Lodes, the 74-year-old Italian lighting brand based in Venice, has unveiled its inaugural collab, Oblò, with Italian architect and designer Paola Navone – OTTO Studio.
The Italian word for “porthole,” Oblò is a decorative pendant lamp with a fluid silhouette and chromatic palette, evoking the sensations of the sea–which is also evident in the company’s choice of a white fabric cord. Oblò is an aesthetic departure from Lodes’ existing portfolio, the company says, because it “is both a high-performance pendant light and an exquisite design item, rippling with themes of fluidity and water.” Available finishes range from iridescent to metallic blue, silk white, glossy smoke and transparent, demonstrating the versatility of Pyrex glass in lighting design.
“Oblò is a delightful family of lamps that touches on the essence of the sea,” Navone says. “The glass diffuser, with its soft, rounded shapes, is suspended by a knotted cable, appearing to float in the air like a buoy. There’s a touch of surprise: the knotted cable houses an invisible LED source that illuminates the diffuser. Thus, only the glass is visible, akin to peering through a porthole. The diffuser comes in three different shapes and five finishes, three of which are hues reminiscent of the sea’s transparency. Where a single lamp serves as a playful focal point, a multitude of lamps make up a thousand different installations.”
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Despite its modest size, Oblò is a bright and effective lamp. Its intense luminosity is diffused through the glass, generating captivating lighting effects with its range of colorful finishes. It features a hook, comprising a metal core coated with semi-transparent silicone. A white fabric cable, featuring a grey rubberized end piece, is tied to the hook, which supports the diffuser. The knot and cable possess both aesthetic and functional significance: envisioned by the designer to resemble naval ropes knotted to sea buoys, giving the product a whimsical and playful spirit. The fabric cable also conceals the electric wiring, which, through the knot, threads into the hook, mysteriously powering the LED.
Lodes ingeniously conceals the electric cable’s path to the LED hidden within the hook, ensuring that only the glass is visible, creating the illusion of the diffuser floating like a buoy in the air.
Oblò is available in three globular shapes that were crafted to offer lighting solutions capable of choreographing varied movements. They can be used alone or in compositions, and installers/designers have the option to adjust the fabric cable for varying suspension heights. Ideal for residential or commercial setting, the fixtures can be used over stairwells, kitchen islands, lobbies and many more applications.
It comes in five colors–Azure Steel, Silk White, Rainbow, Glossy Smoke and Clear.