Skynest Suspension
"We are poets, secretly engineering," says the Dutch star of the design scene Marcel Wanders about his own profession. For the Italian lighting manufacturer Flos, the internationally active creative head designed a delicate luminaire with an extremely strong presence for its 60th anniversary. "Designed to last, Skynest poetically blends the tradition of handcrafted weaving with innovative lighting techniques to create a timeless piece of design," Wanders says.
For Wanders – who, incidentally, will in turn celebrate his 60th birthday this year – the work also marked a return to the theme of the floating dome. A type he had already explored with his best-selling Skygarden for Flos. Instead of plaster decorations, Wanders' Skynest combines the typical form of a pendant lamp with LED strips covered in fabric, thereby skillfully dissolving the classic lampshade. "By weaving light strips, this pendant lamp perfectly combines elegance and innovation," says Wanders. The result is a unique element of surprise designed to challenge the incandescent-based luminaire archetype.
24 LED light rods covered with a two-tone textile structure create an unexpectedly ethereal lighting effect: light is emitted only from the white side, while the color of the fabric remains visible on the outside. The very light presence of Skynest seems clearly inspired by the world of craftsmanship, but has been interpreted in a surprisingly technological way. The stylistic device of the wickerwork is in itself nothing new in the art of light – but the fact that the "nest" itself becomes a diffuse light source gives the luminaire an amazing twist. It can be said that Skynest, as a design innovation that embodies the rethinking of the existing and the combination of industry, technology and craftsmanship, accurately reflects the spirit of Flos. At the same time, beauty does not have to be complicated or obscure: Skynest is simple and modular in design, each lighting element can be easily disassembled for possible repairs and separated by type at the end of its life. Skynest is available in suspended and ceiling-mounted versions and in four colors: anthracite, almond, brick and tourmaline blue.
