Behind every striking rock formation is a story about the slow, sculptural forces of the past. In the design of Vela, a new restaurant in Toronto’s King West neighbourhood, architecture studio Partisans has related the idea of weathering and erosion to a sense of timelessness to address the rich layers of the project’s setting, the 1904 Parisian Laundry Building. “We wanted to respect the residue of brick and timber but also to breathe in new life,” says firm partner Jonathan Friedman.

Vela reimagines part of the 1904 Parisian Laundry Building.

Prior to its latest reinvention as a destination dining environment, Vela’s portion of the historic landmark most recently operated as an office. While the space provided attractive industrial character, its open ceiling’s cluttered ducts and pipes also posed the main obstacle to achieving the “grand hotel lobby bar without the hotel” that local hospitality heavyweights Amanda Bradley and Robin Goodfellow envisioned for their latest venture.

By day, the dining room’s glowing ceiling complements natural light introduced through the heritage building’s east-facing windows.

The solution: a canyon-like ceiling assembled on site from a series of prefabricated fibre-reinforced gypsum panels. Suspended with aircraft cable to conceal both the new mechanical system and several decades’ worth of old infrastructure, the sculpture dips down where it needs to accommodate pre-existing beams and new HVAC vents, then swerves back up where there are opportunities to maximize height. The curves also work to direct sound waves toward the soft surfaces installed along the room’s edge, where an open kitchen and bar are stationed against dramatic backdrops of glowing brick.

The space was envisioned as a “grand hotel lobby bar without the hotel.”

On its own, this overhead centrepiece boasts a quiet organic beauty. But turn on the lights and suddenly it manages to introduce a sense of pulsating nightlife as well, drawing intrigued passersby inside. “It’s sculpting with light — seeing how the architecture can become the main source of illumination,” says Friedman. His firm worked closely with German manufacturer LED Linear and local supplier TPL Lighting to source lighting strands flexible enough to keep up with the ceiling’s many dips and curves. Slots were then carved into each panel, with brackets added at 30-centimetre intervals to secure the glowing tubes in place. “We thought of the lights like a constellation,” Friedman says, “connecting different spaces.”

Eighteen tracks of light flow along the restaurant’s sculptural ceiling before cascading down to create a backdrop for future musical performances.

As they reach the northernmost point of the dining hall, the celestial strands cascade down to spotlight an area earmarked for future musical guests. “Lighting sets the stage, but it’s also its own performance,” Friedman notes. The 18 tracks of light can even be programmed to flash in different sequences, or to react to live recitals. Rarely has geology seemed so rock ’n’ roll — or so elegant.

“My love for design was founded in food, where you eat with your eyes, followed by your palate. I believe this sparks synergies between the visual and experiential nature of design,” says Australian lighting designer Nicci Green. The Melbourne native trained as a chef before launching her studio, Articolo, in 2012, leaping into the business blind.

“Although I had a background in food styling and interior and product design, I didn’t know anything about lighting — which, in hindsight, is perhaps a blessing, as I may never have embarked on this journey had I been aware of the challenges,” she says. But she saw a gap in the market in her home country. “Most of the high-end decorative lighting [was] coming out of Europe and the United States,” says Green, who has always been drawn to a European, slow-design sensibility. Her response was lighting that blended the fluidity of glass with myriad solid metals. Articolo’s first light, Lumi — a cloche-like fixture of glass, linen and hand-worked metal — put the studio in the spotlight. Now with showrooms in Melbourne and New York, it has created pieces for luxury hotels, hospitality venues and residences globally.

Photo Credit: Willem Dirk Du Toit

Born into a family of painters, sculptors and woodworkers, Green comes by her artistic side naturally, and it shows. Her designs, refined yet organic, possess an intangible quality because they are handmade, which gives each one a nuanced personality. “The soul and human touch of hands creating and crafting is so special — something that cannot be replicated in machine-driven processes,” she says.

The Lumi lamp was Articolo’s first launch and set the tone for what was to come: handcrafted artisanal fixtures that masterfully merge materiality, form and elegance.

