229
Dolmen
Tuareg
Tobia
Uptown
Big Bang
Allegro
Bahia
Foscarini
Chap. 5 — Designing space with light
Allegro and Allegretto take shape thanks to
the force of gravity. Made with metal lines that
design the light and emit sounds when they
brush, they owe their name precisely to their
‘musicality’.
Allegro /2007 — design atelier oï
About shedding light
This collection of lamps dates back to
a fascinating design take on a simple object
such as rope, set up by atelier oï at the
Swiss Cultural Centre in Milan in April 2006
during Milano Design Week.
The ‘rigid-ropes’, in other words ropes
featuring strategic points that have been
treated to become rigid, had already been
experimented with in 2005 by the oï group
– a trio of Swiss designers consisting of
Louis Armand, Aurel Aebi and Patrick
Reymond – in the scenery for the
presentation of the works by the winners
of the Bourse Fédérale des Arts Appliquées
Suisse in Lausanne and at an event at the
Neue Räume in Zurich, put together in
partnership with Ronan and Erwan
Bouroullec. In this scenery, the rope
becomes a tool for creating compositions,
which stimulates the senses: fl exible, rigid,
bent, soft, being unwound and then
rewound, it gives rise to an imaginary
landscape packed with spatial, luminous
and sonorous stimuli with seating and large
suspended lamps. These experiments led to
the project developed together with
Foscarini to create suspension lamps
consisting of slim metal lines, waiving
transparency and thereby achieving a
delightful game of light and shadow created
by the metal rod. These suspension lamps
reveal a hidden nature as they shift slightly:
indeed, the oscillation causes the
aluminium rod elements to vibrate and emit
a soft and magical sound. This subtle bond
with music explains the fact they are
available in three shape variants, along with
their names: Allegro Assai, Allegro Vivace,
Allegro Ritmico – each one in a specifi c
colour fi nish (gold, copper and graphite).
Their design determines the overall shape,
which is in no way static or fi xed: each rod
– which is attached to the upper part – is
put into position by the force of gravity,
giving rise to the fi nal composition. It
provides diffused lighting, directed down
and refl ected onto the ceiling while at the
same time emphasising the rods making up
the body of the lamp. The Allegretto family
(2009) has smaller proportions and is also
available in three different models in terms
of shape and size with respect to the parent
family and is designed for installation in
smaller settings.
229
Installation by atelier oï at the
Swiss Cultural Centre in Milan during
the 2006 Milano Design Week.
