Experimenting with Lights: 6 Top Trends Spotted at Euroluce 2017
Forget classic chandeliers and lampshades. This year it's all about modular, minimalistic, and shape-changing designs
Leonora Sartori
17 April 2017
Houzz Italy Editor.
Journalist, in love with brave projects, talented young designers, and landscape artists designing the world with flowers and leaves. Do you want to share great indoor or outdoor projects or your own house? Write to redazione@houzz.com
Editor di Houzz Italia. Giornalista, amante dei progetti coraggiosi, dei giovani designer che escono dalla mischia, dei paesaggisti che disegnano coi fiori. Hai case o progetti meravigliosi da condividere? Scrivi a redazione@houzz.com
Houzz Italy Editor.
Journalist, in love with brave projects, talented young designers,... More
While this year’s Salone del Mobile (the world’s biggest design fair, held in Milan, Italy) focused on classic furniture, the lighting brands presenting at its fair-within-a-fair, Euroluce, had fun with experimentation. Thanks to LEDs and other new technology, designers are now able to change the shapes and even the uses of light fixtures, and the exhibitors at this year’s fair ran with their new-found freedom. Have you ever wanted to play with your lamp or change it to suit your mood? Now you can. Get ready for modern light pillars, customisable lamps and minimalist chandeliers.
Harry H by Carlotta de Bevilacqua for Artemide
1. Technology Meets Craft
“Lamps are not just shapes. Light is a basic human need, just like air and water. Technology is what brings us light at home, so we shouldn’t be afraid of it. Instead, we need a vision for driving lighting technology forward. In doing this we should always have our human needs, and nothing else, in mind,” says Carlotta de Bevilacqua, architect and vice-president of the Italian company Artemide.
She designed the hybrid light fixture Harry H as a kind of manifesto, connecting technology and traditional craft. It combines hand-blown glass with OLED and LED lights. The two light sources can be controlled separately to precisely define the quality of the light the lamp emits.
1. Technology Meets Craft
“Lamps are not just shapes. Light is a basic human need, just like air and water. Technology is what brings us light at home, so we shouldn’t be afraid of it. Instead, we need a vision for driving lighting technology forward. In doing this we should always have our human needs, and nothing else, in mind,” says Carlotta de Bevilacqua, architect and vice-president of the Italian company Artemide.
She designed the hybrid light fixture Harry H as a kind of manifesto, connecting technology and traditional craft. It combines hand-blown glass with OLED and LED lights. The two light sources can be controlled separately to precisely define the quality of the light the lamp emits.
U-Light by Timo Ripatti for Axolight
2. Going Graphic
Pure lines, signs hanging from the ceiling, tiny waves on the wall – designers are transforming classic lamps into minimalist sculptures.
Thanks to LED technology, lamps can now have a light source anywhere, even bent around a curve. U-Light by Finnish designer Timo Ripatti for Axolight, for example, incorporates an LED into a series of circular aluminium frames.
2. Going Graphic
Pure lines, signs hanging from the ceiling, tiny waves on the wall – designers are transforming classic lamps into minimalist sculptures.
Thanks to LED technology, lamps can now have a light source anywhere, even bent around a curve. U-Light by Finnish designer Timo Ripatti for Axolight, for example, incorporates an LED into a series of circular aluminium frames.
Compendium Circle by Daniel Rybakken for Luceplan
Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken also used circles in the Compendium collection he designed for Luceplan. LED technology permits the emission of both focused light, when pointed downward, and diffused light when aimed upward. This chandelier is customisable and can be built out of up to three rings of varying diameter, so you can decide on the final shape of your minimalist chandelier.
Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken also used circles in the Compendium collection he designed for Luceplan. LED technology permits the emission of both focused light, when pointed downward, and diffused light when aimed upward. This chandelier is customisable and can be built out of up to three rings of varying diameter, so you can decide on the final shape of your minimalist chandelier.
Yanzi, designed by Chinese duo Neri & Hu for Artemide, is a lightweight lamp that can either be suspended or used as a floor lamp. Its clean design invokes branches, with moveable swallows sitting on top. The lamp makes it possible to create a kind of poetic domestic landscape.
WireRing by Formafantasma for Flos
Where did the light source go? WireRing, by Italian design duo Formafantasma, is so thin and minimalist that it practically disappears. The lamp is a belt-like electric cable stretched over a ring containing an LED strip. That’s all. The cable itself is the main focus.
