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Sustainability and wellness, technology and design – there was all this and much more in the latest lighting products featured this year at Supersalone, curated by architect Stefano Boeri, and Fuorisalone. During Milano Design Week, held September 5–10 at the Rho Fiera exhibition complex and in the city’s streets, lighting products were one of the main attractions at the keenly awaited return of this international event. Wall sconces, ceiling lights, floor lamps, and table lamps – more than ever, interior lighting (and not only) is defined by innovative technologies combined with essential designs, reflecting both artisanship and industrial production techniques.
Artemide presented a series of luminaires designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), a group of architects and designers based in Copenhagen and New York. A standout was the Vine Light table lamp with its uninterrupted tube structure that, at a mere 5/8” (16 mm) in diameter, houses all the lamp’s electrics. Also available in floor lamp and wall light versions, this lamp with its pure, minimalist lines offers maximum freedom of movement with just two joints. La Linea, on the other hand, is a flexible tube light that can be molded and adapted to freely twist and turn its way through both indoor and outdoor spaces, with its fixing brackets hidden away inside the tube itself. Minimalist design meets the allure of blown glass in the Stellar Nebula pendant lamp collection, which combines hand-blown glass with innovative finishing techniques in three different sized lamps. Other standouts among Artemide’s new products include the Takku portable lamp, designed by Foster + Partners; the Funivia spotlight system, created by Carlotta de Bevilacqua; Flexia by Mario Cucinella, which incorporates sound activation with a design that recalls the Japanese art of origami; and El Porís, a light and striking modern chandelier, created by Herzog & de Meuron.
Codega Light featured its innovative Serena Collection lamps, which includes a wide section of functions aimed at the wellness of users, such as biological clock synchronization and the sanitization of surfaces and spaces. Designed with people at heart, these are products with a high-tech soul, inspired by the essential, functional designs of the first lamps mass produced after World War II. Lights for relaxation, work, and reading, designed, on the one hand, to disinfect surfaces and the air against various types of germs through ultraviolet light, and, on the other, to reset your circadian rhythm through the emission of LED light in different shades of white, according to the principles of human-centric lighting. The Serena collection includes seven different types of lamps: the Serena Convivio floor lamp, also available in XL and XXL versions; the Serena Pisana table lamps; the Serena Sospesa pendant; and the Serena Ministeriale, Ovale Studio, Serena Lavoro Variabile 72, and Serena Lavoro Movibile 50 desk top designs for the office.
Foscarini was at the Rho Fiera exhibition center with an installation focused on its latest VITE project and at the showroom in Corso Monforte, Milan, with a preview of two lights created in collaboration with some exceptional designers: Nile, designed by Rodolfo Dordoni, and Chiaroscura, created by Alberto + Francesco Meda. The first, designed for living areas, is the product of a meeting between two materials, with a marble base and an angled glass diffuser. The second is a floor lamp, comprising a triangular extruded aluminum structure and LED strips, which emit ambient light to the sides and direct light towards the ceiling. Foscarini was also celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its Compasso d’Oro win in 2001 with the Mite floor lamp, designed by Marc Sadler, with the release of the Mite Anniversario. Meanwhile at Rho Fiera, the company showcased its VITE project, created with photographer, artist, and director Gianluca Vassallo and writer Flavio Soriga. With the installation set up by Ferruccio Laviani, this story told with images, videos, and words took more the perspective of people who use lamps rather than the people who design them. This story about the firm and its vision is set against the backdrop of people’s homes, telling the stories of the people who live there from up close.
At Milano Design Week, Luceplan presented new decorative indoor lamps created in collaboration with important designers, along with its outdoor lamps, launched online last spring. There are five new collections, all of them united by sustainability, materials research, and new lighting effects: Levante, designed by Marco Spatti; Koinè, by Mandalaki Studio; Doi, by Meneghello Paolelli Associati; Malamata, by Studio Shulab; and Zile, by Archirivolto Design. Levante is a chandelier, available in two sizes, with an almost ethereal appearance created by the intersection of three large fans made of a washable, durable, and recyclable material that’s making its first appearance in the design sector. Elegance and pure forms characterize Koinè pendant lights, which are extremely versatile, thanks to their geometries and a high luminous comfort, the product of the careful orientation of light. Doi has two parts: one round and one straight. The way the two interact determine the appearance, position, and functionality of the product. The disc is attached to the ceiling by a steel cable, while the extruded aluminum spotlight is powered by a thin electric cable. A quirk of the Malamata family of lamps is that the position of the opalescent blown glass diffuser is changed by means of a counterweight. Pendent, wall, and floor versions are available, with the lamps themselves created in brushed brass and matt black. Finally, the Zile line, which includes floor, table, and pendent models, is an eco-product made from 80% from renewable sources.
Paolo Castelli Spa participated in Supersalone with its Supermoodboard project, a clear expression of the research that goes into every product made by this Italian firm, which stands out for its use of environmentally friendly natural as well as innovative materials, and an artisan attention to detail. One of the many new products presented in Milan was the COMET totem lamp. Elegant and evocative, the product is a genuine sculpture in light. The lamp comprises a handcrafted Vietri ceramic base with crystalline glazing and a ring-shaped lampshade in natural ivory fabric. Floor and table versions are available. Other luminous creations from Paolo Castelli Spa include the Golden Disc pendent lamp, also available as a wall model, distinguished by its Murano glass and gold leaf; the Labilis light installation, comprising rings of different diameters in black metal with an opalescent white polycarbonate LED light diffuser; the elegantly essential Fair Light wall-mounted luminaire, consisting of double matt black metal tracks and an opalescent polycarbonate diffuser; and the Icone Luminose floor lamp collection, with a satin gold finished metal structure and blown glass elements from Murano.
Photos are courtesy of Artemide, Codega Light, Foscarini, Luceplan, Paolo Castelli Spa
