From new productions to innovative systems, the lighting sector is brimming with experimental collections that highlight a thirst for novelty and ongoing research by companies, studios, and designers. Among the new 2023 releases are three limited series designed by different studios, testing and exploring the possibilities of various materials in conversation with light.
Structure as Decoration in Gianmarco Guarascio Design’s Fireprints Collection
Rome-based Gianmarco Guarascio Design is known for finding poetry through material study. Gianmarco Guarascio, a true designer-maker, draws inspiration from both artisanal and digital techniques to create quality, functional products like the Fireprints lamp collection. Here, he explores the poetic side of copper craftsmanship.
Using fire and timing the metal’s heat exposure, the designer achieves various aesthetic effects: copper elements turning yellow, purple, or even polka-dotted. The result is four light projector models that highlight the craftsmanship. The floor and table lights feature a solid concrete base ending in an adjustable copper disc that serves as a projector. The hanging models use the copper tubing structure to enhance the light effect. Soldering, welding, and burning of the material become visible and transform into decorative elements.
Less Material, More Interaction with Atelier Ferraro’s Prakash
A common theme in Atelier Ferraro‘s projects, founded by Emanuele Ferraro in Munich, is the pursuit of simplicity and contemporary aesthetics. Notably present at SaloneSatellite 2022, where they received an Honorable Mention for the MAX 1.5° project, the 2023 edition showcased the Prakash floor lamp (Sanskrit for ‘light’).
The product, with its lightweight and demountable structure, is in line with the motto ‘We ship design, not weight’. Its uniqueness lies in the base: a hollow structure that the user “fills” with stone, sand, earth, or anything heavy enough to stabilize the lamp. The lamp becomes fully functional only with the buyer’s help, a simple tweak that saves shipping costs and energy.
Slag and Light in TIPSTUDIO’s Secondo Fuoco Lamp
TIPSTUDIO, the name chosen by Imma Matera and Tommaso Lucarini for their multidisciplinary creative studio based between Florence and Pietrasanta, presents one of their most representative collections, Secondo Fuoco, designed in collaboration with Fonderia Artistica Versiliese. The aim is the upcycling of slag and production waste combined with bronze as a binder and structural material.
The Secondo Fuoco Lamp showcases metal’s strength: a semi-cylinder covered in slag, hiding a shimmering cast of liquid bronze inside, illuminated by a central light source. The studio didn’t use neon – mainly for structural reasons – but created a warm, welcoming light with a Pyrex glass enclosing a simple satin sheet and an LED strip, allowing easy and quick maintenance.
