Doshi Levien designs jewel-like mirrors for Hay
Milan 2014: the second project debuted by London studio Doshi Levien for Danish design brand Hay this year is a collection of mirrors with geometric shapes resembling jewels.
The 13 different mirrors in Doshi Levien's Maya series are produced in variations on diamond, oblong, octagon, almond, drop and circular shapes that can be combined to create unique wall installations.
"The shapes are coming from a meeting point between Indian tribal culture and modern geometric abstraction," Jonathan Levien told Dezeen. "The forms were thought of as jewels for the wall, as constellations or sentences of different shapes."
Combining the mirrors in different configurations allows the user to create arrangements comprising practical and decorative elements.
"The larger mirrors are designed to offer face-height reflections, whereas the smaller ones are like satellites to accompany the larger mirrors, or to be used in numbers simply to bring glimmering light into the space," Levien added.
Doshi Levien originally designed the mirrors in 2012 for a room they curated as part of an exhibition called India Art Now at Arken Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen.
The mirrors were installed on a wall opposite portraits of famous Indian icons displayed in similarly shaped frames and were intended to "bring the steely grey sky of Denmark into the space."
The designers showed the mirrors to Hay, which chose to add them to its collection and now produces them from laser-cut glass set in pressure die cast aluminium frames with a black powder-coated finish.
Doshi Levien also created a chair for Hay with a curving shell that references the shape of a traditional Japanese paper fan.
Both projects were presented by HAY during last week's Salone Internazionale del Mobile.