Modernist thinking is often represented by the grid: order, repetition and the march of identical forms. Office space tends to adhere to these outdated standards, especially in the corporate sector, and most everyone has experienced the unpleasantness of overhead fluorescent lighting. One innovative solution, by New York-based Rich Brilliant Willing is Queue, a linear LED pendant system introduced at ICFF this year.

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Designed to counter the monotony of the workplace, Queue would be equally at home in an office, bar or maybe even your kitchen. The extruded aluminum sections, each 44 inches in length, can be combined to create variations in height, and unique lighting situations — casting direct or ambient light upwards or downwards. In person, the lights are organic, warm and strangely inviting. Even the extrusions were pleasing to look at on their own, and the excitement of exhibition goers was palpable, as many wandered up to ask questions and inspect the system's components.

"This is our take on a lot of typical architectural lighting products," explains Alex Williams, one of RBW's founders. "In an office space you often have an aluminum box, hundreds of feet long, with a fluorescent tube inside. Queue pushes that to a new level, where you're able to create these really dynamic changes in height, and connect the sections like train cars."

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Theo Richardson, another of RBW's founders elaborates further, "What we're trying to do with this form is give it a softness, or an organic roundness typically absent from workplace fixtures."

Assembled in Brooklyn, the system is able to deliver "really, really warm color temperatures" by using high-end LED boards sourced from the Netherlands, and two lens profiles. Queue is heading into production now, and should be shipping by late September. RBW also plans to stock the item, with a lead time of 1-3 weeks.

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