DESIGN LAMPS: THE BEST IDEAS FOR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR
"Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light" Word of Le Corbusier, pseudonym of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris - the Swiss, naturalized French architect and designer, urban planner, painter and designer. A concept that outside and inside the home takes on even greater importance because nowhere, as in the home, does light take on a fundamental role as it is capable not only of illuminating, but also of creating intimacy, warmth, and of enhancing the environments giving them identity and refinement. Alongside a careful research of light to make the most of the potential of both interiors and outdoors by calibrating the position and the type of lighting that will be radiated, the choice of preferring design lamps becomes fundamental for furnishing and decorating spaces, giving them character. Innovative and eco-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 avant-garde technology that can give surprising effects, and functionality enclosed in an aesthetic refined. Contemporary lamps thus become protagonists in the home as a characterizing stylistic element that combines beauty with utility.
In-Ei by Issey Miyake for Artemide, origami lamps between tradition, modernity and ecology
A story between fashion, mathematics, creativity and design, that of the line of indoor lamps "IN-EI" by Issey Miyake for Artemide. This word in Japanese means "shadow, shading, nuance", and starts from the conceptual and technological history that the Miyake Design Studio has attributed to the art of light. Lamps of various types are made with material totally recycled from PET bottles which made it possible to significantly reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The project is the meeting point between creativity and mathematical analysis, and is based on a special fabric capable of assuming and maintaining 3D shapes starting from a single piece. Their shadows are created using mathematical principles, in 2 or 3 dimensions, are crossed by subtle and beautiful luminous shades. Thanks to the recycled material they are made of, which has a luminous transparency higher than that of paper, these lamps keep their shape perfectly without the need for any internal structure: the folding process, in fact, creates sufficiently solid statuary volumes, which can be remodeled without problems. When not in use they can be stored folded. Japanese tradition blends with Western modernity through the inimitable folds of designer Issey Miyake that allow the light to be diffused in a warm way, creating relaxing atmospheres.
Caboche by Foscarini, jewel lamp that looks like a pearl bracelet
Precious, original and refined. The Caboche indoor lamp, designed by the designers Patricia Urquiola and Eliana Gerotto for Foscarini, is a real jewel of lighting. Created in 2005, today it is re-proposed by the brand in a renewed version, to which transparency, brightness and lightness have been added. The polymethylmethacrylate spheres, with a base increased in section to enhance its brilliance, are hooked with an invisible and simple bayonet system to new transparent arches with a zig-zag design, which do not shield the light and disappear from view. The elements thus seem to float in the air, illuminated by an ad hoc designed double-sided LED unit, which guarantees excellent scenographic performance with higher energy efficiency (equal to a 40% reduction in consumption, compared to the previous version).
Arco di Castiglioni, a timeless design lamp icon
“We thought of a lamp that projected the light on the table: there were some already, but we had to turn around them. In order to leave space around the table, the base had to be at least two meters away. This is how the idea of the arch was born: we wanted to do it with products that were already on the market, and we found that the bent steel section went very well. Then there was the problem of the counterweight: it needed a heavy mass that supported everything. We thought of the cement first, but then we chose the marble because, at the same weight, it allowed a smaller size and therefore 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 ever loved Arco lamp, a piece of history of Flos lighting. Direct light therefore, without turning around, with a floor lamp made of Carrara marble in front of a body, thin, slender and curved instead made of aluminum. About sixty years after its creation, it is one of the most beautiful arc lamps in circulation, capable of embellishing an ambient by giving it identity and a refined aesthetic with a slight retro taste.
Geen-a, the novelty of Kartell: 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. 132 cm tall, it is easy to move with its 12.5 kg of weight: it is made up of a base, stem, 3 LED bulbs under the hat and on top a handle to carry it.
Laviani's inspiration is entirely personal, an example of how memory is an excellent deposit from which to draw ideas and visions. “Geen-a is the nickname with which was jokingly called my mother Giacomina and which, if I dream of her photos in 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 her pleasures that can never be replaced by a device. The sensuality of touching the paper, smelling her perfume, the curiosity triggered by a cover, the unique ability to detach ourselves from reality and transport us to fantastic worlds and situations with the only help of our brain.’’ A modern lamp that wants to help rediscover an old time pleasure, that of reading.
The 'Uovo' outdoor lamp by FontanaArte, natural symmetries and timeless design
It is almost 50 years old, but the Uovo outdoor lamp, created by Dutch designer Ben Swildens for FontanaArte, does not show it at all. In production since 1972, it has achieved success thanks to 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 happens in nature, even in this lamp the shell is an absolute example of lightness: an elegant shape in satin white blown glass, which uniformly diffuses a warm and enveloping light that often makes it look like a real luminous sculpture inside gardens and terraces.
Gople by Artemide, the outdoor lamp that reconciles human spaces and nature through light
Artemide continues its research on the qualities of light and its color, the Gople designed by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group is a tangible example. It is an outdoor solution that fits freely and flexibly into outdoor spaces in the name of fluidity. Inside a hand-blown glass according to an ancient traditional Venetian technique contains RWB (red-white-blue) light technology that helps the growth of plants and can create an optimal environment for humans from the point of emotional, physiological and perceptive view. This system, patented in 2011, is a paradigm shift, a different way of interpreting colored light, for a light that is attentive to human well-being but also to the environment. Gople Lamp RWB calibrates its emissions on the values of PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density), necessary for plants in two phases in which the supply of the correct light is essential: the vegetative phase is accompanied by a blue radiation, the phase of flowering by a red radiation. It combines the direct and controlled RWB emission with a separately controllable diffused indirect white light.