SKYGARDEN Hanging Lamp & Recessed Ceiling Lamp by Marcel Wanders from FLOS (2007)
The SKYGARDEN Hanging Lamp & Recessed Ceiling Lamp was designed by Marcel Wanders for the Italian manufacturer FLOS in 2007.
It shares the same basic concept with the FOOL MOON Hanging Lamp (by Leonardo de Carlo, 2013, from BANCI) which was presented in our previous post, but the eclectic interpretations given by the two designers are totally different and equally beautiful.
The SKYGARDEN Lamp is hemispherical and painted white on the inside. It provides diffused light, with its cast plaster diffuser being supported by a die-cast aluminum alloy.
It comes in 4 colors (Matt Gold, Matt Rusty Brown, Glossy Black, Glossy White) and is available in 2 variants; the SKYGARDEN Hanging/Pendant Lamp:
and the SKYGARDEN Recessed Ceiling Lamp:
Marcel Wanders was born in Boxtel/the Netherlands in 1963 and, although he was expelled from the Eindhoven Design Academy (!!!), he succeeded in graduating cum laude from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (ArtEZ Institute of the Arts) in Arnhem in 1988. A few years after that (1995), he established his own design studio in Amsterdam which now employs about 50 international design specialists.
Wanders gained instant international recognition in 1996 with his iconic Knotted Chair produced by DROOG. Since then, in his capacities as Product & Interior Designer and Art Director, he has fully undertaken and/or participated in more than 1700 projects worldwide for private customers and premium brands alike.
He has designed beautiful and original products for Alessi, Bisazza, Swarovski, Puma, Flos, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, MAC Cosmetics, Cappellini, B&B Italia, Moroso and Target, among others.
His architectural and interior design projects include the Kameha Grand Hotel in Bonn, the Mondrian South Beach Hotel in Miami, the Villa Moda flagship store in Bahrain, the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht Hotel (operated by the Hyatt Hotels Corporation), the Quasar Istanbul Residences, as well as private residences, to name but a few.
Marcel Wanders is also co-Founder (along with Casper Vissers) and Artistic Director of the highly successful Dutch design label MOOOI established in 2001. The company was intended to be a vehicle for talented hip and original designers to promote their work. Currently, it co-operates with approximately 30 designers from the international scene and is active in 79 countries worldwide.
Wanders’ mission is to “create an environment of love, live with passion and make our most exciting dreams come true” and, so far, he seems to be “walking-the-talk’, at least as far as his work is concerned. In the following insightful video by Dutch Profiles, he explains how he approaches “Design” and takes us on a tour in the world of MOOOI’s product design & development process:
As a designer, Marcel Wanders, combines a myriad of styles, materials and techniques and always manages to surprise us. This is why both he, personally, as well as his work are regularly and extensively featured in print and digital media such as the New York Times, Domus, The Financial Times, Wallpaper Magazine, Interni, Blueprint, Design Report, Frame, I.D., Abitare, Nylon, Elle Decoration, Icon, Esquire, International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, Business Week and the like.
In this context, the New York Times have proclaimed him the “Lady Gaga of Design” and Business Week included him in Europe’s “25 Leaders of Change”, while Elle Decoration named him “Designer of the Year” for 2006. In addition, he was awarded the Design Excellence Award for 2009 and the Collab (Design Collaborative Award) by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
His designs are frequently showcased in the most prestigious exhibitions internationally and included in private and museum design collections such as those of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, New York & San Francisco), the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. His first solo exhibition, under the title “Daydreams”, took place in 2009 in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He was, also, invited to present a capsule collection at Beijing’s Capital Museum in 2012 while, in 2014, he is invited to present his first major museum retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam under the title: “Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk – 25 Years of Design.”
Marcel Wanders has, also, published numerous books.
FLOS, a pioneer of design lighting and one of the most important lighting brands in the world, was founded under the artistic guidance of Dino Gavina in 1962 in Merano, Italy. Since the beginning, it enlisted the aid of excellent collaborators such as the legendary Achille Castiglioni, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Tobia Scarpa. In 1964 Sergio Gandini joined the company, bringing with him his entrepreneurial talent and his vast experience from the furniture sector, and the headquarters were moved near Brescia, Italy. The first FLOS retail store, designed by the Castiglioni brothers, opened in Milan in 1968. Since then, FLOS has been innovating continuously and creating some of the most beautiful lighting products in collaboration with new or established designers, while its products are included in the most prestigious museum collections internationally.
Below you can watch FLOS’ video titled “Flosophy”:
Sources: www.marcelwanders.com, www.flos.com
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