Switched-on Czech lighting
Visionary lamps in hand-blown Czech glass
Over the last few years, LED technology has advanced to make ultra-thin lights a possibility, and now you can’t move for swoops, pendants and halos: minimalist, linear designs are the biggest trend in lighting. SkLO Studio takes a different approach. “We go out of our way to make things that are immediately identifiable as hand-made,” says Paul Pavlak, the designer and architect who founded the company with his wife Karen Gilbert, a craft artist, metalsmith and jeweller. “Sklo” is Czech for glass.
“Czech glass is not like Italian glass. It’s not fussy or delicate. It’s aggressive, large and chunky,” says Pavlak. SkLO, which also uses “the craft traditions of the old world” for a line of similarly hand-blown objets d’art — seductively stout vessels, bowls and wall pieces — embraces imperfection and the human touch. “Karen is a big part of the design process, and it’s just a bit more feminine in expression.”
SkLO divides its time between making retail products sold by the likes of William & Son in the UK and Barneys in the US, and hospitality projects with interior designers and architects.
“There’s a value placed on lighting that wasn’t there before. People invest in it for homes, offices, hotels,” Pavlak says. “As designers, we like to think that maybe there’s a bit of sharing an improvement in the quality of life as a result of one’s work, as well as producing something functional and beautiful.”
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