Issue｜Plants and Sustainable Lighting Art Exhibition

Apr 22

Written By TaG Hey

The Taste Journey, a sustainably themed design project for THOMAS CHIEN Restaurant, represents a breakthrough in Taiwan's approach to sustainable dining space design. Beyond the previous article's mention of the use of local waste and recycled materials, we introduced "sustainable cross-industry collaboration" as a tool to innovate environmentally friendly lighting design.

Review article: The Land is the Best Material Library

Considering limitations like color temperature and focus, commercially available pendant lights couldn't provide the tailored lighting configuration needed for the space, making it difficult to enhance and highlight the food’s presentation. We took the initiative to design and customize the lighting, collaborating with local floral and plant design expert Alinea the Floral Studio. Using European techniques infused with Eastern elements, each installation was crafted to suit the practical requirements of the space while embodying the sustainable concept of the design, becoming a memorable stylistic feature for guests.

By integrating plants with immersive art curation techniques, we selected biodegradable materials from Taiwan’s land, such as coral limestone, red quinoa ingredients, azalea root driftwood, and silver willow leaf skeletons. These were combined with rough hemp paper as a base, with undulating wave-like lines as the theme. We deconstructed and reassembled the imagery of the island, ocean, and sailcloth, layering elements to preserve the natural, organic, and linear rhythms. The lighting design and floral aesthetics culminated in two key pieces: the "Ocean Pendant Light," which focuses on highlighting the cuisine at the dining table, and the "Floral Pendant Light," a key visual installation at the entrance.

Breaking the conventional exhibition framework of museums and galleries, we structure permanent collections and artistic visual performances within the dining space. Through the fluid, dance-like movement of lighting lines, we create an environment that embodies the sustainable spirit of the land’s material library. We aim to view dining as a behavioral mode, where the culinary aesthetics on the table blend into interior installation art, amplifying sensory experiences and shaping a space that embodies various forms of beauty, akin to an art gallery for the senses.