Articolo’s pared-back pendants, sconces and lamps are made primarily from enduring materials: mouth-blown glass, solid metals, leather and marble. Green ruminates over each of her designs for a long time before it’s realized. “I turn it over in my mind and work to resolve the composition and design details,” she says. “The creative process varies in each design. In some instances, it can take as little as a few months, however, some pieces can take years to resolve through extensive experimentation.”

Now employing 20 and collaborating with more than 50 artisans and suppliers, the studio continues to explore process and materials — cast glass, timber veneers, enamel, sand-cast bronze — and has begun producing its own LED boards. It’s also veering into outdoor lighting in early 2022, and is set to release a new series called Tubi; channeling the late 1970s and early ’80s, this gilded collection is high glamour in a modernist form reminiscent of the era of excess.

Pairing interlocked glass with brass elements (or bronze or satin nickel), the Loopi wall sconce balances sophistication with a sculptural expression.

“It’s crucial to consider how the light will be cast to create a particular ambience. I love the drama of shadow play — the ephemeral contrasts between light and dark,” says Green. To that end, the studio’s sophisticated engineering is shrouded in a beautiful, contemporary form. Metal components, for instance, are simplified and honed multiple times so as to not appear industrial. She learned the “art of reduction” in yet another previous life, as a lifestyle and travel editor. “We would often style a set and then remove two thirds, applying the dictum ‘less is more.’ We explore the same ethos in our lighting design and metal fittings.”

Morten Jensen is illuminating on many different levels. From calculating the amount of daylight an interior will receive to figuring out the technical intricacies required to brighten up tunnels or airports, the role of an architectural lighting designer is more involved than it may at first appear. Working with both public and private spaces — from urban areas and roads to offices, hotels and more — global firm Light Bureau, for which Jensen manages two offices, brings its expertise to the entire construction process. Unsurprisingly, it has worked on some pretty major projects, such as Bjarke Ingels Group’s The Twist in Norway and the Heatherwick Studio–designed Maggie’s Leeds. Azure caught up with Jensen to learn why architectural lighting shouldn’t be underestimated.

Morten Jensen.

Light is architecture’s 4th dimension

Lighting designers are often brought on very late to the project. In the past, lighting was seen as a technical consideration to be added into already-finished spaces. Thankfully, there has been a dramatic shift in this understanding in the past 10 years. Many architects now understand how important lighting is in the early design phase. Bad lighting can ruin good architecture, but good lighting can give it an even stronger expression. One thing that all award-winning projects have in common is that they all started with a holistic design, which includes lighting.

Light Bureau’s scheme for Bjarke Ingels Group’s The Twist, an art gallery spanning Norway’s Randselva river, includes multiple wall-washers and spotlights integrated during construction to highlight both the art and architecture.

It’s all about creating immersive environments

I have always been interested in the power of light. It started in my room, in my parents’ flat as a teenager. I bought a small light controller and had some coloured bulbs blinking to music. For a while, I also worked on the tech side of show business, touring with bands. After eight years of working in cruise ships, I came to understand how important lighting is for creating an atmosphere.

The firm’s plan for walking paths along Oslo’s Akerselva river turned what was once foreboding into a safe after-dark destination.

Lighting plays a significant role in urbanism

Personally, I especially enjoy working on urban projects, places where proper illumination plays a crucial part in creating areas where people feel safe and secure — areas that they still want to visit or use after dark. For example, I love to see a mother with her child in a stroller walking late at night along Akerselva (Oslo’s river). That was not even close to being an option a few years ago, before we did a light plan for the area.

Sourcing products is all in a day’s work

Even if we’ve already thought about what to use from an early stage, finding the right product to perform a specific task is one of the latest stages in a project. We always employ BAT (best available technology) in our proposals, and we consistently and thoroughly follow all manufacturers’ product development. And if we can’t find anything suitable, we will often search for a manufacturing partner to design and create a new luminaire ourselves.

