Jellyfish-inspired lamp borrows from Japanese traditions
Lamps can be a surprisingly complicated purchase. Sometimes you need a classic piece that blends subtly and seamlessly into an established design scheme. Perhaps there’s a lot going on with paint color, decor, furniture or flooring, and you don’t want to overwhelm the situation. Other times you’re looking for a statement piece, that “wow” lamp that not only ties together an interior but also becomes a focal point.
On the wow-eliciting end of the spectrum, a source of consistently bright ideas is Italian lighting brand Foscarini. Whether it’s a “paper” lantern that looks feather-light but is actually made of glass, or a delicate hanging lamp inspired by birdcages and bicycle wheels, Foscarini blends meticulous, high-end design with quirky, fantastical elements.
New to the U.S. market is the Kurage table lamp, a deceptively simple piece that riffs on sea creatures ( kurage means “jellyfish” in Japanese) and is the result of a collaboration between Italian designer Luca Nichetto and Japanese studio Nendo. Kurage features a shade of handmade washi paper — based on a technique that dates to A.D. 600 and involves harvesting and boiling the stems of mulberry tree fibers — and four slender ash wood legs. It’s whimsical yet understated, with soft light that recalls a luminous jellyfish dancing through the sea.
The construction process for Kurage took more than two years to develop and was modeled after a Japanese poetry style called
“in which the top three lines generate a further two-line response,” according to Nendo. “We took turns coming up with a basic concept, which we then passed over to the other person to use as inspiration.”
Therein lies the genius of Foscarini: Such methodical yet playful collaboration tends to produce innovative results.