Euroluce at Salone

Review by Alyn Griffiths

The 29th edition of international lighting exhibition Euroluce provided an impressive overview of the state of contemporary lighting, with 450 exhibitors presenting diverse products for home and contract use. The event’s biennial format ensured there were plenty of fresh ideas on show, from experimental coloured light sculptures to new applications for emerging technologies, and the notable emergence of portable, rechargeable battery-powered lamps.

Nox by Alfredo Häberli for Astep

Lawless pieces by Detroit duo Aratani Fay show great awareness of form

Alessandro Sarfatti is the grandson of legendary lighting designer Gino and son of Luceplan founder Riccardo, so lighting is inevitably his great passion. Having left the family business to found Copenhagen brand Astep, he arrived at Euroluce with a portable, induction-charged lamp by designer Alfredo Häberli. Nox is made from a satisfyingly hefty combination of anodised aluminium and opaline glass, with a touch dimmer that allows the light source to be adjusted for use in various scenarios.

Eve by Zaha Hadid Design for Lasvit

Czech glass specialist Lasvit debuted a pair of typically fluid and sculptural chandeliers by Zaha Hadid Design. Eve translates the late architect’s parametric design language into a composition of 15 transparent and opaque glass elements, produced using traditional glassmaking methods. The pieces are suspended at different heights, and during the day they create a shifting interplay of light and shadow. Light sources housed in cast-aluminium rings direct illumination upwards and downwards to alter the chandeliers’ appearance.

QuiQuoQua by Davide Groppi

This seemingly simple pendant lamp from Italian designer Davide Groppi is lent an intriguing quality by the lack of cables or visible power source. QuiQuoQua’s 5-watt LED bulb is, in fact, powered by a rechargeable lithium battery that lasts for up to 12 hours.

The light source is housed in a removable unit that attaches magnetically to the underside of a delicate dishshaped shade. A thin steel wire enables the light to be suspended anywhere, without the need for unsightly cabling.

Harry H by Carlotta de Bevilacqua for Artemide

When Italian lighting giant Artemide’s Vice president Carlotta de Bevilacqua was invited to experiment with LG’s cutting edge OLED light sources, she developed a hybrid system that combines this emerging technology with more familiar LED bulbs. De Bevilacqua described Harry H as ‘a bi-polar product’ that utilises the best qualities of the various light sources. OLED panels function as reflectors when off and emit an even, adjustable light when on.

A blown-glass diffuser introduces a traditional detail to the product, which is intended to evoke the past, present and future of lighting design.

Miro 3 by Atelier de Troupe

Exhibiting for the first time at Euroluce, Los Angeles-based furniture and lighting brand Atelier de Troupe manufactures its luminaires in California from locally sourced materials. The studio uses several workshops that supply sets and props for Hollywood to fabricate light fittings from on-trend materials, including brass, sand-blasted glass and powder-coated steel. Miro 3 is inspired by the Bauhaus and Joan Miró’s artworks. It features a frame available in pure or blackened brass that supports three mouth-blown glass shades.

Table Composition and Floor Composition by Michael Anastassiades

In addition to new pieces for Flos, Londonbased designer Michael Anastassiades debuted the latest works produced for his own label at Euroluce. These included his first experiments in colour, which were informed by the rusty hue of a patinated brass collection he presented with Nilufar Gallery in 2016. The floor and table lamps in powder-coated aluminium feature elementary forms that are stacked to form sculptural compositions.

Blush Lamp by Studio Formafantasma for Flos

Among the many stellar new releases from Flos, the Blush Lamp by Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Studio Formafantasma stood out as one of the more unique offerings. The Italian duo’s first foray into mass production yielded an elegant and innovative light sculpture that projects a spectrum of colour on to a wall. A slender aluminium extrusion housing a diffused strip of LED bulbs is suspended next to a borosilicate sheet combined with dichroic or coloured filters to produce the multi-hued refraction.

Filo by Andrea Anastasio for Foscarini

A highlight among novelites from Italian firm Foscarini was the Filo lamp by Andrea Anastasio, which deconstructs a typical table lamp into its constituent elements. A simple base and stem with a hooked end supports a ceramic shade and cloth-covered cable that can be moved or looped around the frame to alter the product’s appearance.

The shade and several decorative Murano glass beads attached to the flex can be specified in a range of colours to further customise the fun and flexible design.