The first thing that springs to mind when looking at Hyomi Kim's Tile+Light modular tile-lighting system are memories of virtually every film set in dark, rainy, smokey cities of the distant future. The second thing that springs to mind is, 'this would be awesome in my bathroom'. The latter aside, it's nice to think that someone - somewhere, is working hard to make that future a reality.

Kim's lighting system consists of modular tiles - normal, and light producing. The normal tiles, obviously, are just plain tiles that happen to match the lighting tiles. Fortunately this not a site on tiles, so we'll skip over that particular subject.

The lighting tiles come in a multitude of different styles and patterns, all appropriately designed so that you can make your own custom lighting solutions by sticking them next to each other in the right coordination. Sadly, since these are normal tiles you can only use them once - which means no epic games of Pipe Dream on your walls. Here's an excerpt from the design brief, to save rehashing already concise information:

"Tile + Light is a series of five differently configured customisable light fittings that is designed to be adaptable to different environments. Their modular configurations enable the user to arrange them to relate to the spatial qualities of particular environments, or according to the user’s preference. Without the need for exposed cables or difficult wiring, Tile + Light is easy to install. Tile + Light can be used as a decorative feature in public spaces, such as parks or pools, or serve as directional lighting to line corridors to exits."

Presumably the tiles contain some kind of conductive strips to allow the transfer of electricity in order to power the lights. We may never know though, since Tile+Lights is still only in the conceptual phase.

Hyomi Kim currently works at Hong Kong design and development agency, ProductSolutions.

More Resources
- RedDot Design Award for Illumination 2007 @red-dot.sg
- Hyomi Kim @coroflot.com