British designer Samuel Wilkinson will launch two new LED lamps at Milan design week as part of his new lighting brand, Beem.
Wilkinson, known for designing the Plumen 001 lightbulb, has co-founded Beem with LED-lighting specialists and entrepreneurs Chris Stimson and Bujar Shkodra, who also founded well-lit in 2013.
The brand's debut products, called Smile and Curli, take advantage of recent advances in LED-bulb technology that allows for the creation of fluid forms previously impossible to manufacture.
In addition, the technology allows them to emit bright, warm light for up to 30 years, using minimal energy in the process.
"We consciously set out to make contemporary forms," said Wilkinson. "The bulb market is saturated with retro styling – it's good to create something different."
For the Smile pendant lamps, a glass bar of light fitted with a flexible filament – available in a straight line, a U shape and a smile-like upward curve – is attached to a pill-shaped ceramic base.
Meanwhile, for the Curli pendant lamps, Wilkinson took inspiration from calligraphic flourishes and twisted the glass bar around the base to create a continuous coil.
Scheduled to go into production later this year, both Smile and Curli are equipped with a rotating mechanism hidden inside – allowing the lamps to be easily adjusted to line up with surrounding bulbs if hung in groups.
"We realised that nearly all bulbs went downwards and appeared to flow out from the from the bulb holder," recalled Wilkinson. "Our initial reaction was to make forms that do the opposite – why not go upward and visually separate the parts?"
"A light becomes a sculpture in the air – why do want to look at the lump of the bulb holder above it? Why not either hide it with the bulb, as with Curli, or make it a key part of the design's visual balance, as with the Smile range?" he continued.
The lights will be showcased in Ventura Future – a new design district launching at this year's Milan design week, which will be spread across three locations in the city's Loreto neighbourhood.
Other lighting designs launching at the fair, taking place this year from 16 to 22 April, include four new collections London designer Lee Broom, who will debut his lights at a minimalist exhibition set inside a Grade II-listed building in Brera.