“Designing actually means thinking and structuring,” says Marset‘s Joan Gaspar. For the acclaimed Spanish lighting designer, the end result is not just a product, but an idea: “The designer must keep in mind not only the features of this product but also what they want it to convey, what the brand wants to communicate with its collection.” It’s a powerful ethos, and one perhaps best manifested in Marset‘s growing Djembé collection.

Inspired by the traditional West African drums of the same name, the bell-shaped lights introduce a rhythmic – and almost musical – presence to a wide range of interior spaces. While an individual lamp makes for an elegantly subtle accent, the Djembé collection’s fixtures are designed to be easily combined to form a cluster of luminaires, making for a bold yet playful statement piece.

Marset’s innovative rotational moulding technique allowed Gaspar to design a polyethylene fixture with contrasting finishes. The exterior shell of each fixture is finished in a richly textured finish reminiscent of natural stone, lending the lamps a pleasantly substantial aesthetic to complement its sinuous curves. It also makes for an eye-catching contrast with the smooth, exposed interiors, which convey a sense of lightness against the weighty presence of textured stone.

Available in a range of finishes and configurations, the lamps are offered as pendants or flush-mounted fixtures. Thanks to a lightweight polyethylene construction that belies Djembé’s elemental aesthetic, the fixtures can be fabricated with striking large volumes that become the heart of the space. In Gaspar’s words, Djembé “doesn’t pretend to go unnoticed.”

Project by Borrós Interiorismo, Photo: Oscar Mata

Since the collection’s introduction in 2017, the collection has expanded with new sizes and formats. Next year, the showpiece Djembé 100 pendant and C100 ceiling-mount light will introduce the largest fixtures yet, boasting a diameter of just over a metre (40 inches).

While the fixtures boast a distinctive presence, the unencumbered simplicity of Gaspar’s design lends the collection an impressive degree of flexibility. From private residences to public spaces – including both commercial and institutional contexts – Djembé is at home in a wide variety of settings.

Not least of all, the Djembé fixtures also convey a friendly ambiance that feels refreshingly unpretentious. Just as the eponymous drums serve a vital unifying purpose at social gatherings, the lights quietly foster a warm and inviting sense of place – and a natural focal point that brings people together.

This content was published by Azure on behalf of Marset.