Designers Alex DiLena, Jeremy Levitt, and Danu Kennedy have been building atmospheric hospitality environments through Parts and Labor Design since 2009, watching how the right fixture can make people want to stay all night. When they launched their furniture arm Known Work in 2024, the Perceptions floor lamp arrived with an accumulated wisdom about what makes lighting work well in a space.
The lamp’s hand-blown glass element comes from a lineage of mid-century Italian designers who worked with Murano glassmakers, treating lamps like art instead of just light sources. The Known Work crew updated that approach for today, pairing glass with patinated steel to create something sculptural that anchors a room.
The lamp’s glass shade uses mold-blown techniques that create intentional imperfections. “When you’re blowing hot glass into a square mold, you don’t have the ability to keep the glass turning, which typically leads to chill marks and imperfections,” Alex says. Photo by Sean Davidson
The glass shade uses mold-blown techniques that create intentional imperfections. “When you’re blowing hot glass into a square mold, you don’t have the ability to keep the glass turning, which typically leads to chill marks and imperfections,” Alex says. “We honestly love the effect, and want to hero these moments of ‘imperfection’ because they make each lamp unique.”
The shades are especially tricky to pull off in tinted glass. Alex jokes that if you could see how many color samples they tested, “you may be a bit concerned for our health.” After the glass cools, it goes through several rounds of cold working to get those surfaces smooth and even. The hand-welded steel frame comes in raw steel that ages over time, or polished stainless.
The rigid metal frame plays against glass with soft edges and color variations, creating a contrast that shifts depending on whether the lamp is on or off. Photo by Sean Davidson
“A lot of the pieces in the collection are influenced by tension,” says Alex. “Pairing hard angular forms with soft or delicate material and seeing how those two opposing sides work together and generate an emotive response.” The rigid metal frame plays against glass with soft edges and color variations, creating a contrast that shifts depending on whether the lamp is on or off.
Each lamp takes 10 to 12 weeks to fabricate across three separate New York workshops. One for glass, another for metalwork and electrical components, and a third for the ceramic knobs made in Vermont. “Bringing those components together and making sure everything fits and functions seamlessly requires a level of precision, coordination, and care that’s often overlooked,” Alex says.
Available through Known Work’s studio at $4,400 for raw steel or $8,000 for stainless at knownworkstudio.com.
