Saazs, Table lamp, rectangular base in grey lacquered sheet metal. Planilum active lighting glass, H : , L: Saazs, a young luxury design brand, is launching a new lighting process incorporating the very first "active illuminating glass": Planilum. It took Saazs no less than six years of research, in partnership with the French group Saint-Gobain Innovations, to develop Planilum, an innovative material composed essentially of light-emitting glass. In spring 2008, Saazs opened its first showroom in Paris with a collection of 3 "Lightpieces", designed by Thomas Erel, using this new material: the Wallover, the Flaq column and the Light Bird. The brand is thus developing the first "living light". A Planilum panel is essentially composed of special glass and a non-toxic rare gas "excited by transparent conductive layers". This new material is just 20mm thick, so it can light a 40m² living room with a power consumption of just 100 watts. Environmentally friendly, Planilum is 90% recyclable and has a lifespan of 50,000 hours, or around twenty years in daily use. The "Lightpieces" collection, designed by Thomas Erel for Saazs, is also original in that it uses neither a bulb nor a separate light source. Instead, the light emerges directly from the Planilum panel. As a result, the light intensity is distributed over the entire surface of the glass panel (front and back). This new material doesn't heat up or dazzle, so you can touch the plate directly without getting burnt, and there's no need for protective filters.