Form Plus Function

The Tech Lighting Fire Onyx pendants are made from the real thing: beautiful Onyx that makes the light glow. The direct downlight illuminates the workspace with plenty of light for chores and fun.

Tech Fire Onyx Pendant

The Clark pendant light from Wilmette is for sure a charming fixture.  It has a simple cylindrical shade accented by traditional hardware.
In this fixture it’s actually almost as much the bulb as the fixture itself that is responsible for the unique look .
Carbon-filament bulbs like those recommended for this pendant  unfortunately only offer 1/3 the light at 10 times the price of standard bulbs, but there is no question that they make the fixture uniquely beautiful.  The light from these bulbs is a warm, romantic glow, almost like candle light.

Wilmette Lighting ClarkPendant

Powell-Street Pendant by Tech Lighting

A  bold design statement

I really like it how the Tech Lighting Powell Street fixture works in this kitchen. The orange interior adds a splash of color and picks up the color from the chairs. The spun aluminum exterior has a crisp, contemporary feel.  It’s nice to see a large scale light over an island for a change. Makes a bold statement.

After you have admired the beautiful Playa fixtures made of seashells look up and take a look at the Railtones speakers on this rail. Yes, now it’s possible to add speakers to your rail, so you don’t only spread light, but also music from your Tech Lighting MonoRail system.

Tech Lighting Railtones

Tech Lighting Railtones – Where light and sound combine seamlessly onto a single system for a richer, fuller experience.

Today is my lucky day!
A while back I stumbled across some beautiful photos of my favorite Ingo Maurer fixtures. They are just stunning and show the fixtures in the right context.

This week I saw them again – and found out that they were photos taken by a new Facebook friend , Mike Rukstad. I asked him if I could share them here and the response was “Sure!”

Below two of his beautiful photos show a home with a view – and some beautiful floor lamps: the Wo-Tum-Bu by Ingo Maurer. This graceful floor lamp is part of the MaMoNouchies collection, made as a collaboration between Ingo Maurer and Dagmar Mombach, who developed the technique for transforming the paper to these unique shapes.

Ingo Maurer WoTumBu

Ingo Maurer Wo-Tum-Bu floor lamp

As the name implies these fixtures were used in classrooms, libraries, courthouses, and kitchen ceilings back in the 1920s.
With their utilitarian lines, classic good looks and versatility, the down-to-earth  schoolhouse lights were a popular choice anywhere good task and ambient light was needed.
Today, schoolhouse-style fixtures are still appreciated for their timeless good looks and are widely used to add a retro flair to a room.

Wilmette Schoolhouse Pendant

From Denmark – the Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen.  Like light filtered through branches of a tree there is a constant play of  light and shadows which changes when  the fixture is viewed from different angles.
It is constructed using three pieces of laser-cut, glossy extruded acrylic.
Available in 5 colors with enticing names: Hotlips, Juicy Orange, Lemon Yellow, Smoke Screen and Snow White.
Great for application in conference rooms, restaurants, retail environments, lounge areas, over dining tables and sitting areas.

Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen

Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen

Collage Pendant Light from Louis Poulsen

Collage Pendant Light from Louis Poulsen

Craftsman Kitchen

Tech Lighting’s period-inspired pendants from Wilmette Lighting are featured in the Fall issue of Arts & Crafts Homes. Take a look at this story on the beautiful new take on Arts & Crafts kitchens.

The Wilmette Lighting Company was founded in Wilmette, Illinois, and combines authentic early 20th Century lighting design with cutting-edge technology. Timeless and beautiful, each design revisits the material past and introduces today’s progressive functionality. Wilmette lighting takes great pride in their period lighting pieces, many of which feature Halophane historic glass.

Wilmette Lighting from Tech Lighting

I was leafing through the most recent copy of Metropolis Magazine when I came across an article about a fabulous new restaurant in Philadelphia: Mark Vetri’s Amis Trattoria. The reason for my interest (aside from being an absolute fan of great food ) is the fact that we provided the Ingo Maurer Campari Lights for the restaurant.Will have to make a trip to Philadelphia to visit the place!!

“Marc Vetri, one of Philadelphia’s most celebrated chefs, had a somewhat atypical goal in mind when he sat down with the architect Michael Gruber to plan Amis, his newest addition to the local food scene. “I really wanted to create a neighborhood gathering place, a social space,” Vetri says.

Located in an old factory due east of Rittenhouse Square, the 90-seat restaurant has the look, and the slightly worn patina, of a place that’s been around for decades, instead of months. “The typical trattoria is very undesigned,” says Gruber, a principal at Jagr: Projects. “We don’t know how to do anything with no design what-soever, so what we worked for was something that wasn’t overwrought.”

Amis is a collage of the reclaimed and repurposed. “The building itself
is an old warehouse,” says Gruber, who had previously collaborated with Vetri on the restaurant Osteria. “The concrete, cement, and original windows were all retained. The artwork is old industrial molds that we found. Some of the lighting fixtures we got from architectural salvage yards. The communal tables are scraps of wood from a cabinetmaker’s shop that we glued together into butcher block.”

The restaurant’s spatial cues—clear sight lines, a wide bar suitable for dining, communal tables, and an open, convivial kitchen—all contribute to the social atmosphere. “Certain restaurants are like coffee shops,” Vetri says. “You don’t really go to a coffee shop for coffee. You go to hang out, to meet people. They’re about creating community. Recently, I think, restaurants have taken on that role.” —Martin C. Pedersen

Chandelier of Twigs and Branches

Found this on the blog of one of my favorite magazines: Mountain Living.

This creative chandelier, made from a tangle of natural branches  fits perfectly to the rustic country style surroundings without being massive and overwhelming.