Reflecting time-tested design tactics, new technologies, and everything in between, Sixtysix selects our favorite contemporary lighting designs of 2022.
1. Almendra
Photo by Mattia Balsamini, Tommaso Sartori
Patricia Urquiola’s almond-inspired luminaire for Flos is an extension of her 2015 Serena collection. Almendra’s light diffuses from two halves of open shells fixed to a branch in a design that combines simplicity, biophilia, and advanced technologies and materials. “The lamp is still a mechanical object, but in the near future I imagine a light fixture that opens and closes, which has its own mobility,” Patricia says.
2. Taiko Ceiling Light
Courtesy of Astro Lighting
The Taiko Ceiling Light from Astro Lighting aims to appear as though it is hovering in air. “The challenge was to create a softness of form that could complement the rigidity of the metal spinning,” Head of Design Riley Sanders says. “The curvature of Taiko achieves the right amount of sophisticated lightness without being simply a half sphere fixed to the ceiling.”
3. The Column
Courtesy of ANDlight
The Column, designed by ANDlight cofounder Lukas Peet, takes cues from Grecian Doric columns—much like the coffee tables by GamFratesi—with its grand scale, symmetry, and a textured surface mimicking the fluting on ancient buildings and temples. The modern interpretation is modular, able to be scaled vertically or horizontally to increase its presence in a room.
4. Coil Lamp
Courtesy of Normann Copenhagen
Danish designer Simon Legald created the Coil Lamp for Normann Copenhagen as a huge volume using minimal material. The airy space between each stainless steel thread joins the design, expanding the contemporary lighting fixture. “I try not to add any unnecessary details. I work with simplicity by highlighting the necessities instead of hiding them,” Simon says.
5. Ambrosia
Courtesy of Marset
Designed by Ciszak Dalmas with the help of Joan Gaspar for Marset, Ambrosia updates the traditional Linestra lamp to show that technical design can also be poetic. The design transitions a simple line of light into a modular, extendable system that descends from the ceiling in a clean, beautiful line.
6. Otto Luce
Photo by Chris Force / Studio Sixtysix
Cartwright NY’s Otto Luce chandelier celebrates its eighth birthday this year with a special rose gold finish and glass shades filled with champagne bubbles and gilded in gold foil. The effect is a cozy golden cast, flattering and warm, reflecting designer Carolyn Cartwright’s experience doing lighting for film sets. “The Otto Luce draws you in with its structure, then holds you in its glow,” Carolyn says.
7. Wisp
Photo by Jake Sherman, courtesy of Anony
Wisp by Anony is an inversion of the suspended chandelier—a shade that catches light instead of projecting it. “We came across technology that allowed us to transfer a signal from the base, through glass, up the wire and into the shade,” Anony’s founder Christian Lo says. “It’s an unusual path for a signal to take, and to a user it feels like magic.”
8. Elara
Courtesy of LODES
Elara by Nika Zupanc for LODES directly references astral motion with two metal rings like orbital paths and the spherical light source like a satellite. “Inspired by the sublime beauty of the mysteries of the universe, the Elara lamp takes inspiration from the vast and constantly moving space around us … it is here to bring magic with its simplicity,” Nika says.
