RIBAG Inspiration: DIZCO - The luminous glass pane, inspired by nature

Precise observation is essential - in nature as well as in the behavior of light. Nature has played a role in the creation of DIZCO in many ways.

“The form and function of a new lamp should follow the motto ‘Keep it simple - as simple as possible, as complicated as necessary’,” says Pascal Amacker, Creative Director at RIBAG, describing his approach. DIZCO was born out of the idea of developing a lamp that appears transparent, almost invisible, but when switched on - like the sun - becomes a luminous disk.

The shimmering glass pane

The development process began in line with the VIOR principle of creating two lighting effects. However, the team at the RIBAG Design Studio envisioned a lamp on a much larger scale than that of previous collections. For the ceiling and pendant lamps, a brilliant downlight with a beam angle of 60° was to provide clear contours and highlight colors and materials in a tangible way. With both lamps, as with the wall lamp, a large diffuser with a diameter of 400 mm should also generate effective indirect light. But how do you make a surface glow by feeding in light? How does the light behave? Questions like these were the starting point for numerous experiments and tests.

“Design has a lot to do with close observation, care and precision,” says Pascal Amacker, describing the challenge. “You can learn a lot by looking closely at how light behaves,” he continues. If a beam of light hits the surface of a transparent material at a flat angle, it is reflected in the material without penetrating the surface - similar to the light conduction in a fiber optic cable. If a surface is roughened, printed or deformed so that reflection on the smooth surface is prevented, the light beam “sticks” to the surface and is decoupled. This is perceived as 'shining'.

“New” lighting technology - illumination through residual light

Although an initially installed LED strip fed maximum light into the pane, it had the side effect of unpleasant glare at the edge. The solution came in the form of a lighting innovation, namely an indirect board that emits light into the room through a frosted inner area on the pane. “Scattered light, which gets caught in the pane and makes its way towards the edge of the pane, is now coupled through the grid points on the pane and via the outer edge. The pane is illuminated by a kind of residual light,” explains Pascal Amacker proudly.

Dot grid - light is made visible

A sophisticated system is required to decouple the light - a dot grid with an organically optimized arrangement, inspired by the compound eyes of an insect. In countless experiments, factors were researched such as how - at what intervals - the dots should be arranged on the disk, what size they should be and in what radius they should be printed. Pascal Amacker laughs and presents the solution for DIZCO many design sketches later - almost 60,000 dots, each dot set by hand, evenly distributed parametrically and increasing in size from the inside to the outside. This grid was captured in a high-resolution graphic and carefully printed onto the glass. The light remains on the dots, is scattered and becomes visible to the human eye. The result is the perception of a luminous pane.

Formal timelessness

For years, RIBAG has been designing lamps with clearly understandable shapes and basic bodies. Even with DIZCO, cleanly beveled edges run through all elements, from the canopy to the upper fixation to the glass edge to the lower fixture. The lamp looks like an organic body and is made from a single cast. The pane is made of 6 mm thick safety glass which does not form any sharp edges if broken.

The pendant lamp creates the impression of a floating body of light thanks to its delicate, current-carrying suspension. Its reduced, clear design language makes the lamp a discreet, timeless light source in the room. When switched off, when there is no longer any light reflection, the transparency of the glass pane comes to the fore, the lamp almost disappears into its appearance and remains discreetly in the background. “It's a kind of chameleon,” adds Pascal Amacker with a grin.

DIZCO generates atmospheres with a high quality of stay in which people feel comfortable and can relax or concentrate on their work. The discreet, timeless light source is suitable for use in high-quality residential and commercial areas.

Discover more