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Market: Special Lighting Section

Karen D. Singh and Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 8/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sander Bokkinga of Bok may fondly recall childhood summers in the Dutch countryside, watering the plants and spraying himself to cool off. When remembering epic grapple-fests with the garden hose, however, he's less nostalgic. He exacts decorative revenge with the 6-foot-high Hose floor lamp, which harnesses a whopping 229 feet of hose to a standard work light. How the lamp stays upright is his secret. All he will say on the matter is: "There's magic inside." (A curious note: There could actually be water inside—the hose is still completely functional.) Will wonders never cease? The Hose Furniture series also includes a lounge chair, a dining chair, a stool in two sizes, and a vase. 31-62-845-58-74; sanderbokkinga.nl. circle 408

Droog Design

Adrien Rovero lets form follow function in his Saving Grace pendant lamps: Their shades, made of sandblasted glass, have been shaped to follow the specific contours of two standard-issue compact fluorescents. Choose a 7-inch diameter and 9-inch height or a 13-inch diameter and 7-inch height. 31-20-523-50-50; droogdesign.nl. circle 415

Zumtobel

Interior Design Hall of Fame member Matteo Thun toys with spatial limitations in Sconfine Cubo. The 4-inch polycarbonate squares come in three depths—2¾, 4, and 5 inches—and all are internally lit by an LED. Enjoy the modules on their own, or use a slim chrome frame to form blocks of nine or to cover an entire wall or ceiling. 43-5572-390; zumtobel.com. circle 416

Prandina

Luc Ramael takes Ziegfeld Follies footlights to a new level with Biluna. Its outer shell of painted polyethylene houses an opal-white thermoformed methacrylate diffuser in two sizes: with a 24-inch aperture on a 12-inch support ring or a 29½-inch aperture on a 16-inch ring. The floor lamp uses a 55-watt 2GX13 fluorescent bulb. 39-0424-566338; prandina.it. circle 418

Marie Christophe

Get busy with Marie Christophe's Bee Darling sconce. This wire sculpture is adorned with colorless, black, and gold crystals. It measures 15¾ inches from antenna to stinger, with a wingspan of 18 inches. Lisa Fontanarosa Collection, 505-872-1929; lisafontanarosa.com. circle 419

Michael McHale Designs

Crystal ornaments dangle on steel threads from the Outdoor chandelier's 16-inch-wide mount of re-purposed red brass. The rubberized sockets accept not only mini floodlights but also any outdoor bulb with a standard socket. 646-496-8864; michaelmchaledesigns.com. circle 420

Ivalo Lighting

The optical effects of light and water in sylvan settings inspired Silvus, an indoor-outdoor modular sconce system by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill design partner Roger Duffy and managing partner Peter Magill. Supported by an undulating steel frame, the LED-lit lengths of silicone-coated acrylic come in translucent amber as well as white, red, blue or green. 610-282-7472; ivalolighting.com. circle 421

Terzani

Don't try looking for vermilion accents on the gold, black, or mirrored surface of Bruno Rainaldi's A Touch of Red. (Hint: Check out the cord.) An addition to the Light is a Queen collection, the crystal table lamp stands 10 inches high with a 5½-inch-diameter and takes a 40-watt E14 candelabra bulb. 954-438-7779; terzani.com. circle 423

Tom Dixon

Brass lamps sound so granny's attic—until a hot British designer turns them upside down. It's the shade of the Base Light that's satin-finished brass, while the base is matte-finished cast iron. The lamp is 15½ inches tall and accepts an E26 bulb. 44-20-7400-0500; tomdixon.net. circle 422

Moura Starr

Dream is at once classic and contemporary, with strings of crystals that dangle at alternating lengths from a minimalist aluminum wall bracket. Measuring 26 inches high and 6 wide, the sconce requires two 40-watt halogen bulbs. 212-219-1110; mourastarr.com. circle 424

Foscarini

Thanks to a dye-sublimation printing process, a synthetic fashion fabric, typically used for ski suits, achieves the optical illusion that is Wagashi Wires. Luca Nichetto and Massimo Gardone took the material and stretched it over a carbon-steel frame to make a sconce and a ceiling fixture designed for a compact fluorescent bulb. Both versions are available in three sizes. 39-041-595-3811; foscarini.com. circle 425

Alt Lucialternative

Lisa Tavazzani and Adel Kassem borrowed the natural patterns of stone for Coupole. Its acrylic diffuser—which comes in brown or white with a 35-inch diameter —hangs on steel cables from a ceiling mount in white powder-coated iron. The fixture accepts an R7 linear halogen bulb. 39-041-574-1275; altlucialternative.com. circle 427

Owindo

Max Lam goes in circles—or straight lines. His Coil Sixty, in painted steel bedecked with G9 frosted bulbs, measures 20½ inches high by 14 wide. Meanwhile, his Diamond Raw, in chromed or gold-plated steel, takes three E12 bulbs and stands 12 inches tall. 852-3568-3889; owindo.com. circle 426

Lightyears

Grab your glasses. Cecilie Manz's Brancusi pendant fixture doesn't really float of its own volition. The 21½-inch-wide shade, suspended on plastic cable and steel wire, combines tinted polycarbonate and tempered glass that's silk-screened with white circles. Inside, an aluminum reflector intensifies the light from either an E27 or a G8.5 bulb. 45-8730-1240; lightyears.dk. circle 428

Fambuena Luminotecnia

Cristian Malisan's Làszlò table and floor lamps sketch swirls in light and shadow. Both versions have a white PVC body and a black chrome base. The table lamp is 13¾ by 9¾ inches. Also available is a floor lamp at 27¾ inches high. 34-96-152-04-12; fambuena.com. circle 430

