221
Dolmen
Tuareg
Tobia
Uptown
Big Bang
Allegro
Bahia
Foscarini
Chap. 5 — Designing space with light
Uptown is equally alluring: this lamp
consists of three silk-screen coloured glass
slab bodies in shades of yellow, primary red
and blue which, overlapping one another,
give rise to new colourful hues. Transparency
has guided the development of this design:
charming even when it is switched off,
Uptown plays the absolute star of the setting
when it lights up, as the slabs load up with
colour and the light is projected upwards.
This transparent luminator draws its
inspiration from American glass skyscrapers.
The apparent simplicity is in fact the result of
extreme precision in making a highly intricate
object appear straightforward, for example by
concealing the 45-degree cut that renders
the point where the glass panes meet
imperceptible.
The same year, Tobia introduced the
mobile luminator, thanks to an elemental and
graphic shape delivered by the tubular
structure. With an ironic touch, the nomadic
nature of the concept behind this lamp is
conveyed by the knot in the centre
encouraging the observer to grab it, and is
mirrored – although not with the same
function – in the wall version, characterised
by the dual directionality of the light.
Although the metal tube, which in the fl oor
lamp version also acts as a three-legged
base, has a section of just two centimetres,
careful engineering has allowed all the
technology necessary to ensure outstanding
light performance to be housed inside.
Tobia combines simplicity and personality
also thanks to colour, which can either
minimise or emphasise its presence within
a setting.
Tobia is a slim and compact, portable
luminator which is easy to move thanks to the
knot in the middle. The lightness of a sign to
outline a body and a form to narrate a function.
Tobia /2019, Uptown /2019 — design Ferruccio Laviani
About shedding light
221
Iconic, colourful, a scenic graphic sign
with a strong visual impact, Uptown is
a piece of luminous architecture which draws
its inspiration from the metropolis.
Above, project by Gianluca Vassallo
interpreting Uptown as a skyscraper in NY.
