An incredible experiential lighting piece was unveiled at Miles Beyond in Cape Town – and it is the largest of the kind in the world.
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The chandelier was designed by One to One by Martin Döller, a Cape Town-based leading experiential lighting design studio, and created in collaboration with ARRCC, an award-winning interior studio over the span of three years – more than 1 000 man-hours.
It will be installed at a private residence designed by world-renowned architectural firm SAOTA in Lagos, Nigeria.
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‘Conceptualising Stemma in the midst of a global pandemic was a remarkable design challenge not only because of the general uncertainty of that time but finding the inspiration and also understanding what the client was looking for – all online – was a new experience,’ says Döller.
The chandelier is more akin to a structural art piece. Spanning over 15m in length (4m across and 6m tall), it weighs 1 000kg. ‘Stemma, inspired by nature’s beauty, mimics a sun-dappled forest with cascading lights resembling sunlight through branches,’ adds Döller.
‘Creating a soft, natural glow, bringing the serenity of the outdoors into the home. This coupled with the light being in the centre of a family home also led us to its naming. Stemma – Latin for family tree, echoes how we looked at creating the entire lighting experience. It needs to function in creating homely lighting for cosy nights while also catering to the memorable moments that the client and his family will have.’
The chandelier will be suspended from a 9m-high glass and steel skylight.
‘There is a deeply technical aspect to creating this. At our studio, we created several scale models of the light to ensure that we got the anchoring, electrical, and other technical components of the piece right. We also spent time innovating with aluminium sheet and tubing, powder coating, and patinas to get the right finish. We wanted a timeless essence to this piece because it will live in a home for generations to come.’
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Picture: Supplied