Kick your bodyclock into touch with “DAY&NIGHT light”: beautiful and life-enhancing lamps for sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder.
“DAY&NIGHT light” consists of two lamps that rebalance our biological clock through the change of seasons. Using coloured light to modify the levels of our sleep hormone: melatonin, those lamps concretely fight what is called “Seasonal Affective Disorders”.
“DAY&NIGHT light” is launched by This is BOUW, an independent design studio, after several years of research and product development.
“DAY&NIGHT light” received the prestigious Wallpaper award for “Life enhancer of the year”, as well as the Design plus award, powered by light + building.
(“DAY&NIGHT light” se compose de deux lampes qui viennent rééquilibrer notre horloge biologique au grès des saisons. En utilisant la lumière colorée pour modifier les niveaux de notre hormone du sommeil: la mélatonine, ces lampes luttent activement contre ce qu’on appelle le “Trouble Affectif Saisonnier”.
“DAY&NIGHT light” vous est présenté par This is BOUW, studio de design indépendant, après plusieurs années de recherche et de développement de produits.
“DAY&NIGHT light” a reçu le prestigieux prix Wallpaper pour “Objet de l’année qui améliore la qualité de vie”, ainsi que le prix Design plus, décerné par light + building.)
Find below a selection of press and web publications featuring “DAY&NIGHT light”:
We are Eléonore Delisse and Laura Ferriere, a french designers duo named This is BOUW, and based in Rotterdam.
We met at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where we graduated in June 2014 with a common project: The White Building, a reinsertion program implemented for multi-recidivist criminal offenders. Entrusted by the Justice of Netherlands with a long term professional application, this multi-awarded project became the stepping stone of our career as cross-sectoral designers.
At This is BOUW, we specialised in developing tailored answers to global issues. We design effective processes to achieve inspiring products and services applicable to the here and now. To do so, we like to rethink all the steps in and around a topic so our idea gets a real chance at matching the outside world.
We united thanks to our common vision of a positive future in which designers empower both public and private clients rather than creating beautiful objects for unknown customers. We aim at inspiring non-creatives to think beyond the norm, re-inventing the way companies or institutions work, and paving the way for design to meet new fields through immersive collaborations.
BOUW, noun: 1. building, 2. construction, 3. structure, 4. culture.
Find more information on our website: www.thisisbouw.com
Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) affects millions around the globe each year. While researching this phenomenon, Eléonore Delisse discovered that the body is stimulated by colours. and that colours are responsible for the correct functioning of our body. The day and night cycle rules rhythmic changes within our body. This cycle established by our biological clock functions throughout a period of approximately 24 hours and most importantly is synchronised to external time signals. The disruptions of this cycle and a lack of synchrony with the external signals can engender a loss of well-being. That is why we have an internal biological clock that is supposed to ensure that our organism will “do the right thing” at the right moment.
Nowadays, we have the ability to override our biological clock and tailor our sleep-wake rhythm to our busy lives (jet lag, shift work, parties…). This 24/7 lifestyle disturbs the normal circadian rhythm and can lead to serious health consequences, including psychiatric disorders, such as depression or S.A.D.
“DAY&NIGHT light” system came to the Eléonore’s mind when she found out that light with high colour temperature suppresses our nocturnal fall and increases the melatonin (hormone of the sleep) secretion more strongly than light with a low color temperature. Bright blue would suppress the melatonin production while red and amber light would enhance it. The difference of temperature in the light we are exposed to, affects the melatonin secretion which can then improve or worsen our mood and well-being. Nourished by studies on the influence of lights on human physiology, the designer considered creating a device to rebalance our biological clock.
While the main existing solutions to fight S.A.D. are focused on the irradiance of the light, Eléonore Delisse tackled this question from another perspective. Not by being exposed to a certain lux levels but being exposed to colours. Understanding time differently by having an artificially coloured rhythm in our homes to manipulate our brain behaviour. “DAY&NIGHT light” lamps aim at programming our brain to remind us of the time of the day. Regardless of weather or season, they project a certain hue into our living space at the same time of each day.
Neither of “DAY light” and “NIGHT light” possess a switch button: they run automatically according to a programmed micro-processor connected to a real time clock. As soon as you plug the lamps, the LED light source will be on for 6 hours and stop by itself. No need to plug them out and in again: the lamps will remember the time you first plugged them and switch on each day at that same time.
We advise to plug “DAY light” at 6AM, for it to run until noon and start again automatically the following days. “NIGHT light” should be plugged at 6PM to light up your home until midnight. These are our recommendations. You remain free to follow your own needs. And if you are not happy with the time you first set: unplug the lamp and plug it again at a better time. A user instruction booklet comes with the lamps to explain their behaviour and impact in details.
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With the “DAY&NIGHT light” project, our ambition was to design a beautiful solution for a widely spread health issue: Seasonal Affective Disorder. And we are very happy with the result we reached with those two lamps. However, we haven’t yet reached a solution which can be medically measurable.
We believe that colours should be used in consistency with their effects on us and our environment. Colours are definitely part of the future in many field and not only design and architecture. Still in the stage of exploration, a use of colours in medicine will definitely lead to more associated domestic products. In that field, a lot more is to be discovered or to be accessible by a wide public.
Design can give a new dimension to these medical innovations. Using colour itself as the core of a project is nowadays trendy but the use of colours according to scientific knowledge is a powerful tool. This is what we want to develop thanks to your help, and as a new step for DAY&NIGHT. We hope to design a new range of products, in close collaboration with scientists specialised in the impact of colour on our mind and body.
Becoming one of our backers means much more than just giving money. We are a young design studio aspiring to improve people’s life with our services and products. We work hard and need all the support we can get to push our ideas into the world. Even the smallest pledge is to us a warm encouragement, and comforts our determination in finding more beautiful and useful solutions to the topics we are passionate about.
For this campaign, each backer from a €10 pledge and up will:
“DAY&NIGHT light” isn’t in its prototyping nor testing phase anymore. Therefore, we are confident that its production will not reserve any unforeseen challenge. And we have taken many precautions to avoid having any delays.
We must remind our backers that we work hand in hand with small scale producers delivering high quality materials, as well as with a small team which will process and assemble the different rewards. These collaborations, based on trust, excellence and care for beauty, insure a professional result within the best timing. Nevertheless, this “one to one” production could lead to a delay in delivery time if the campaign is way more successful than expected. Even in that case, we insure our backers that we will make the best decisions for a timely delivery.
“DAY&NIGHT light” involves a small scale production, and falls under the “art piece” category.