For most design students, a graduation project is an exercise in aspiration. It’s the culmination of several years of study and research, the goal of which is to coax a company or more established designer to hire you for an internship or entry-level job. But for Esther Jongsma and Sam van Gurp, the founders of Dutch lighting studio Vantot, their thesis at the Design Academy Eindhoven became the foundation of a now-flourishing company. The project — Exploded View, a series of pendants that examines dimmability through the positioning of a moveable LED in relation to a gridded lampshade with a mirroring foil reflector — caught the eye of Microsoft, which commissioned the pair to create a custom version for its headquarters in Seattle. “It was one of the things that gave us the confidence to think: ‘Okay, if people really have this interest, we have to organize ourselves,’ ” says Jongsma.

That project laid the groundwork for what is now a near-decade-strong brand. “At the beginning, we focused on all kinds of design, but the main thing has always been lighting,” explains Jongsma, whose studio output includes indoor and outdoor systems as well as large-scale public installations. “There are just so many possibilities for research, both technical and emotional.”

Exploration into new technology, the designer says, makes up the core of their annual collections. “A big influence on Liiu was the possibility afforded by LED cooling with air,” she explains, referring to the modular lighting system Vantot launched in 2021. “Most lights nowadays require large aluminum elements to dissipate the heat, but Liiu is cooled by the air.” This allows for a minimal structure consisting of ultra-thin cables that run from the ceiling to either the floor or a weighted base. The modular diffusers — small cup-shaped shades that cantilever outward — are held in place by threading their corkscrew appendages around the wire, which also provides the electrical current; the framework precludes the need for screws, meaning Liiu can be assembled quickly and efficiently.

The technology also allows for a multitude of configurations. A recent installation in the atrium of the VDL Head Office in Eindhoven winds, helix-like, through the four-storey space like the illuminated tail of a lit sparkler. “We wanted to show lightness and movement,” Jongsma adds. “When it moves in the breeze, it looks like it’s alive.”