Design: willowlamp Ethereal Chandeliers

willowlamp [South Africa]

[Image credit: Faraway Tree Chandelier – willowlamp] Illuminating your home or business space, ethereal constructions from willowlamp provide a sense of mystery and wonder. Operating from a studio and workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa willowlamp’s striking chandeliers look like they’ve been spun out of silken thread and belie a solid framework that holds it all together. The establishment of the company was an organic process, a sharing of ideas as co-founder Adam Hoets, an eco architect was experimenting with creating curtains from ball chains and needed an effective solution to aid the suspension. The answer came through a collaboration with jewellery designer, Sian Eliot, who had devised a way of securely fixing the chains to the framework.

After months of research and development, 2005 saw the completion of the first willowlamps, meticulously hand-assembled using hundreds of chain strands that are cut and shaped by hand. The intricately arranged chain detailing gives way to amazing patterns that gently shift with changes in the surrounding air. Handcrafting the chandeliers means all lighting is made to order avoiding mass production and can be tailored to specific needs. A custom design service is available for seeking a truly unique piece.

[Image credits: top, Nebula Chandelier; bottom, Fuschia Chandelier – willowlamp]

Nature; flowers and spiral forms, in particular, are a strong source of inspiration and include the distinctive forms of Frangipani blooms, Fuschia flowers, the Protea, and seashells. Cleverly constructed the dynamic, organic forms are multi-faceted changing their appearance depending on your viewpoint; look from the side and the shimmering ball chain strands form a gently cascading curtain, stand underneath looking up and you are confronted by a totally different view, like the patterns you see through a kaleidoscope, and in the case of the award-winning ‘Flower of Life’ not unlike traditional African woven baskets, I am again reminded of techniques like crochet and weaving. The design duo is also inspired by the art deco and victorian eras, elements of which can be seen in the way the chains drape.

Black Flower of Life Chandelier - willowlamp

[Image credit: Flower of Life Chandelier in Black – willowlamp]

I, however, keep thinking of water when I see them, the way they look so effortlessly lightweight suspended in the air, they come across as gently floating creatures from the deep, I almost expect them to start drifting off across the screen any second. Just as the ebb and flow of water changes its surface, so too would the air moving through the beaded strands break up the light, leaving you with soft undulating light sources. Very soothing.