Paul Laak's Contact Details

Paul Laak's Company Details

Atelier 81 - Architecture by Light

Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands • 2 Employees
Architecture & Planning

Light is equivalent to fire. And fire is one of our most basic sources for survival: thanks to light we can see and experience.Paul van Laak and Nancy Hoffmann are the founding directors of this independent design office and workshop. With more than 25 years of experience in the performing arts world, Paul van Laak knows all the tricks in the book: light effects, technique and atmosphere. Working closely together with art-historian Nancy Hoffmann helps to underline the importance of context and aesthetics. We create light designs in close cooperation with our customers and partners to find the right - sometimes custom made - solutions for each space.   Light is becoming an important actor in our life. In 2006 we started seeing the changes in both the field of technique and on the side of consumers. The first started focussing on the consumer market, the latter started longing for more dramatic or theatrical effects in their private quarters. Even though the advertising photo shoots of producers look amazing, it all looks easier than it is. Over the last 12 years we been designing from a different point of view: architecture. Functionality, lucidity, austere lines and ambience are playing the main roles.By bringing together our knowledge of light, design, stage lightning and aesthetics we aim to tell the personal story of our customers and the architectural structures that surround them.