Where did the light source go? WireRing, by Italian design duo Formafantasma, is so thin and minimalist that it practically disappears. The lamp is a belt-like electric cable stretched over a ring containing an LED strip. That’s all. The cable itself is the main focus.
Heliacal by Os & Oos for FontanaArte
3. Pillars of Light
On the other end of the minimalist spectrum, floor lamps are becoming bigger and bigger, iconic – or ironic – and eye-catching.
Heliacal, by Dutch design studio Os & Oos for FontanaArte, is a good example. Inspired by the way light changes all day long between sunrise and sunset, its polarised glass discs can be rotated, blocking the light or allowing thin beams to escape. This introduces movement and gradation, from a dawn effect to an eclipse, into the design. It is a magical modern totem.
3. Pillars of Light
On the other end of the minimalist spectrum, floor lamps are becoming bigger and bigger, iconic – or ironic – and eye-catching.
Heliacal, by Dutch design studio Os & Oos for FontanaArte, is a good example. Inspired by the way light changes all day long between sunrise and sunset, its polarised glass discs can be rotated, blocking the light or allowing thin beams to escape. This introduces movement and gradation, from a dawn effect to an eclipse, into the design. It is a magical modern totem.
Pinecone by Paola Navone for FontanaArte
Originally designed to be a table-top lamp or a suspended fixture, this year Pinecone by Paola Navone grew to a floor lamp. It uses the ancient technique of caged blown glass, which creates the impression of glass – and light – trying to break out from its restraints.
Originally designed to be a table-top lamp or a suspended fixture, this year Pinecone by Paola Navone grew to a floor lamp. It uses the ancient technique of caged blown glass, which creates the impression of glass – and light – trying to break out from its restraints.
Noctambule by Konstantin Grcic for Flos
This lamp by German designer Konstantin Grcic, made of see-through modules of cylindrical blown glass, is almost transparent during the day and reveals itself when turned on at night. The modules can be stacked on top of one another to create a customisable column of light. How high will you dare to go?
This lamp by German designer Konstantin Grcic, made of see-through modules of cylindrical blown glass, is almost transparent during the day and reveals itself when turned on at night. The modules can be stacked on top of one another to create a customisable column of light. How high will you dare to go?
4. Lamps That Are More Than Light
With new technology making design more flexible, lamps now do more than just dispense light. A good example is Diade by Monica Armani for Luceplan, which integrates acoustic solutions that absorb noise, for example over a table or in an office, and thus promote psychophysical wellbeing. It can also be folded (next picture) to separate the space below it.
With new technology making design more flexible, lamps now do more than just dispense light. A good example is Diade by Monica Armani for Luceplan, which integrates acoustic solutions that absorb noise, for example over a table or in an office, and thus promote psychophysical wellbeing. It can also be folded (next picture) to separate the space below it.
Diade by Monica Armani for Luceplan, folded
5. Lamps as playful objects
Gaku, designed by Japanese studio Nendo for Flos, is a wood-framed do-it-yourself decorating set that happens to also be a table light. You can play with different elements to create your own lamp. The light source can be suspended from a cable that comes out of the frame. There is also a wireless version – another current trend – in which the lamp can be recharged through induction plates.
Gaku, designed by Japanese studio Nendo for Flos, is a wood-framed do-it-yourself decorating set that happens to also be a table light. You can play with different elements to create your own lamp. The light source can be suspended from a cable that comes out of the frame. There is also a wireless version – another current trend – in which the lamp can be recharged through induction plates.
Collapsible Moon, designed by Kazuhiro Yamanaka for Pallucco
Inspired by the moon and classic photographers’ bank lights, Collapsible Moon is made of a technical fabric, normally used for sports, that refracts light. The frame of the circle is made of a tempered-steel spring and can move or be folded. A colour-changing LED strip diffuses light from inside the frame. The result is a fully illuminated circle, a little portable moon.
Inspired by the moon and classic photographers’ bank lights, Collapsible Moon is made of a technical fabric, normally used for sports, that refracts light. The frame of the circle is made of a tempered-steel spring and can move or be folded. A colour-changing LED strip diffuses light from inside the frame. The result is a fully illuminated circle, a little portable moon.
Graffiti by Kazuhiro Yamanaka for Pallucco
Another object by this Japanese designer is Graffiti, a light sculpture with metal rods you can move and play with, drawing your own domestic light graffiti and easily creating your own art installation.
