It has been the lamp par excellence destined to dress large halls and palaces. Known as a spider or chandelier, it was created so that the light refracted off the prisms and cut crystals and flooded privileged rooms with sparkles. A lamp to attract attention that the 16th century promoted with refined manufactures in workshops in France and in Venice with the precious Murano glass.
Bohemia also paid attention to it by increasing the facet cut in its crystals. The 18th century chandeliers reached their moment of greatest splendor, with intricate glass pendants, governed by symmetrical compositions, which in the most luxurious cases used rock crystal.
Today the chandelier is experiencing a renaissance at the hands of some of the best contemporary designers. His environment has moved from the large stately living room to any other room in a house, until reaching outdoor areas in vacation homes. Of course, maintaining his sophisticated demeanor and that vocation to be the center of attention. The renewed stylized contours of the contemporary chandelier, with metallic structures with abstract geometry, have also found in white a chromatic option that brings lightness and freshness.
Although the effect of refracting light is one of the bases of the chandelier, contemporary versions also propagate it by diffusion. The aristocratic character of this lamp has inspired the Italian designer Matteo Ugolini to outline Lady D: a pioneering outdoor model. He wants to preserve the style and high lineage of the classic chandeliers, proposing a simplified contemporary line. Several glass drops hang from the white fiberglass body, which diffuses the light with shades of gouache. The large outdoor version reaches 65 cm in diameter and more than one meter high, imposing its presence on summer evenings on dining tables or relaxation areas.
For his part, the Japanese creator Naoto Fukasawa takes advantage of the subtle translucency of porcelain as a diffuser in the Mokuren chandelier, where he fuses craftsmanship, design and his love of nature. Made with flowers made of this material, attached to refined metal lines, it is inspired by the white magnolia tree, a highly prized tree in Japan.
The Heracleum chandelier began as an experiment. The Dutchman Bertjan Pot tried to test the effect of combining many led lights in bundles of electrical cables, like branches. This is how I illuminate a structure that is both technical and natural that branches out in a straight line, hangs in circles or geometric squares.
The latest version, Lineal III, has been specifically developed to illuminate a long dining table or kitchen island with contemporary elegance. While she recreates that eponymous flowering plant, Pot is especially interested in his encounter with technology. "For me, Heracleum is more about mathematics than nature. But there will be those who will also adopt it for the latter. I always like a product to contain more than one story," she says.
A dome created with thin wooden slats by Benedetta Tagliabue became the Dome lamp. From there, the Domita chandelier emerged, made up of several small units, which allows for diverse compositions and brings together from 3 to 19 luminaires. Light and volume are inseparable for the Italian architect based in Barcelona, who had the close collaboration of Joana Bover in this development. An eminently handmade lamp that radiates warm light between the wood.
The chandelier as a piece of art to expand ideas also has its journey. At the last edition of Euroluce in Milan, within the Costellazioni exhibition, the Chandeliers of Interconnectedness by Andrea Bowers stood out. The artist has created five hanging sculptures made from recycled glass and steel, plus non-toxic neon. Representing leaves, lines of poetry and prose by playwright and philosopher Susan Griffin, known for her eco-feminist works, slide down its branches.
The Taiwanese Chan Chiao Chun owes the chandelier I am braver with you, with a meter and a half in diameter. This unique piece, at the intersection between art and design, has been created for the Barcelona gallery Side-Gallery. With a metallic structure, acrylic polystyrene, epoxy resin and clay resin, he formulates a declaration of principles: his conviction that the shapes that surround us in space can influence human relationships and behavior.
