Gold Lighting Products and Fixtures Design · 2021
Translucence Pendant Light
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Lighting Products and Fixtures Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Contemporary Chandelier Company
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 48,702
- Verification code 5FEFDED353 · Verify this award
About Translucence Pendant Light
Translucence is a pendant light with a hand-blown glass shade and a hidden light source. The glass is blown into an optic mould, which forms thicker and thinner vertical sections that catch and spread the light. A laser-cut acrylic detail at the centre surrounds the LED module and adds focus. Three variations of the central section and three sizes are offered. Each shade is made by hand, so every piece is slightly different. Translucence can be used on its own or grouped within a larger chandelier.
Translucence Pendant Light by Iestyn Davies represents a distinguished achievement within the contemporary tradition of sculptural lighting design, where functional illumination merges with artistic expression to create objects that transcend utilitarian purpose. The work demonstrates remarkable technical accomplishment in its construction of multiple concentrically arranged transparent rings, each carved with precise diagonal ridging that transforms passing light into dynamic visual patterns across the fixture's surface. This approach to material manipulation suggests deep engagement with optical phenomena, as the designer appears to have considered how transparency, refraction, and reflection might collaborate to produce effects greater than any single element could achieve alone. The spiraling geometry evokes natural forms—the nautilus shell, unfurling fern fronds, or cosmic phenomena—while maintaining the precision associated with contemporary parametric design methodologies. One observes particular sophistication in the chromatic restraint exercised here: rather than introducing applied color, the work derives its visual warmth entirely from the interaction between clear material and ambient light, allowing golden-amber tones to emerge organically along carved facets and curved surfaces. This decision speaks to confidence in material properties and lighting conditions as sufficient generators of aesthetic interest. The compositional resolution achieves remarkable balance, with the spiral momentum drawing the eye inward toward the central luminous element while the outer rings establish a generous presence that commands spatial attention without overwhelming its environment. Thematically, the work invites meditation on transparency as both physical property and metaphorical concept—the idea of illumination that reveals rather than conceals, of structure that celebrates rather than hides its organizational logic. The title itself suggests engagement with liminal states between opacity and clarity, presence and absence, substance and light. Viewers might consider how the spiraling forms create a sense of contained energy, as if capturing the very moment of unfurling or the eternal dance of celestial rotation, inviting contemplation of time, movement, and the transformation of static material into dynamic visual experience.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Each individual pendant light can be viewed as a unique bespoke object, each subtly different from the next. The laser-cut acrylic detail to the centre creates focus and further enhances the light source; emulating the same material properties of the main body yet offering precision, detail, and durability; not properties readily associated with glass on such a small scale. There are three variables of the intricate central section and the pendant has been designed to operate as a stand-alone design or within a multi-array feature chandelier. Future design considerations will include a wall light and a desk top version.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Small - w: 120mm x d: 70mm x h: 120mm - approximately 100 lumens.
Medium - w: 170mm x d: 95mm x h: 170mm - approximately 100 lumens.
Large - w: 220mm x d: 110mm x h: 220mm - approximately 130 lumens.
Available in 2700K, 3000K or 5000K.
Materials: Glass (hand blown from 0% lead crystal,
Acrylic (housing for cob tape) LED cob tape
Mild steel threaded bar 2 x decorative lock-nut
Decorative cast acrylic laser-cut detail to centre Mirrored acrylic centre
Switch: customisable (via 12volt driver from mains supply) and mains dimmable. - Tags
- Light, Pendant, Chandelier, glass, optical, aesthetic.
- Production Technology
- Firstly, we experimented with how to package the LED cob tape, creating the core of the design. We produced countless acrylic laser-cut variations whilst exploring numerous hot glass forms, at the furnace side, using different optic moulds, reheats, shapes and proportions. We then explored different shapes and thicknesses of the delicate laser cut centres that sit immediately around the light source. All components were then brought together and, several iterations and months later, we were finally satisfied that we had captured the required aesthetic.
- Design Challenge
- As a lighting designer/maker, I strive to create something that does not already exist elsewhere; ultimately encouraging the observer to hopefully question how is this made or even where the light comes from?
In this project I wished to explore how to produce around 100 lumens emanating from the smallest light source, creating an exciting aesthetic based around energy economy and longevity. The design became a balance between aesthetics and function.
The greatest challenge, however, is how to ensure what is essentially a handmade item can be fully reproduceable in volume. The glass shade is a bespoke element, relying entirely on the skills of the glassmaker to repeat what is intrinsically, a non-conformist process. The answer is to use due care and diligence, and two sets of callipers. - Project Duration
- This project started in June 2020 in London, with a series of glassmaking trials and lighting tests. It then moved to the Contemporary Chandeliers’ main studio in Shropshire, in August 2020, as part of an ongoing investigation into sculptural glass components.
- Operation Flow
- The LED cob light is rated at 50,000 hours and can be changed by removing the rear locknut and drawing out the assembly from the front. The cob unit can be disconnected via two screw terminals and another unit be introduced by reversing this process.
- Research
- We wished to design a luminaire around our own dedicated low energy light source. We generally prefer to hide the light source wherever possible and use its effect through the various substrates to provide illumination. When you shine light through a clear substrate, it passes straight through unless it hits an ‘interrupter’. In this design we use the thicker and thinner cross section of the glass to catch and transmit the light; when you blow a hot, round glass bubble into an optic mould, the glass blows into the vertical grooves forming thicker vertical stripes.
- Inspiration
- Iestyn Davies is both a glassmaker and lighting designer; inspiration came from wishing to reinstate the traditional craft-based technique of hot glass to a bespoke contemporary process rather than that of mass production. The goal was ultimately to combine this singular material with the emerging LED cob technology, even though the light source was hidden from view:to explore the unique properties of variable thickness optical glass and experiment with the interplay between two interactive glass surfaces, natural and integral light and ultimately explore a luxury aesthetic.
- Image Credits
- Image 1 - Photographer, Simon Bruntnell, Translucence 1, 2021
Image 2 - Photographer, Simon Bruntnell, Translucence 2, 2021
Image 3 - Photographer, Simon Bruntnell, Translucence 3, 2021
Image 4 - Photographer, Simon Bruntnell, Translucence 4, 2021
Image 5 - Photographer, Steve Parry, Translucence 5, 2021
Colors of Translucence Pendant Light
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