Another object by this Japanese designer is Graffiti, a light sculpture with metal rods you can move and play with, drawing your own domestic light graffiti and easily creating your own art installation.
Amisol by Daniel Rybakken for Luceplan
Amisol by Daniel Rybakken takes advantage of large dimensions. Like Collapsible Moon, it is a diffused version of a photography bank light. A translucent white film or a metallic mirror membrane is stretched inside a circular aluminium frame to create diffused light. The lamps can be pointed in any direction.
Amisol by Daniel Rybakken takes advantage of large dimensions. Like Collapsible Moon, it is a diffused version of a photography bank light. A translucent white film or a metallic mirror membrane is stretched inside a circular aluminium frame to create diffused light. The lamps can be pointed in any direction.
Mesh by Francisco Gomez Paz for Luceplan
6. The Second (Lighter) Life of Chandeliers
What happens when designers start using LEDs in chandeliers? Design becomes fragile and poetic. Mesh is a light structure composed of a network of metal cables, with LEDs positioned at the intersections (available with 96 light points or as a smaller suspension lamp with 48 LEDs).
6. The Second (Lighter) Life of Chandeliers
What happens when designers start using LEDs in chandeliers? Design becomes fragile and poetic. Mesh is a light structure composed of a network of metal cables, with LEDs positioned at the intersections (available with 96 light points or as a smaller suspension lamp with 48 LEDs).
Verticale by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Flos
“Modular” is the keyword for many of the lamps presented at Euroluce 2017. Verticale by the French Bouroullec brothers is a set of suspension lights of variable length that can be put together in various geometric configurations, such as a triangle or a pentagon. Their anodised aluminium frame reflects the light source.
“Modular” is the keyword for many of the lamps presented at Euroluce 2017. Verticale by the French Bouroullec brothers is a set of suspension lights of variable length that can be put together in various geometric configurations, such as a triangle or a pentagon. Their anodised aluminium frame reflects the light source.
Alysoid by Japanese designer Ryosuke Fukusada for Axolight is composed of precious, necklace-like draped chains. It was inspired by architecture: The alysoid was a beloved geometric form of the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudì.
Leaf by Matteo Zorzenoni for MM Lampadari
The new shape of chandeliers may be different from the classic version, but it is just as eye-catching. In Leaf, Italian designer Matteo Zorzenoni tried to mix past and future. The suspended light fixture is available in brass or copper.
9 key furniture trends we spotted at Salone del Mobile in Milan
The new shape of chandeliers may be different from the classic version, but it is just as eye-catching. In Leaf, Italian designer Matteo Zorzenoni tried to mix past and future. The suspended light fixture is available in brass or copper.
9 key furniture trends we spotted at Salone del Mobile in Milan
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Remember the consultants are often sales staff and their job is to generate revenue. I don't have that conflict of interest my pride and joy is getting the best product for the least cost - that is how I market my service - I often save my entire fee for the client with one decision. Pare your choices down to a few and get physical sample and put them up in the space - when it is really important that is the only way to go - photometrics and such only tell you so much.
When I can't find what I need I make it.
That is true. However, some stores have consultants who are what is termed "lighting designers." They don't necessarily "sell" what the store contracts with the manufacturers. They do sell a service which is what you do. No different than an interior designer who "sell" what he/she has a "contract" or approved discount for or perhaps has a talent to make something the client wants.
Even so, a good sales person who does have design knowledge is worth their weight. Comes to mind when I purchased a fixture at a lighting store. Although the store did not have a contract with the particular manufacturer, they were still able to get it for me. And I saw the fixture in a catalogue they had. Go figure.
Nice that you can make things. Not everyone is talented in that direction, be it art, gourmet cooking or even simple cooking or sports, etc.
Bottom line is the customer or client comes first. The customer should have enough knowledge to know when they aren't getting the service or goods they won't - go elsewhere.
The last line describes a good service, one with longevity of a relationship in mind. While often I do specific designs for projects - layout including switching etc sometimes I am called in for direction, theme, concept - to lead the project designers in their effort (via the client, I do not meet with the "team"). That is an unusual client and the projects are always successful because they are knowledgeable at the next higher level - we can actually have fun - that is of the professional variety (productive). You do not market them, they hear of you and call you and you make yourself available to them because that is why you are in the business. Those are the days I live for. Those projects do not photograph well. Wonderfully Zen.