let there be light
The rise of artisan-quality design studios in the last five or so years has been significant, bringing unique designs right into our homes. One such brand is Australian company Articolo, whose collection of clean, contemporary lighting was a welcome respite from a steady showcase of prints, major colour, and bold design statements. Founded six years ago, the Melbourne-based studio creates illuminated works with mouth-blown glass as the main attraction. The series of pendants, fixtures, and lamps is impressively understated, characterised by linear forms anchored with chic finishes like bronze, brass, copper, satin nickel and matte black. There is a niche category of lighting that effectively straddles the art/design world, but Articolo presents quietly luxurious pieces — ordered by architects and designers, and found at places like Nobu and SoHo House Malibu — that trade those elaborate moves in favor of simplicity, itself a complex task.
Creative director Nicci Green’s fascination with texture and glass is well-documented in the line, and one of her recent introductions, the zesty Slab sconce, is particularly gorgeous. That rich green color? It’s actually called Drunken Emerald. When asked about the name, Green (her last name is pure coincidence) explained, “the thinking behind the name . . . goodness, a hard question! ‘Slab’ because it is literally a slab of mouth-blown free form glass, an elegant artisanal slab,” she says. “’Drunken Emerald’ [because] the colour is so fabulous and rich and saturated that it feels drunk with colour, hence Drunken Emerald. Australians tend to be slightly irreverent. We take our designs seriously but not ourselves.”
Quirk is not easily translated in the material world, but that will never stop us from appreciating those who pursue it. Green has also managed to give the sconce, a humble member of the lighting family, top billing. Articolo’s Fizi celebrates the effervescent world of artisan-crafted glass, while Float captures the mood for straightforward, but still well-executed industrial design. The Trilogy series recalls a slightly vintage mood but doesn’t appear too literal.
