Generally speaking, a split personality is cause for concern. But for Ledvance GmbH, it was a cause for celebration. Offering a wide range of both vintage-style and LED light fixtures, the company hoped to highlight both "personalities" at the 2016 Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA). "Rather than combine the products in a single, perhaps unfocused, stand, my designers opted for a sort of double-vision display," said Dirk BachmannKern, founder of BachmannKern & Partner.

Ledvance positioned a 20-foot-long wall diagonally across the center of the 33-by-39-foot space in a move that Exhibit Design Awards judges called "perfectly suited to the design challenge." Towering roughly 20 feet tall, the structure served as the dissection point between light and dark, i.e., between contemporary LED displays and rustic Edition 1906 products.

Bathed in white and corporate-orange hues along with smooth laminate surfaces, the wall's "light" side offered shadow boxes housing products in use- or environment-related vignettes. A ground-level station provided controller switches attendees could use to adjust the lighting levels in each of the shadow boxes. Meanwhile, freestanding LED fixtures and circular eight-person seating ensembles sat atop raised, laminate flooring.

In sharp contrast, the Edition 1906 environment featured rich, dark-brown laminate along with highly textural wood, which adorned a central hospitality bar. Leather stools dotted the surrounding area, and the central wall featured a multitude of suspended product pendants that emitted a warm glow against the brickwork behind them.

Mixing light and shadow, innovation and nostalgia, and smooth and textural finishes, the design proved that sometimes a split personality is doubly effective. E