Toan Nguyen’s Algorithm fixture was on display in Vibia’s booth. The fixture, which was inspired by nature’s geometry, can be custom configured 

KIM COOK
For PRODUCTS Magazine

The 29th edition of Salone del Mobile’s biennial Euroluce event featured six pavilions full of the newest ideas in lighting from around the world, and thousands of international visitors were ready to be wowed.

Several installations and events around the city also showcased lighting.

Aesthetics, functionality, and creativity were the bywords of this design-filled, inspiring week. Mark Bickerstaffe, Kohler’s Europe and Asia Pacific director of new product development, was in Milan and excited about what he saw.

“The LED revolution continues, redefining what, how, and where light is presented,” says Bickerstaffe. “This extends to explorations of glass and other transparent and translucent materials, tinting, layering techniques, selective mirroring, and prismatic and pearlescent effects.”

And, indeed, LEDs and OLEDs were everywhere, as designers are running with the possibilities of the technology.  Fixtures were suspended from barely there cables or wrapped in everything from opaque resin to fabric to wood veneer.

While there were plenty of traditional glass chandeliers at Euroluce, the most remarkable had unusual shapes and were crafted of unexpected materials.

Hungarian firm Manooi used Swarovski crystals to great effect, in swirling, exploding, and linear chandeliers.

Euroluce’s exhibitor collections ran the gamut from over-the-top fixtures with a theatrical bent to slim, understated pendants. Color palettes ranged from the ethereal to the exuberant, and several designs were available as either suspension or wall-mount format. For example, Abate Zanetti’s collection included shapes evoking undersea life, like cellular creatures and fish, crafted of Murano glass; Bocci showed fixtures made by stretching, folding, and draping hot glass into giant pearlescent ribbon-candy lights that glowed via micro filaments; Stickbulb showed Boom, the studio RUX-designed chandelier made of redwood reclaimed from New York City’s dismantled water towers; and in Milan’s Cinema Manzoni, Tom Dixon took over the iconic theater to showcase furniture and lighting, including Cut, a giant faceted crystal form in a clear or smoke finish.

Here are some more cutting-edge lights we saw at Euroluce.