FRESH TAKES
Chandeliers were strong at Euroluce 2015 – not traditional designs, but rule-breaking updates offering a contemporary take on the traditional concept. Cue Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken, who abandoned what he describes as the “rigid symmetrical repetition of a single piece, such as a crystal prism” when creating his Stochastic chandelier for Luceplan.
Elsewhere, London-based designer Michael Anastassiades dared to be different with five new additions to his super-minimalist Mobile Chandelier collection. As an alternative to the ‘ linear language’ that defined previous designs, the new additions comprise curved metal elements that support illuminated glass globes.
It wasn’t just chandeliers being given a modern makeover, either. “The lamp with a shade is a tough typology to reinterpret,” said Inga Sempé at the launch of her Cappuccina lamp for Luceplan. She solved the problem with a slender metal base and a spherical luminous body in opaline glass, containing an LED module on which the fabric shade simply rests without attachment. This configuration makes it possible to move the shade and reorient the light, depending on mood and occasion.
Of course, sometimes a fresh take doesn’t mean starting a design from scratch – but simply taking an existing one and modifying or repurposing it. Martinelli Luce has found the perfect opportunity to modify Gae Aulenti’s classic Pipistrello lamp: for the product’s 50th anniversary, the company launched the Pipistrello LED Green, an LED version of the original design.
Repurposing, meanwhile, taps into the trend for ‘ hacking’ – taking a mass-market design and adapting it for one’s own purpose. While this is less prevalent among designers working in the upper echelons of the design world, the trend has not gone unacknowledged. Arik Levy’s June Bird for Danese Milano is a key example: it started life as a bird hut before Levy added a light bulb to transform it into a wall light. Rather ingeniously, the lid of the box works as a dimmer, changing the amount of light given out by the box according to whether it is open or closed.