Michael Anastassiades creates modular lighting system based on jewellery chains for Flos

The Arrangements lighting collection by Michael Anastassiades features strips and loops of LEDs in geometric shapes that combine to create chains, chandeliers and hanging walls of light.

Described by Flos as being halfway between a sculpture and a piece of industrial design, Arrangements consists of a series of tubular elements in a variety of shapes. These include a small and large square, three sizes of circle, two teardrops in different heights, a straight strip, and a strip with a sharp, 90-degree bend.

The shapes can be put together in any combination, with a digital configurator available on Flos' website to allow users to experiment with different variations before ordering. 

Anastassiades said the idea for Arrangments was born from his interest in the way jewellery is made and its similarity to lighting.

"It is no coincidence that the word 'pendant' has a double meaning, existing both as a piece of jewellery that hangs from a chain worn around the neck and a light designed to hang from the ceiling," said the designer.  

Two black ceiling roses accommodate different wattage options and create the foundation from which to suspend the lighting using a thin black wire system that disguises the power cable. 

Each shape has a band of black-painted aluminium along its inner side, hiding the electronics and connecting mechanisms to make the pieces seem as if they are just resting on each other.

The connections are made using a dovetail joint and an electrical component developed specifically for Arrangements to enable a continuous power cord to run through any configuration. 

The rest of the outside of each tube consists of a frosted covering to diffuse the light from the LEDs contained inside. The roses can also be used to adjust the position of the lighting, and an optional dimmer system can be provided as well. 

Arrangements launched during Milan design week 2018 with an installation inside Flos' showroom in Corso Monforte 15 called Jewels After Jewels After Jewels – a reference to the jewellery-chain inspiration for the collection.

The front of the space was filled with a long mesh of light created using the small and large square shapes from the collection, while smaller columns of interconnected lights were suspended at the back. 

Cypriot-born, London-based Anastassiades is one of the leading names in European lighting design. He is best-known for his instantly recognisable Mobile Chandeliers, consisting of arches of black metal balanced by small, white globe lights, which James Mair, director of design showroom Viaduct, named as one of his top five contemporary minimalist designs.

His previous designs for Flos include the Sting Light, based on European street lighting, and the Copycat Lamp, where a small metallic sphere nestles against a larger opaque glass sphere.

He launched his first piece of furniture with British brand SCP in 2015 and debuted his first furniture range for Herman Miller at Milan design week in 2016. 

Other lighting designs that launched at Milan design week 2018 included the Luzy Take Five by Ingo Maurer – consisting of blue plastic gloves with frosted lightbulbs attached to the fingertips – and Neri&Hu's frosted, blown-glass Xi lights for Poltrona Frau.