LÁMINA Antoni Arola’s simple and dainty lighting system packs a high color rendering index of 90. SANTA & COLE santacole.comCourtesy SANTA & COLE
Few luminaires illustrate the current trend to miniaturize and conceal light sources and their underlying components like Lámina. The modular pendants from Barcelona-based manufacturer Santa & Cole are so streamlined, they’re practically wispy, resembling a series of delicate bird feeders.
The line was created by Antoni Arola, who conducts his own lighting research and has been nicknamed “a poet of light” for his skill in marrying function and style. He describes Lámina’s refined profile as simply “a line of light and a thin metal sheet.” But it is carefully engineered to emphasize reflected illumination and maximize the glow of its tiny, hidden light sources with the generous white arch of the shade. The canopy size can be specified as narrow as roughly one foot and as dramatically wide as almost three feet. The unassuming linear housing contains rows of warm and dimmable 2700K LEDs, and what appears to be a paper for the shade is actually sheet metal and a layer of polycarbonate, which acts as the reflector. Thin power cords give the units (which come in lengths of 38 and 70 inches) a kitelike buoyancy and make it easy to combine them in new configurations.
TOBIA If the shape of this sconce makes you want to grab it, that’s intentional. Designer Ferruccio Laviani created the central looping node as “an invitation” to grip the LED fixture, which makes for easy installation on walls. FOSCARINI foscarini.com Courtesy FOSCARINI
Arola, whose oeuvre also extends to furniture and packaging, considers Lámina’s visual impact poetic and practical. That aesthetic seems to be catching on; the same thing could be said of a number of innovative lighting solutions we’ve found.
MEDALLION Craft enhances technology in Alison Berger’s new pendant. The glass artist based the design on how a line becomes a diagram, mounting a handblown crystal globe on a delicate armature. HOLLY HUNT hollyhunt.com
Courtesy Holly Hunt
MEDALLION Craft enhances technology in Alison Berger’s new pendant. The glass artist based the design on how a line becomes a diagram, mounting a handblown crystal globe on a delicate armature. HOLLY HUNT hollyhunt.com
DIMPLE A thick cast-glass, domeshaped diffuser distinguishes Rich Brilliant Willing’s wall and ceiling light. With a versatile design that complements both modern and retro settings, the luminaire can be used indoors or outside. RICH BRILLIANT WILLING richbrilliantwilling.com
Courtesy Rich Brilliant Willing
DIMPLE A thick cast-glass, domeshaped diffuser distinguishes Rich Brilliant Willing’s wall and ceiling light. With a versatile design that complements both modern and retro settings, the luminaire can be used indoors or outside. RICH BRILLIANT WILLING richbrilliantwilling.com
PIN These playful luminaires by Japanese designer Ichiro Iwasaki are also versatile, providing indirect ambient illumination or focused light for reading. VIBIA vibia.com
Courtesy Vibia
PIN These playful luminaires by Japanese designer Ichiro Iwasaki are also versatile, providing indirect ambient illumination or focused light for reading. VIBIA vibia.com
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
Courtesy Lucifer Lighting
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
Courtesy Lucifer Lighting
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
Courtesy Lucifer Lighting
STELLR San Antonio, Texas–based lighting manufacturer Lucifer Lighting has engineered a ceiling fixture to conceal a wealth of functions. The heat sink and driver assemblies are integrated into the luminaire, which can be switched remotely from providing downlight to casting concentrated beams or an ambient glow. LUCIFER LIGHTING luciferlighting.com
DIVERSION Italian architect Piero Lissoni developed this flexible ribbonlike system with special joints that enable designers to configure the fixture around architectural details. The illuminated rail also accepts Lissoni’s Atom spots to add targeted 2700K and 3000K beams. FLOS usa.flos.com
Courtesy FLOS
DIVERSION Italian architect Piero Lissoni developed this flexible ribbonlike system with special joints that enable designers to configure the fixture around architectural details. The illuminated rail also accepts Lissoni’s Atom spots to add targeted 2700K and 3000K beams. FLOS usa.flos.com
DOTWAVE An edge-lit outdoor sconce, which SONNEMAN – A Way of Light is rolling out this spring, features an array of pinholes that emit an additional patterned glow on its surface. The effect is of an illuminated artwork. SONNEMAN – A WAY OF LIGHT sonnemanawayoflight.com
Courtesy Sonneman - A Way of Light
DOTWAVE An edge-lit outdoor sconce, which SONNEMAN – A Way of Light is rolling out this spring, features an array of pinholes that emit an additional patterned glow on its surface. The effect is of an illuminated artwork. SONNEMAN – A WAY OF LIGHT sonnemanawayoflight.com
HOOKED WITH BUSTER BULB The naked bulb gets a futuristic makeover in this industrial-style pendant by hardware and lighting manufacturer Buster + Punch. Hooked is an “industrial chandelier,” which features the company’s trademark knurled brass fittings and the Buster bulb. BUSTER + PUNCH busterandpunch.us
Courtesy Buster + Punch
HOOKED WITH BUSTER BULB The naked bulb gets a futuristic makeover in this industrial-style pendant by hardware and lighting manufacturer Buster + Punch. Hooked is an “industrial chandelier,” which features the company’s trademark knurled brass fittings and the Buster bulb. BUSTER + PUNCH busterandpunch.us
HOOKED WITH BUSTER BULB The naked bulb gets a futuristic makeover in this industrial-style pendant by hardware and lighting manufacturer Buster + Punch. Hooked is an “industrial chandelier,” which features the company’s trademark knurled brass fittings and the Buster bulb. BUSTER + PUNCH busterandpunch.us
Courtesy Buster + Punch
HOOKED WITH BUSTER BULB The naked bulb gets a futuristic makeover in this industrial-style pendant by hardware and lighting manufacturer Buster + Punch. Hooked is an “industrial chandelier,” which features the company’s trademark knurled brass fittings and the Buster bulb. BUSTER + PUNCH busterandpunch.us
PISTA Belgian manufacturer Modular Lighting Instruments flexes its tech muscles with Pista. The adjustable one-inch-thick magnetic rail works with the company’s LED modules so that designers can easily customize an array of different lighting functions on a single track. MODULAR LIGHTING INSTRUMENTS supermodular.us
Courtesy Modular Lighting Instruments
PISTA Belgian manufacturer Modular Lighting Instruments flexes its tech muscles with Pista. The adjustable one-inch-thick magnetic rail works with the company’s LED modules so that designers can easily customize an array of different lighting functions on a single track. MODULAR LIGHTING INSTRUMENTS supermodular.us