Iris and Diamond by Sebastian Scherer
Product designer Sebastian Scherer captured my imagination today, especially his bubble-like iridescent pendant lamps – so beautiful. After studying product design in Aachen and working as an interior designer in Berlin, Scherer set up his own studio and later founded the NEO/CRAFT label.
Iris was inspired by the delicate, shifting appearance of soap bubbles, and Scherer's prototype won the Lexus Design Award Grand Prix in 2014. The idea has since developed into today's Iris Globe, made from mouth-blown crystal glass. Ultra-thin layers of metal oxides create those wonderful iridescent colours, changing as the light and viewing angle change.
The orbs within orbs are mesmerising. I want to reach out and touch them, as though I could hold a little world in my hand. I love how subtle the colours are and how the glass captures, distorts and reflects the view around it.
That fascination with geometry runs through Scherer's furniture too. Hard materials are turned into remarkably clean, precise forms, while the glass Isom tables play with an optical illusion: from the right angle their edges create the appearance of an isometric cube.
I love another lamp 'shade' of his too – although shade feels like a rather limp word for it; perhaps hood would be better! Known simply as Diamond, its sharply faceted metal form bounces light across its different faces. It is produced in powder-coated steel or highly polished stainless steel, allowing colour, light and shadow to become part of the design.
I love the contrast between Iris and Diamond: one almost weightless and other-worldly, the other crisp and architectural, but both make reflection and light part of the object itself.
If lighting is your thing, have a look at 100 Years of Perfect Light, where I take a closer look at Poul Henningsen's PH 5 and his beautifully clever approach to glare-free light.
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