Since its inception in 2014, the Lighting Architecture Movement Project – or LAMP – has established itself as go-to competition for innovative (and often experimental) lighting. Founded by Annika Hagen and Nicole Fox, the biannual competition is organized around a theme, with 2018 lighting designers interpreting the concept of balance.
This year, LAMP received 145 submissions from 28 countries, and their interpretations of balance, as we’ll soon find out, vary wildly. A jury made up of AZ Awards juror Michael Anastassiades, Ingo Maurer, Partisans’ Alex Josephson, Tim Rundle, Resident’s Scott Bridgets, Rich Brilliant Willing, Bec Brittain and Inform Contract’s Robyn York were tasked with narrowing down the submissions to 10 finalists – which will be celebrated during IDS Vancouver, at an offsite gala at Inform Contract on September 18. The event is also where the winners will also be announced. You can purchase your tickets (and receive a subscription to Azure) here.
Here’s a sneak peek at the products, prototypes and explorations that made the cut in the established category. The emerging and student shortlists can be seen here; expect to find the 20 top lights at LAMP’s offsite gala.
OVO
Location: Vancouver
The OVO light refers to an egg, not Drake’s record label. Standing at 356 millimetres, OVO is a two-part, 3D-printed luminaire created with non-traditional materials, namely a cement-coconut fibre base with a shade made from silicone and powdered egg shell. The pill-shaped light is pleasingly symmetrical, yet toys elegantly with contrast: its base is opaque and solid, while its frosted shade diffuses light from an LED.
EastWest Light
Location: Portland/Kecskemet, Hungary
True to its name, the EastWest is inspired by the daily arc of the sun. Simple and geometric, the light pairs a curved LED light, formed with plywood and topped with brass, atop a crescent-shaped slab of white concrete. The luminaire swivels along subtle tracks carved into the concrete; the light’s angle can be adjusted with a wisp-thin brass handle. The colour temperature, Huber says, adjusts by “rolling” the light along its base.
Just Another Lamp
Location: Barcelona
Grifols is underselling his design by calling it Just Another Lamp. Though the fixture was designed around simplicity and purity – Grifols says it was borne of a simple sketch during a meeting – it can be reconfigured in a number of ways. Shaped like an hourglass and paired with a light bulb and cable, Just Another Lamp perches a frosted cone atop a transparent one, creating two distinct atmospheres. Point the bulb downwards (as above) for an illuminated vitrine; angle it upwards, and it spreads diffused light within a room.
Portal
Location: Chicago
Portal, says Kinsley, is meant to balance two elements of a room: its wall and floor. The design places an ovaloid, LED-lit mirror on planes of machined brass, and it can be leaned on a wall in any configuration; there is no up, down or correct way to employ Portal. Kinsley calls the light a “primal object of the between,” and the 60 x 16 x 24-inch lamp is as functional as it is otherworldly.
Orbital Series
Location: Nelson, B.C., Canada
Available in floor- or ceiling-mounted options, the Orbital series is part chandelier, part mobile. At its core, it uses gently curved wood – from glue-laminated red cedar, sitka or CNC-machined maple ply – LED lights and 3D-printed diffusors to create customizable light clusters. Key to the design is a rotating mechanism, made from machined aluminum and bearings, which allows the Orbital series to swivel and keep wires tangle-free. Best of all, the sculptural light is built to be modular and scaleable, fit for a wide range of environments.
Cube
Location: Philadelphia
At first glance, Cube looks like, well, an eight-by-eight-inch cube. But when illuminated, suspended and viewed from different angles, it becomes something else entirely – it’s made from planes of stacked, laser-cut acrylic sheets. Though it forms a coherent, geometric whole, the planes reveal “internal contrasts in equilibrium,” say its designers. Some are opaque. Some are clear. Some are curvilinear. Some are rectilinear. And when examined closely, it reveals a light that’s equal parts playful and surprising.
L n°004
Location: Antwerp
Wonderfully restrained and stripped to its essentials, De Coster’s L n°004 makes a serious impression. Composed of three cylindrical pieces – a disc, a socket holder and an upright tube, all made from sanded aluminum – it is topped with a spherical light. A power cord, which stretches taut, connects each piece of L n°004, creating a design that, De Coster says, is “an honest object, both in form and construction.” We agree.
Boom
Location: New York
If the Boom chandelier recalls an explosion, that’s purposeful. Constructed from star-like clusters of wood and available in four sizes, the design was inspired by (and uses materials from) destroyed New York buildings. From a core of cast-brass joints, wooden strips outfitted with LED strips jut out in cantilevers, casting light that is both orderly and dynamic. It’s available in a wide range of finishes, including redwood reclaimed from decommissioned water towers.
Apollo Chandelier
Location: Chicago
The first thing that comes to mind when examining the Apollo Chandelier is symmetry. The light is formed by two brass stems joined by a 53.5 inch-long fixture; glass and brass shades cluster around the composition’s heart and radiate outwards. A white oak canopy tops off the design, which handsomely disperses light evenly.
Mito
Location: Melbourne
Natural materials, and the inherent character they possess, are at the core of Mito. Available in natural stone, American Ash, steel and aluminum, the lamp has two rotating reflectors rising from either a wall sconce or podium, attached by a slender stem. Mito’s reliance on natural materials results in softer lighting, making it suitable as an accent lamp.