When stores of ammonium nitrate exploded at the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, the city’s notoriously strained power grid sustained significant damage, leaving thousands in the dark. Though some power lines have since been restored, widespread darkness persists. There are daily rolling blackouts, and the private backup generator system is too expensive for most people to afford. It’s “light poverty,” says Nathalie Rozot, founder of New York–based lighting think tank PhoScope. “Kids can’t study. You can’t cook at home. Life outside is dangerous: People can be attacked or can fall and hurt themselves.”

In collaboration with Live Love Beirut, Light for Lebanon installed ten solar streetlights on the Salah Labaki Road in Achrafieh. The program will be expanded throughout the district. PHOTO: PhoScope

Light poverty isn’t a problem unique to Beirut. As a result of natural or human-made disasters or poor infrastructure, communities around the globe grapple with the consequences of insufficient lighting. In 2013, Rozot (a lighting designer by trade, though her preferred title is “phototect”) devised a photovoltaic-based system that brought light to the residents of the Martissant informal settlement in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The ethos of that award-winning project evolved into Light Reach, a PhoScope initiative that provides rapidly deployable off-grid solutions to underserved communities around the world — including Beirut. Rozot calls it “socially engaged lighting design.”

Light for Lebanon collaborated with Temporary Art Platform to provide solar lighting for the Art, Ecology & the Commons Beirut’s RiverLESS Forest event. PHOTO: Temporary Art Platform

The Light Reach system comprises three types of solar fixtures, each serving a unique purpose: small portable lanterns, typically distributed to individuals for personal use and as emergency backup resources; mid-size models, often floodlights, which can be used to illuminate pathways, building entrances or other exterior features; and street lights, installed on streetscapes and in communal outdoor spaces. While the group has a handful of go-to suppliers for some products, others are funded by corporate and individual donations and sourced from a variety of manufacturers and online marketplaces; their selection is driven by function first but is still considerate of aesthetic form. Above all, the fixtures must be reliable and cost-effective.

Light for Lebanon collaborated with Temporary Art Platform to provide solar lighting for the Art, Ecology & the Commons Beirut’s RiverLESS Forest event. PHOTO: Temporary Art Platform

Though the global pandemic has slowed its progress, Light Reach has transformed communities in the three years since its inception. In its pilot project in Puerto Rico, nearly 150 fixtures were deployed in the areas of San Juan, Humacao and Comerío. In Beirut, the distribution and installation of 3,700 lights — from personal portable fixtures to floodlights installed in public parks — is well underway, along with fundraising for the project’s second phase. In other parts of the globe, the think tank is developing partnerships with NGOs in order to illuminate refugee camps and unplanned settlements.

Light Reach also leads outdoor community workshops on lighting, like the one shown here, in Comerío, Puerto Rico. PHOTO: PhoScope

The provisions themselves are only one part of the Light Reach model. Equally important, Rozot explains, are the workshops that trained volunteers and project leads (typically lighting professionals from the site country who first identified the need) facilitate in the local communities. These events are focused on education and creativity, teaching children and adults how to play and experiment with light.

Light Reach provided the solar lighting fixtures for ParticiPLAY. The mobile playground is the work of Nusaned, a volunteer humanitarian organization in Lebanon that creates safe places for children to play in urban centres, among other endeavours. PHOTO: PhoScope

“Light poverty also deprives people of a social and cultural life,” Rozot says. “It’s really important for us to emphasize that light is not just for safety and it’s not just for work. It’s also for play, because play is a fundamental part of human lives.”

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Stem Pendant by Hollis + Morris

Peeking out from beneath Stem’s tidy spire-shaped support like a flower bud, a hand-blown, frosted glass diffuser transforms settings with subtle radiance. Continuing its material exploration, Toronto studio Hollis + Morris has rendered the streamlined pendant light in solid oak (in natural, white or black) or walnut and capped it with a brushed brass, copper or stainless-steel cord-grip.

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Ceramic Disc Orb Pendant by In Common With

Slip-cast by hand, each shade in the Ceramic Disc Orb pendant light collection expresses its own unique character, imperfections and all. The refined industrial-style clay fixture can be left raw or pigmented in one of five colourways, and each in turn can be partnered with one of seven metal socket hues.

