LIV spent a whirlwind four days in Milan during April’s Design Week 2019 touring the exhibitions at Salone Del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair). This year, Euroluce, the international lighting exhibition held every two years as part of Salone, showcased some of the most innovative lighting solutions from around the world.
Widely considered one of the most avantgarde trade fairs, Euroluce always presents the very latest in sustainable, energy saving lighting technology in addition to ground breaking design.
Emerging Lighting Trends
This year a couple of key trends emerged:
Warm, mid-century inspired globes
Industrial bronze and matte black trend is waning in favour of unique textures and materials like alabaster and sand blown glass. We saw many globes and stacked shapes loosely emulating strings of jewels. Czech designer Boris Klimek’s creations for Bomma were remarkable examples of these trends.
Precosia’s creations dazzled! Their Carousel of Light was their latest interactive lighting installation and was comprised of hundreds of suspended strings of globe lights that would light up as you wandered across the rotating display platform.
In addition, their Pearl Wave chandelier, designed specifically for yachts, responded to sound — the musical clink of toasting wine glasses, for example, would send a ripple of light through the spherical bulbs. And, like last year, Precosia’s Breath of Light, saw visitors breathe on a series of opal crystal bubbles transforming their exteriors into frosted, clear or bubbled bulbs.
Angular rod lighting
“It is no coincidence that the word ‘pendant’ has a double meaning, existing both as a piece of jewellery that hangs from a chain worn around the neck and a light designed to hang from the ceiling” ~Michael Anastassiades
Both Flos and Artemide featured some exquisite examples of straight rod lighting. Cypress born, London-based, Michael Anastassiades designed warm, sculptural shapes for Flos that fall somewhere between industrial design and sculpture. His Arrangements lighting collection features strips and loops of LEDs in a variety of geometric shapes that combine to create jewellery-inspired chains, chandeliers and hanging walls of light. They include a small and large square, three sizes of circle, two teardrops in different heights, a straight strip, and a strip with a sharp, 90-degree bend. Flexible and innovative, these pieces can be combined using a digital configuration tool on Flos’ website so customers can experiment before ordering.
Artemide creations are designed by architects for architects and their
La Linea series impressed at is year’s Euroluce – flexible tubes of light, capable of twisting and turning in space, enabled the user to manipulate the fixture in unique and unpredictable ways. This playful interactivity was a big draw.
With more than 500 lighting companies in attendance, Euroluce was a significant presence at Salone Del Mobile this year. LIV came home ‘enlightened’ and inspired by the new materials, technology and innovative design ideas exhibited at Milan’s Euroluce 2019.
Cover Image Source: Unsplash
