Conventional lighting systems suffer from a serious but seemingly unavoidable limitation: sockets. Along with wires, plugs and fixtures, this basic infrastructure dictates where lights can go and what they could look like. How would a designer get around that? Magnets, of course!
That’s what the quirky visionaries at Choi+Shine Architects have done with the BIT light. The modular lighting system fits together with magnetic conductors on the ends of linear lighting elements (read: LEDs encased in durable translucent polycarbonate tubes). The more lights you add to the modular system, the brighter the room becomes, and the more complex you can make the arrangement of bulbs.
Instead of a socket for the base bulb, there’s an octagonal terminal power connector with a nickel casing. BITs can be connected to all sides, and the number of different arrangements is immense. The designers illustrated a few different combinations on the project website:
Choi+Shine Architects don’t say how expensive the system is — or even how readily available it is. (You can inquire about the design by emailing them directly.) Nevertheless, the future of magnetic modular lights sounds quite bright. [Choi+Shine via ArchDaily]
Pictures: Choi+Shine