Light Years Ahead
Sol Luminaire marks a new chapter with its Galerie 5 showroom, which celebrates the work of artisans from across the globe
Sol Luminaire co-founder Joseph Ho originally had ambitions to become a chef—he did not plan to join the family trade in furnishings and fittings. The bread and butter of the business then dealt with outfitting retail stores for international sports brands. But when his father started discussing his retirement plans, Ho took up the mantle; he established Sol Luminaire, a lighting purveyor that retails products it designs and manufactures for in-house architectural lighting brand Aeon, in 2008. It subsequently expanded its portfolio by carrying collections by European lighting brands such as A by Arturo Álvarez.
Five years and two showrooms later, the firm has opened Galerie
5, a new boutique featuring customisable lighting pieces by artisans from around the world. “Galerie 5 serves as a place where brilliant minds, space and lights come together,” says Ho. “We seek partners who think out of the box; the featured artisans bring about new ideas that combine interdisciplinary approaches, material exploration and circadian rhythm to engage all five senses.”
Brands represented exclusively by Galerie 5 in Singapore include multidisciplinary French artist Frédéric Saulou, Pittsburgh-based American firm The Soucy Shop, Belgian studio IIII, New York-based brand Sticky Glass and Ukrainian firm Makhno Studio. Their products are exhibited like art pieces in the shophouse showroom, while the Aeon collections are featured in various settings to showcase the different ways of using downlights in a home.
Ultimately, the team hope to demonstrate the creative potential of lighting, while celebrating craft traditions and the beauty of handmade objects. Adds Ho: “We want to highlight under-the-radar artisanal brands and artists; we see our working relationships with these brands as collaborations that form a design community.”