Designer lamps: the best ideas for indoor and outdoor
“Architecture is the skillful, correct and magnificent play of volumes grouped under light.” Word of Le Corbusier, pseudonym of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, Swiss architect, urban planner, painter and designer naturalized French. A concept that outside and inside the home takes on even greater importance because nowhere, as in the home, does light take on a basic role as it is capable not only of illuminating, but also of creating intimacy, warmth, and enhancing environments by giving them identity and sophistication. Alongside a careful lighting study to maximize the potential of both interiors and exteriors by calibrating the position and type of light that will be radiated, the choice to favor designer lamps becomes essential to furnish and decorate spaces by giving them character. Innovative and environmentally sustainable materials with high performance, available for both indoor and outdoor versions, iconic and timeless models of international design, an irresistible mix of retro lines and cutting-edge technology that can give surprising effects, and functionality encapsulated in a refined aesthetic. Contemporary lamps thus become prominent in the home as a distinctive stylistic element that combines beauty with utility.
In-Ei by Issey Miyake for Artemide, lamps-origami between tradition, modernity and ecology
A story straddling fashion, mathematics, creativity and design, that of Issey Miyake ‘s“IN-EI” line of indoor lamps for
Artemide
. This word in Japanese means “shadow, shading, shade,” and it starts from the conceptual and technological history that the Miyake Design Studio has attributed to the art of light. Lamps of various types made from totally recycled material from PET bottles, which significantly reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The project, is the meeting point of creativity and mathematical analysis, and is based on a special fabric capable of assuming and maintaining 3D shapes from a single piece. Their shadows created using mathematical principles, in 2 or 3 dimensions, are traversed by subtle and beautiful luminous shades. Thanks to the recycled material they are made of, which has a luminous transparency superior to that of paper, these lamps perfectly maintain their shape without needing any internal structure: in fact, the folding process creates sufficiently solid statuesque volumes that can be reshaped without any problems. When not in use they can be stored folded. Japanese tradition blends with Western modernity through designer Issey Miyake’s inimitable pleats that allow light to diffuse warmly, creating relaxing atmospheres
Caboche by Foscarini, jewel lamp that resembles a pearl bracelet
Valuable, original and sophisticated. The Caboche indoor lamp, created by designers Patricia Urquiola and Eliana Gerotto for
Foscarini
, is a real jewel of light. Born in 2005, today it is revived by the brand in a revamped version, to which transparency, brightness and lightness have been added. The polymethylmethacrylate spheres, from the base increased in cross-section to enhance their brilliance, are attached by an invisible and simple bayonet system to new transparent arches with a zig-zag design, which do not shield light and disappear from view. The elements thus seem to float in the air, illuminated by a specially designed bifacial LED unit, which provides excellent scenic performance with superior energy efficiency (amounting to a 40% reduction in consumption, compared to the previous version).
Arco by Castiglioni, design lamp timeless icon
“We were thinking of a lamp that would cast light on the table-there were already some, but you had to turn behind it. For it to leave space around the table, the base had to be at least two meters away. So the idea of the arch was born: we wanted it made from parts already on the market, and we found that curved steel section went very well. Then there was the problem of counterweight: you needed a heavy mass to support everything. We thought of concrete first, but then we chose marble because at the same weight it allowed us a smaller footprint and thus in relation to a greater finish a lower cost.” This is how the Castiglioni brothers, Achille and Pier Giacomo, described the idea that, in 1962, led them to create the most beloved Arco lamp ever, a piece of lighting history by
Flos
. Direct light then, without turning around, with a floor lamp made of Carrara marble against a body, thin, slender and curved made instead of aluminum. Some sixty years after its creation, it is one of the most beautiful arc lamps around, capable of embellishing a room by giving it identity and a refined aesthetic with a slight retro flavor.
Geen-a, Kartell’s novelty: the first lamp dedicated to reading
An indoor lamp created for the pure pleasure of reading. It is the new Geen-a by
Kartell
, the first reading lamp, created by designer Ferruccio Laviani. At 132 centimeters tall, it is easy to move with its 12.5 kilograms of weight: it consists of a base, stem, 3 LED bulbs under the cap, and, at the top, a handle for carrying it. Laviani’s inspiration is all personal, an example of how memory is an excellent repository from which to draw ideas and visions. “Geen-a is the nickname by which my mother Giacomina was jokingly called, and if I dream of her photos in her spare time, she is always portrayed with a book in her hand intent on reading. A small tribute to her but also to one of the pleasures that can never be replaced by a device. The sensuality of touching paper, smelling its scent, the curiosity triggered by a cover, the unique ability to estrange us from reality and transport us to fantastic worlds and situations with only the help of our brains.” A modern lamp that wants to help rediscover an ancient pleasure, that of reading.
FontanaArte’s ‘Uovo’ outdoor lamp, natural symmetries and timeless design
It’s almost 50 years old, but the Uovo outdoor lamp, created by Dutch designer Ben Swildens for
FontanaArte
, doesn’t show it at all. In production since 1972, it has won success because of its ironic and elegant design. In its natural form, a symbol of perfection, symmetry and asymmetry have always coexisted harmoniously. The shell contains a light source-an ironic idea that still fascinates design enthusiasts today. As is the case in nature, the shell is an absolute example of lightness in this lamp: an elegant shape made of satin-finished white blown glass that uniformly diffuses a warm, enveloping light that often makes it look like a real light sculpture within gardens and terraces.
Gople by Artemide, the outdoor lamp that reconciles through light the spaces of man and nature
Artemide
continues its research into the qualities of light and its color. The Gople designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, is a tangible example of this. It is an outdoor solution that fits freely and flexibly into outdoor spaces under the banner of fluidity. Enclosed within hand-blown glass using an ancient traditional Venetian technique is a patented RWB (red-white-blue) light technology that aids plant growth and can create an optimal environment for humans emotionally, physiologically and perceptually. This system,, patented in 2011, is a paradigm shift, a different way of interpreting colored light, for light that is attentive to human well-being but also to the environment. Gople Lamp RWB calibrates its emissions to PPFD ( Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density ) values, which is needed by plants in two phases where the supply of the correct light is essential: the vegetative phase is accompanied by blue-colored radiation, the flowering phase by red radiation. It combines direct and controlled RWB emission with separately controllable diffuse indirect white light.
