Okay, I know we were meant to have put Milan behind us but it really would be a shame to move on without first reflecting on some of the great new lighting designs premiered at this event.
'Calimero' pendant light by Dan Yeffet for Wonderglass.
Filling halls 9,11, 13 and 15 at the Salone del Mobile, Euroluce is an exhibition held every two years (Kitchen and Bathroom is presented on the alternate years). With many of the worlds biggest lighting brands in attendance and a huge number of lesser ones (with well over 400 brands were on show), the draw on Milan's electricity grid must be massive for the duration of the week. Unlike the furniture stands lighting is a breeze to walk around as just about everything is between waist and head height and easy to see dispite the crowds. Companies go to enormous lengths to create visually impactful stands but this year it was Ron Gilad's minimal gallery approach for Flos that won the most plaudits.
The Entrance to Flos stand. At over 1000sqm, it was big but far from showy.
The all white box approach led to more than a few people missing the stand entirely (okay, that was me). With dedication however, we did track it down on the second visit to Euroluce and marvelled in Gilad's clever use of fine lines and flat planes.
Part of the Gilad designed interior showing new lights, 'Captain Flint' and 'Copycat' by Michael Anastassiades. The light on the right is called 'Running Magnet' by Flos Architectural.
Patricia Urquiola's 'Serena' in the floor light version.
“The stand functions as a meeting point between two worlds that tend to contradict one another: the commercial and the artistic. My goal was to construct a 'bridge' that brings these two edges together”.
Ron Gilad
Luckily for Flos their new products were every bit a match for the quality of the stand, with designs by Michael Anastassiades, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Piero Lissoni, Jasper Morrison, Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola. were all revealed (her minimal 'Serena' lamp is shown left), together with a large range of new Architectural products.
The 'Hydra' light by Carlotta de Bevilacqua for Danese, can follow the room or create sculptural statements by virtue of optical fibre.
Artemide showed an interesting array of lighting this year particularly from their sister brand, Danese, including the spectacular snake-like 'Hydra' by Carlotta de Bevilacqua. Able to transfer light from place to place like a glowing water pipe, the design provides endless possibilities for imaginative designers, with a range of 5metres and two types of dispersion heads - wide and focused - released initially.
'Les Danseuses' spinning pendant lights by Atelier Oï for Danese.
Equally unusual but adapting old school technology to a new use were the 'Les Danseuses' lights by Swiss designers Atelier Oï. The fabric pendant lamps rotate, changing shape from a drooping tulip shape to a flared skirt as the velocity increases.
'Stab' lights by Arik Levy for Danese. Three shapes of glass in several colours can be hung individually or grouped via an articulating mechanism.
The third Danese product that stood out was the 'Stab' range of glass pendant lights by Arik Levy. Levy's concept also formed the basis of a vase collection for Danese, again called 'Stab', with similar glass forms although smaller in size and inverted so that they could sit in blocks of timber on a table or shelf.
Davide Groppi released what they described as a "contemplative light" called 'Pablo' whose colour can be altered by an RGB controller to suit the mood and interior. More of an artwork than a light source, the fitting is designed to lean against a wall much in the same way as artists casually lean their canvases against the walls in their studio.
'Masai' from Davide Groppi. Even more minimal than Patricia Urquiola's 'Serena' floor lamp featured earlier.
Also designed with art in mind, 'Masai' by Maurizio Mancini is an extremely minimal LED light that is designed to illuminate artworks in an extremely subtle by highly controlled way. The reflector of the floor lamp is only 10mm wide but rotates to direct the light to precise positions. The lamp is a tribute to Alberto Giacometti and his exceedingly thin sculptural figures.
Shown is his 'Mobile Chandelier 6' in black painted brass and mouth blown glass - one of 8 new lights.
Michael Anastassiades also released new lights for his eponimos brand and continued his unrivalled use of balancing forms and fine lines. To say he is the master of this style is an understatement.
The 'Alisei' LED lights by Matteo Nunziati for FontanaArte question the accepted shape of a light shade.
Amongst all the minimalism it was nice to come across the occasional bit of romanticism. Sebastian Herkner's 'Nebra' pendant lights for FontanaArte use thick moulded glass forms that encapsulate the light source like abstract petals of a closed flower. The muted colours worked beautifully as a group.
The 'Alexandra' pendant by Enrico Franzolini for Pallucco is made from sheets of paper-like fibre glass.
