Source: Contract magazine, June 2012
Manipulating wood veneer as if it were paper for origami, Valencia, Spain–based company LZF (formerly known as Luzifer) has been impressing designers and architects with exquisite light-fixture designs since it was founded in 1994. Eighteen years later, the company continues to push the limits of what it deems a “noble material” with the help of a bumper crop of talented collaborators, and has earned such distinctions as the Good Design Award and the Red Dot Prize. And just last month, the company snagged an IIDA/HD Product Design Award in the lighting category at the Hospitality Design Expo + Conference (HD Expo) in Las Vegas.
LZF’s introductions at HD Expo—Link Chain, Raindrop, and Spiro—all exhibit the sculptural quality that the company is best known for, but each design has a decidedly different personality. Link Chain is built on a previous award-winning design from 2007. Created by Ray Power, the original Link utilized the moebius strip to achieve a fluid form; for Link Chain, Power collaborated with Mariví Calvo to stack the strips three and four times, reaching lengths up to 43 or 57 inches for a dramatic effect.
Raindrop looks just as it sounds, with a teardrop-shaped body finished in one of eight hues ranging from a juicy orange (pictured above) to a soft ivory. Designed by Javier Herrero Studio, Raindrop pendants come in four sizes with different drop lengths, as well as in clusters of three, five, or seven pendants varying in drop length and shade size.
For the third introduction, Spiro, designer Remedios Simón has taken the traditional drum pendant to new heights by incorporating an intricate composition of spirals within the shade. Currently available in a 30- or 38-inch diameter version, the lamp can be further customized with contrasting colors for the circular modules.