrbanSky was created by the Austrian light design and planning studio podpod design for Philips GmbH. The streetlight was developed in consultation with the energy supplier EnBW on behalf of the City of Stuttgart, where Urban Sky has been successfully in use since 2012.

The new LED technology thus permits cutting down on energy and maintenance costs by up to 30% – and perhaps more – vis-à-vis conventional lamps. Constant light flux control integrated into the device as well as subsequent upgrades made possible by more highly evolved and efficient LED generations that may become available at a later date allow for further energy and cost savings.The luminaire can be installed as a cable suspension lamp or mounted on a pole or on the wall and lends itself to a wide array of street-lighting set-ups.

Photo © PHILIPS 

Design

UrbanSky is derived from simple Boolean operations with basic geometric volumes: sphere, cube and pyramid. The resulting shape with its polarity poised between round and square is surprisingly complex and changes depending on the observer’s viewpoint, opens and closes, blends into the background or comes to the fore. Like a leaf or flower in the sky, bright and shimmering in the downward direction (and white during daytime), protectively anthracite-grey and matt pointing upward. Viewed from below, the appeal of the lamp is friendly, open, cosy and equally attractive at any hour of day or night.The translucent area is brightened by the scattered light of the lamp and tempers the luminance contrast between the LEDGINE module and the surroundings.

Photo © PHILIPS

Design

The slightly flaring end surfaces discreetly brighten the adjacent building façades and give the luminaire added visibility as an orientation aid in the streetscape. The dimensions of the casing and the shape of the luminaire are designed for optimum heat dissipation of the LEDGINE modules directly via the casing.

Photo © PHILIPS/podpod design

interview

Philips Lighting Interview with podpod design about the idea of Urban Sky.

scribbles © podpod design

Facts

The production engineering for the luminaire focuses strongly on maximum eco-friendliness: the aluminium casing and PMMA cover can be fully recycled. No glues (e.g. for the gasket) were used, and composite materials, too, were largely avoided. For repairs or disposal, the luminaire can be disassembled into its components in just a few steps and then is either equipped with a new LED or recycled.The illumination technology behind UrbanSky is likewise environmentally friendly: the design and the individual LED optics essentially limit the emission of light to the lower hemisphere; only a tiny fraction of the light emitted is used for delicately brightening the lower zones of building façades (with a particularly soft light contour, which is important on windy days!) and as an orientation aid in the streetscape. For clients with strict zero candela requirements (such as e.g. Italy or Slovenia), dimming elements are available as accessories on request.

Photo © EnBW

Technical informations

further informations at Philips Lighting!

Photo © podpod design

Urban Sky pole-mounted

The pole-mounted option with wood/steel pole is especially attractive because the resource-efficient natural material with its archaic character provides an intriguing contrast to the high-tech appeal of the LED luminaire.

Rendering © podpod design