Lindsey Adelman Studio

We're familiar with the facts of life, but the Birds + Bees table light was new to us. Containing a "female" and a "male" low-watt incandescent bulb, a handblown glass bubble 13 inches across is offered either as-is or embellished by glass tiles and/or gold foil. The hardware can be white-enameled—unless you prefer 24-karat gold plate, oil-rubbed bronze, or satin-nickel plate. 718-954-6572; lindseyadelman.com. circle 429

Peter Alexander Lighting

Go swanky with this Shanghai table lamp, which pairs a beige linen shade and a rosewood base leafed in 12-karat white gold. Or go natural with embossed pigskin on the base. Dimensions are 20 inches high by 17¼ wide by 6 deep. 415-378-2700; peteralexanderlighting.com. circle 431

Henry Wilson

Fire marshals can relax—the pillowlike form of the Bedrock lamp is actually concrete. It's just been molded inside a plastic bag to achieve the squashy shape. Place the bottom pillow on top of the standard bulb for a clamshell effect. 61-4-0820-9600; henry-wilson.com. circle 432

Jake Phipps

Proper Englishmen have always been identified by their choice of hat. Jake Phipps co-ops this status symbol of his native country in the Jeeves and Wooster pendant fixtures—designed, he says, to commemorate a "bygone era of imperialism, class divide, and eccentricity." Authentic-looking wool felt bowlers and top hats are outfitted with diffusers of vacuum-metalized, vacuum-formed ABS thermoplastic, gold for Jeeves and silver for Wooster. Jeeves measures 5 by 9½ by 12½ inches, Wooster 5½ by 10 by 12½ inches. Both feature brass electrical fittings and 59-inch silk flex cords, and both use 40-watt bayonet bulbs. "They're suitable," Phipps says, "for any aspiring gentleman or conscientiou smanservant." 44-20-7386-2699; jakephipps.com. circle 410

Duffy London

If making light is an art, then this company is an art historian. The Glo-Chandelier depicts a classic Georgian sparkler on paint-worthy cotton canvas stretched over a frame, available in four sizes starting at 25½ inches square, and backlit by ultra-slim fluorescents. Traditional table lamps get a similar treatment in Cut Out Lamp Shade, with black or white canvas silhouettes laminated onto translucent plastic 25½ inches square. If those artful approaches inspire you to try it yourself, consider Stick-It, a DIY plastic lamp shade with a protective cover under which you can create any sort of collage or design. 44-20-8531-5199; duffylondon.com. circle 411

Essenze

New Zealand is surrounded by ocean, and its influence is readily apparent in the wares manufactured by this company. Rebecca Asquith's aquatic explorations come to a high-water mark in the Nautilus chandelier. It's constructed from strips of hoop-pine plywood, in a natural or red stain, and measures 18 inches high. Another Kiwi, David Trubridge, earns his sea legs with the droplet shapes of his Squirt and Twist pendant fixtures in hoop-pine plywood and polycarbonate with aluminum rivets. Squirt dangles 82½ inches versus Twist's 43½. With the harlequin-patterned Ika pendant, a 16½-inch-high design in hoop-pine plywood and recyclable PETG plastic, Trubridge explores some solid ground, too. 512-351-8819; essenze.co.nz. circle 433

Rothschild & Bickers

Prim turns progressive in the hands of Victoria Rothschild and Mark Bickers, the partners behind this studio specializing in handblown glass. Fluid Black Nouveau pendant fixtures come in a flared version, 12½ inches across, and a bell shape, 8 inches high; both accept silver crown SES bulbs. But Rothschild and Bickers didn't stop there. Immersing themselves in full-fledged Victoriana—in this case, cotton-rayon fringe—the pair adorned three more pendant lamps. Opulent Optic features optical glass in green, peach, or bronze; choose from dimensions of 8 by 7 inches or 8½ by 8½. Vintage Light, available in steel gray, gray, or amber, is 7 inches high by 14 wide. And Tassel Light, offered in ruby, amber, or gray, measures 10 by 6 inches. For all three designs, stubborn conformists can order the trim hand-dyed to match the glass. 44-20-8418-5900; rothschildbickers.com. circle 435

Anta Leuchten

With the diverse range of lighting options from this company, there'll be no cursing the darkness. The Bob table lamp by Jörg Zeidler joins a squared-off stem to a disk-shape shade—both in aluminum finished in polished nickel or a matte black powder coat—and accepts a 50-watt low-voltage or 9-watt fluorescent bulb. With Hadi Teherani's Tubic table lamp and sconce, a 25-watt halopin bulb—the smallest halogen available—runs along the top of a glass rectangle framed in matte aluminum. And in the Cara pendant fixture by Andreas Ostwald, 70 LEDs are attached to pentagonal pieces of silvery polycarbonate to create a mobile that changes continually. 49-40-839-1037; anta.de. circle 436

Blackbird

Micro-thin veneers, maple or walnut, ruled last year's Stainless pendant fixtures from this manufacturer. This season, a pair of parallel launches are definitely bulking up. Union Wood sconces pair quarter-sawn black walnut, white oak, Douglas fir, or maple with handblown glass and mirror-polished aluminum. Both the single- and double-arm versions measure 13¼ inches high. Flat Bend, a 23-inch-high table lamp named for its curved base of milled low-carbon steel, has shades of white acrylic and Japanese paper and base finishes of oil-rubbed bronze, polished bronze, polished copper, or pewter black nickel. Both the sconce and lamp accept compact fluorescent bulbs. 413-229-5090; blkbrd.com. circle 434

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August Lighting Special

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