London Design Festival 2014: interior design studio AfroditiKrassa has created a pentagonal pendant light with casing made from mirrored and tinted glass (+ slideshow).
Designed as part of AfroditiKrassa's first product range, the AKollection, the Pentagon Pendant light comprises five flat rectangular panels of beveled, tinted, mirrored glass around the light bulb casing.
The glass panels, available in a choice of three colours – bronze, rose and black – are made by a specialist glass workshop in the UK. Aluminium bulb casing, an LED bulb and cabling complete the lights.
"The AKollection uses processes and materials that are centuries old, traditional and craft-based," studio founder Afroditi Krassa told Dezeen. "I looked across the UK to find artisanal glass factories that were up for being challenged."
"I wanted to bring some digital know-how into the process and push the boundaries of what could be done," she continued. "We found the only manufacturer in the UK using advanced technology to bevel very small parts of glass. Each flat rectangular piece is only 35 millimetre wide, which is actually quite a feat."
The collection came about as a result of the difficulty in sourcing the right products and finishes for the studio's restaurant, bar and hotel interior schemes, which include London establishments Dishoom, Sketch, and more recently Curzon Cinemas.
"When I design a new restaurant, hotel or bar at the studio, I have a very specific idea of what we want the end result to look like," said Krassa. "A lot of the time, we simply cannot find what we want, so we painstakingly design our own."
"I thought that it would be a great idea to take our products to the market and make them available to a wider audience," she said.
The pendants are a modern take on art deco Tiffany style lights, which often featured bevel-edged glass. "We wanted the fitting to be restrained, classic and elegant," said the designer. "Faceted, bevel-edge mirror was very popular during the art deco era and I absolutely love this material. It gives life to something flat and stiff, there is something very elegant about it too."
The full collection, which also includes beveled, tinted, mirrored-glass wall panels and monochromatic handmade encaustic cement tiles, will make its debut as part of Super Brands London's first dedicated bar area – custom-designed by AfroditiKrassa to showcase the collection during London Design Festival.
The catwalk-inspired bar will include an installation of 35 Pentagon Pendants.
Super Brands London, part of the Tent London exhibition, takes place from 18 to 21 September at the Old Truman Brewery, Hanbury Street, London E1 6QR.