Jasper Morrison's 'Superloon' for Flos exploits the incredible possibilities of LED with a pivoting flat disc.
'Nebra' pendant light by Sebastian Herkner for FontanaArte.
Jan & Henry for Lasvit. Photo Martin Chum.
The Czech glass lighting specialist Lasvit has had a big presence at Euroluce in recent years and this year was no exception. The presentation called Temple of Light revealed the varied capabilities of this incredible Czech glass company. Releasing a huge range of new lighting designs, the brand's stand was over-run with people wanting to see the interactive Supernova installation by Petra Krausova. Along with the jewel-like cut glass pendants of Jan & Henry (Jan Plechac & Henry Wielgus) called 'Polygon' (right), the brand released two new lighting designs by the Campana Brothers, 'Candy' and 'Fungo', plus 'Das Pop' lights by Maarten Baas, 'Hats' by Studio deFORM and the exquisite 'Bonbon' pendant by Maria Culenova Hostinova.
To seem them all including the Supernova in action check out the video below.
The 'Jesuis' table and floor lights by Carlo Colombo for Penta. Timber or marble plinths with glass orbs.
Carlo Colombo created an intriguing new table and wall mounted task light for FontanaArte this year but his designs for Penta had a luxury emphasis. His earlier 'Glo' design for Penta became the 'Glo 4EVER' with the addition of real gold plating and a new table version, while his new 'Je Suis' combined blown glass, marble and brass in the two strong geometric forms - the sphere and the cylinder. Rather than follow the highly fashionable minimalist look, however, Colombo's designs for Penta are glossy and opulent.
Penta also released the 'Lula' range of table and floor lights in brass and glass by Umberto Asnago (shown below)
The cute acorn shaped 'Lula' lights by Umberto Asnago for Penta in several table variations and floor lamp.
The three piece 'Shape Up' pendant light by American studio Ladies and Gentleman for Roll and Hill.
The 'Shape Up' design by Ladies and Gentleman studio can be purchased as single pendants with a choice of 5 shade types or in combinations of three or five lighting forms with a continuous cable and hanging system between them. The prolific Seattle (and now also New York) based studio released more new lighting designs during New York Design Week.
Atelier Oï's amazing design for Venini 'Stelle Filanti' from 2013, was joined by 'Celesti' a table lamp using the same leather structure but with a more organic rounded form in glass. Limited edition.
'Reverb' table lamp by Alessandro Zambelli for Zava.
The highly sculptural 'LAS' floor lamp by Misto-o for Oluce. Mist-o are Tommaso Nani and Noa Ikeuchi.
'Aspen S17' pendant lights by Werner Aisslinger for B.Lux
B.Lux is a Spanish lighting company based in the Basque area in the north of west of the country. Their dual shade 'Aspen S17' pendant lights by Werner Aisslinger come in a range of carefully selected colours including snow, grey, lemon, mango, turquoise and aqua so that different combinations can be created. The 'Aspen' family of lights include floor, ceiling and several shapes of pendant light.
The 'Tartan' and 'Gem' pendants in opaline glass by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba for Foscarini.
'Caiigo' by Marco Zito for Foscarini changes from clear to white glass and has a beautiful misty quality.
The 'Superlunar' lights by Victor Vasilev for Oluce comes in wall floor and table versions and feature a fine vertical LED that throws light back into the dome metal shade.
The 'Tangle' light by COORDINATION shown in Brera at Berlin Design Selection.
Dechem studio's 'Bandasky' pendants.
Although there were 400 stands at Euroluce there were also the odd lighting release that came from furniture brands and designers who were exhibiting elsewhere during Salone. The following examples were shown outside of Euroluce but were too good to leave out of the line up.
Dechem studio, uses local Czech glass in many of their designs. Their new 'Bandasky' pendants (left) were shown in the young design basement section of Rossana Orlandi. Sharing the basic form with an earlier glass vessel collection of the same name, 'Bandasky' combines a refined version of the jam jar shape with touches of polished metal.
The 'Bolle' light in copper brass and glass by Gallotti & Radice.
Jaime Hayon's 'Saint Louis' pendants for Italian label Ceccotti, are made from opaline glass, brass and glazed porcelain.
A mass of Arihiro Miyaki's 'Coppelia' chandeliers showing In Tortona at Moooi's Unexpected Welcome extravaganza. Photo: Andrew Meredith
Arihiro Miyaki's 'Coppelia' chandelier for Moooi.