
What better way to show off a lighting collection than to display it in situ? In Milan, Bocci has dedicated an entire apartment to its spellbinding products. Coinciding with Euroluce, the opening of the space signifies a major investment for the Vancouver brand — in real estate, obviously (the firm actually purchased the property on Via Lorenzo Mascheroni as its permanent residence in the city), but also in its evolution.

The display begins in the small gated garden, which has been landscaped by Dentice/Cadei and planted with the arboreal branches of Bocci’s 16 collection, then continues on inside, where every room is a showcase of dreamy design. From the kitchen, featuring cabinetry by Henrybuilt beneath a quirky tangle of spot lighting called 74, you turn left to the dining area.

There, cascading over the dining table supplied by e15 (one of many major design and art brands featured in the space, including Calico Wallpaper and Vancouver gallery Monte Clark) are multiples of the company’s latest invention: the 118, a glass sphere that captures the outlines of the steel cage used in its formation.

The milky white fixtures conjure many associations — mostly, they feel like clouds scooped from the sky and frozen into globes. Each one uniquely patterned, they exemplify the ever-evolving oeuvre of Bocci co-founder Omer Arbel, whose pieces are often formed by the very physics of the materials he is experimenting with.

A new shelving system by Bocci separates the dining table from the living room, where a cozy nook is hung with a scattering of his 44 lights, made of free-poured aluminum. With their silvery, coral-reef textures, they evoke the deep sea.

Down a hallway where jewel-like 28 bulbs are suspended from above, you encounter the bathroom — and one of the most awe-inspiring moments in the apartment: The brand’s 21 series, delicate folds of white porcelain reminiscent of calla lilies, is reflected to infinity by mirrors on both sides of a stand-alone tub.

Bocci is synonymous with the magical–scientific principles of alchemy — and the employment of novel processes to achieve unusual and heretofore unseen beauty. The apartment, whose opening coincides with Bocci’s new brand identity by Studio Frith as well as the inauguration of a Berlin showroom, provides visitors with a view into a world of discovery, where experimenting with form yields the most luminous possibilities.
A Feast for the Eyes at Bocci’s New Milan Showroom
The Vancouver lighting brand inaugurated its new digs – a resplendent Milan apartment – for showing off its luminous inventions.