Davide Groppi’s work lives somewhere between art and technology, using both mediums as part of his quest for delight and illumination, literally and metaphorically. So much of what can be called minimalist design can be reduced to the point of banal. Davide Groppi is an antidote to such behavior bringing humor and a sense of magic in the act of illumination. With his work, there is reduction but he maintains the sense of wonder in all that he does.
Groppi’s latest designs, which debuted at this year’s Salone de Mobile, continues his quest for reduction and joy with ten new lights added to the collection. Fulmine, for instance, is a re-visitation of the traditional up and down, but used horizontally in order to bring the light where you want.The lamp is evocative of old electromechanical constructions and offers a strategy for creating horizon lines within a space.
The Picnic Light echoes the classic Japanese lantern, a portable light with four hour battery that allows you to take the evening’s romantic mood wherever you want to roam. It’s a lantern which gives light in and outside.
Nulla is a true exercise in reduction, a 25mm ceiling hole that casts light as if a star has crept into the room. Almost magical, particularly in its simplicity.
One of our favorites is Tetatet, which essentially means an intimate conversation, in French. Like The Picnic Light, you can take this with you, so long as you have a surface that the light can magnetically attach itself to. Groppi’s idea was to turn any environment, be it a crowded restaurant to a private home, into a space for a tête-a-tête, a private conversation, a beautiful and considered moment.
Davide Groppi “started from the bottom”. After leaving high school, he became a draftsman. Later, in the center of his hometown in Northern Italy, he opened a workshop. It was 1988. Nearly 25 years after that, he was awarded the prize for best lamp in the world from Elle Decor International Design Award. The accolades continued with two Compass d’Orro awards in 2014. He has dozens of projects all over the world, from cafes and restaurants to private residencies and he is widely recognized as one of the best lighting designers today. His work is sublime and stunning. We are proud to be carrying it in our showrooms.
Share