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Cyls by Estiluz

Built around a basic geometric form — the cylinder — Cyls pendant light highlights the effectiveness of simplicity. A collaboration between Spanish lighting brand Estiluz and Barcelona-based Mermelada Estudio, the compact metal tube is fitted with a recessed bulb to maintain clean, uninterrupted lines, and can be left bare or dressed with a polyester drum shade, as shown. The collection also includes wall, floor and table versions.

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Ihana by Marset

A modular pendant lighting system by Helsinki architect Joanna Laajisto, Ihana allows for up to 14 light sources to be connected to its extendable scaffold-like structure, making it an ideal option for large, high ceilinged spaces. The rigid metal frame is contrasted by the soft illumination emitted from the ellipsoid diffusers; dim to warm technology can create a variety of lighting scenarios, including a soothing candle-like ultra-warm white.

For more great lights, visit Spec Sheets.

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Nile by Foscarini

Rather than hiding the light source, architect Rodolfo Dordoni gives it statement-making pride of place with the Nile table lamp, his first wholly new design for Foscarini in decades. Two volumes — a small yet sturdy marble base and a larger delicate glass diffuser — are poised in a way that seems to defy gravity but stay in place through static weights and precise junctures.

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Nancie by Viso

One of three avian-inspired lamps in the Feathers family, penguin-like Nancie possesses a magnetic and unconventional charm all her own. Squat and shapely, the resin body is offered in three high-gloss colour and metal combinations: Midnight Blue with brushed brass, Smokey Rose with brushed brass and terrazzo, and Hot Vanilla with satin black.

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Vine Light by Artemide

Appearing like an unfinished line drawing, Vine, by Bjarke Ingels Group, is complex in its engineering. The two open rings that form the base and the light source are joined together by a 16-millimetre-thick structure that deftly contains all the optoelectronic and mechanical elements. Two nearly invisible joints allow the light to be moved around to create multiple configurations. Simply put, it’s a pure expression of minimalism.

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Space Invaders by Stellar Works

As implied by its name, the pieces in the Space Invaders collection — Stellar Works’ first collaboration with Italian multidisciplinary designer Luca Nichetto — are meant to disrupt environments in an undeniably playful way. With the Dhala table lamps, large Murano glass beads are stacked in various formations on minimalist metal frames and lit by concealed LED strips; the series also includes floor lamps, illuminated side tables and trays.

For more great lights, visit Spec Sheets.

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Vale by Andlight

Vancouver designer Caine Heintzman’s Vale series is now offered in a ceiling/wall sconce format. Surface-mounted vertically or horizontally, individually or in groupings, the thermoformed acrylic diffuser projects light through a prismatic lens, creating an intriguing effect. Ideal for use in narrow corridors or spaces with low ceilings, the rigorous design conceals the electrical assembly and mounting system within a minimal aluminum frame finished in Anthracite, Rust or Silica.

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Top by Vibia

Composed of two concentric circles, the Top wall sconce by Barcelona-based studio Ramos Bassols is reminiscent of a bull’s eye — albeit one that emits a dreamy ambient glow. Tucked neatly behind the inner sphere, an LED reflects light back toward the outer one, creating a halo effect. Top is made from aluminum and offered in four sizes — mini, small, medium and large (the last of which has an uncovered glass diffuser for general illumination) — and four pastel colourways.

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Akoya by Fabbian

Playing with geometry, Milan designer Filippo Protasoni transforms two flat discs into a three-dimensional sphere with the insertion of a blown-glass orb. Evoking the image of a clam grasping its coveted pearl, Akoya is simple yet striking. Available in White, Anthracite and Corten finishes, it can be installed with the LED diffuser pointing in any direction along its circumference.

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Opus by Modern Forms

With its open-ended cuff-like design, Opus washes walls in light both upward and down; gold leaf inside its bronze-finished metal body enhances the luminous effect of the integrated LED. The folded fixture — which can be mounted in any direction — has a quiet elegance and is suitable for use in residential and hospitality settings.

For more great lights, visit Spec Sheets.