Dawn breaks or we flip a switch. Light is what allows us to appreciate the spaces we inhabit, it outlines or blurs them, it gives them a multiplicity of gradations, it hypnotizes in its filtering and play of shadows… When sunlight declines, artificial lighting enters the scene and with it the design of an object, the lamp, whose main reason for being is the energy it emanates.
Barcelona today is revealed as a powerful light source on the international design scene. Creators and companies from the city have been cultivating a personal way of doing things for decades, in a long-distance career that has led them to achieve high export rates, reach countries around the world and reap awards. They are authors and firms that all enjoy internal prestige with their respective National Design Awards and FAD Awards. This year, however, its international recognition is emerging. With a prominent presence at the Euroluce Fair in Milan, the great benchmark of international lighting, and other events, they shine with flashes of genius.
Light is the physics of electromagnetic radiation and the poetry of the visible spectrum. And it is surely in the way its main architects view it that the key to its international success lies. We spoke with some of them to learn more about their profession, their preferences in terms of light and the reception of the lamps they imagine.
“Light is what transforms the perception of the world, we just need to observe nature with all its nuances and each light gives us a different character in the atmosphere. We could equate this idea to a house: there is more house light on a sunny day, a cloudy day, a twilight day or, why not, moonlight… the nuances are infinite, although it is surely the mixture of these possibilities that is the most interesting,” he explains. the designer Antoni Arola to Magazine, about how light can metamorphose the interior of our habitats.
A Barraca to spread the culture of light
Arola has been designing lighting systems for prestigious brands for more than twenty-five years. And in recent times, their artistic installations stand out where light and color conquer the space at international light festivals. He is one of the most prominent designers of the Santa brand.
The precursor of design in our country, Milá – whose lamps can be purchased in more than 80 countries – has seen its international dissemination reinforced this year with the Miguel Milá exhibition. A life in design, which has toured the world.
“As Nina Masó said – remembers Antoni Arola – my contribution as a designer in Santa
When the surprise factor excites
In the exclusive Milanese design district Brera, during Milan Design Week, the attractive Marset showroom housed in a splendid 1930s apartment, always becomes a busy and effervescent event. It joins her other showrooms in Brooklyn, Colonia or Mexico City. Joan Gaspar – a renowned designer with a solid career and product director at Marset – declares himself a fan of ‘made in Italy’: “I have always been interested in its industry and how pioneering it has been in all fields. Also in lighting. What we do perceive is that the Milanese see in our product a different atmosphere, a differentiated character and they like it. And this is very positive.”
Gaspar highlights that one of the aspects that worries Marset is being indifferent. And that his products must always have a factor of surprise and originality, whether with a material, a mechanism, an obsolete typology… “I think we are quite brave, we are not afraid of challenges. We are also concerned and concerned about the perceived value of what we do. I consider this cocktail responsible for our unique character as a brand. We are interested in ingenuity, “invention” and surprise. Likewise, we dedicate efforts, resources and a lot of time to simplify and synthesize. We love to provoke the ‘oysters’ and how have they done it? “.
This year Marset has won the prestigious international Monocle Design Award23 for the Fragile lamp, created by Jaume Ramírez. “This specific award excites us. Fragile is a formal exercise that seeks to synthesize the archetype of the classic lamp by joining three glass bodies in a very simple way, the material gives it richness and transparency,” explains Gaspar.
An invitation to create unique spaces
There was a quorum at the last Euroluce Fair in Milan in which the most spectacular stand was, without a doubt, that of the Vibia firm. Pere Llonch, creative director and CEO of Vibia points out that its level of internationalization is 90% due to the recognition of the brand in international prescription (architecture studios, interior design, lighting designers…) in more than 100 countries. “We strive for this positioning among the top brands of the highest level – he explains – through an obsession with the coherence of our design values ??such as elegance, essentiality, pure lines and timelessness. There is always an innovative and technological component in each new creation, but it must be unseen. We try to provide designs that surprise by inviting the creation of unique spaces.”
Llonch seems equipped with a clinical eye for international signings such as the latest ones of the German Meike Harde or the British Umut Yamac, authors of outstanding luminaries. “The designer always contributes an indispensable and differential creative spark,” says Llonch, “to a process that is holistic and choral. We call it the ‘orchestration of design’ and it is increasingly multidisciplinary. The designer is integrated as a key element of our transversal teams. Starting from very solid and strong fits, be they world-known and consolidated designers or very promising new talents, everyone must contribute coherence to the evolution of our value proposition and identity.”
Timelessness and trends
All these creators of luminaires agree that their great international acceptance is explained by a vocation for timelessness. And the extreme care they pay to light as an essential comfort factor. The importance of combining different types of lights: diffuse, direct and indirect, variety of intensities or color temperature… They all subscribe to the magical and transformative power of light. And like their lamps they want to be protagonists of the event. “Knowing how to prescribe light is a very decisive job in the quality of the environments. To the point that a house with top-notch furniture, but poorly lit, will make everything feel of poorer quality, and of course comfort will be greatly affected,” says Joan Gaspar.
In parallel, the latest light digitalization technologies offer new possibilities for creating atmospheres. “Lighting can be more emotional than ever – concludes Pere Lloch – by combining materiality, lighting effect and adapting it to each use and moment of people in a space. “Dynamic light and its interaction systems (automated or manual) offer us a great opportunity if we know how to direct them to create spaces focused on the emotions of the users.” Regarding his preferred light qualities, Lloch points out: “I love the sense of density of light. It is a sum of different factors at each moment of the day and in each space. The key is the harmony generated by the light.”
Curiously, none of these creators and brands like to talk about trends very much. Rather, they claim to avoid them. Maybe it’s because they create them themselves. Among its recent lamps, fascinating lighting systems that incorporate layers and transparencies, applied yarns or small jewel lamps stand out. Joan Gapar points out his predilection for a light for each function “that generates penumbra and shadows in the environment, avoids lighting uniformity and does not abuse overhead light, and even less so if it is direct.”
For Antoni Arola, his favorite lights are “always the warmest, they make people, objects and spaces more beautiful.” But above all he wants to highlight that “light is a generator of life, of consciousness; It represents God and the human being, it represents ideas and intelligence. Light is positivity, it is the “good” in our and many traditions. And this is why it is such an important element in all artistic creations, whether architectural, pictorial in interiors and in lamps.”