Italy - the land of la dolce vita, gastronomic delights, stunning countryside, stylish cities, centuries old architecture and sunny days on holiday. In addition Italy is also a big player on the design scene. From the glory days of the 1950’s right through the 60’s, 70’s and to today. Italy has always had an original and super stylish contribution to make to the international design conversation.

When we think of something that triggers our emotions, there’s always the first few things that come to mind; music, art, family and a personal one for me…food. These things all attribute to our daily emotional state and how we react to them.

I’m inspired by the old principles of Chiaroscuro that dates back to the 17th century, the world of lighting and design. Lighting plays such a crucial role throughout art history as it has the ability to change the narrative of a painting, room or building. Whether it be dramatic and mysterious to relaxing and sublime.

Biophilia is defined as the hardwired human inclination to affiliate with nature. The term was first popularized by American psychologist Edwards O Wilson in the 1980’s when he observed the increasing rates of urbanisation and how it was leading us to disconnect to nature. Biophilic design has become a big influencer recently and rightly so. It has become an innovative way of designing spaces where we live, work and learn by incorporating natural materials, natural light, and greenery.

We hit two of the greatest interiors shows in two months, Maison et Objet in Paris and the Northern Light Fair in Stockholm, checking out some of the key trends for 2019 and beyond. One of the biggest take-aways we’ve seen at both fairs is the re-emergence of colours, prints and texture in lighting.

I’m currently in the throes of preparing course content for my Griffith College students for the new term starting next month. Looking at the material for my first lecture on lighting history, it is so impressive the explosion of lighting creativity at the end of the 19th Century, start of 20th. Electric lighting arrived on the scene with Thomas Edison’s light bulb in 1870. And was followed a myriad of new lighting technologies, and professions.